Alexandria, Arlington On Top Places Where Americans Are Happiest List

Editor's note: Alexandria and Arlington's ranking positions have been updated to reflect an error on the SmartAsset study page.

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Alexandria and Arlington residents are among the happiest Americans, according to a SmartAsset study based on several factors.

The study examined the 200 largest cities in the U.S., which turned out to be 164 with available data. Rankings were based on three factors: personal finance, well-being and quality of life.

Arlington achieved second place in the 2022 ranking of places where Americans are happiest, while Alexandria was ranked 13th.

In the personal finance category, the study looked at the percent of individuals earning $100,000 or more, cost of living as a percent of income, personal bankruptcy filings per 100,000 residents and down payment-to-income ratio. The cost of living is for an individual with no children and is divided by the median household income. The down payment-to-income ratio is the ratio between a 20 percent down payment on a median value house and the median household income. Most of the data came from the 2021 U.S. Census American Community Survey, while bankruptcy data came from uscourts.gov and the county level.

In the personal finance category, Alexandria had an 87.53 score out of a maximum 100. Arlington's score was 94.89.

The well-being category looked at the percentage reporting poor mental health days, life expectancy, percentage reporting poor physical activity and percentage of adults with health insurance. Most data came from 2022 County Health Rankings, while the health insurance data was from the 2021 U.S. Census American Community Survey.

Alexandria had an 85.02 out of 100 score in well-being, while Arlington had a 99.35 score.

The quality of life category is based on the percentage of adults below poverty level, the marriage rate, average commute time, concentration of dining bars and entertainment, and violent crime rate. Most data is from the U.S. Census Bureau, except crime data from the FBI’s 2020 Uniform Crime Reporting database and NeighborhoodScout.com.

Alexandria has a 61.50 out of 100 score, while Arlington has an 86.54. Overall, Alexandria earned a 78.01 out of 100 index in the ranking, and Arlington had 93.59 out of 100.

See the full study and methodology here.