A California Town Was Just Named the Happiest City in America for the Sixth Year in a Row

When it comes to the happiest cities in America, a Bay Area city can’t seem to be dethroned. WalletHub just released its annual Happiest Cities in America report and Fremont, California, was number one for the sixth year in a row.

Why Fremont? The pros seem to be endless. The city has the highest share of households (80%) with an income over $75,000. They say money can’t buy you happiness, but it sure does help. WalletHub cites studies that have shown increasing your income up to $75,000 can increase your happiness, but interestingly enough, making more than that does not.

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The personal finance site also found that Fremont residents have the highest rate of life satisfaction, the fifth-lowest depression rate, fourth-highest average life expectancy in the country, the lowest separation and divorce rate in the country (8.9%), the lowest share of adults who report having 14 to more mentally unhealthy days per month, and it ranks sixth among the most caring cities in America.

Fremont wasn’t the only city in the West that topped the list. San Jose, California, ranked number two—a big part of that is due to its having the longest average life expectancy in the country. Additionally, it has the fourth-lowest separation and divorce rate, one of the best scores on Sharecare’s Community Well-Being Index, a high score on Sharecare’s Life-Satisfaction Index, and the third-highest share of households with an annual income over $75,000 (72%).

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Third on the list was Irvine, California, mostly because its residents are healthy—more than 88% of adults in the city report having good or better health, which is the third-highest percentage in the country. Its residents are very active, with 84% participating in physical activities. Plus, the city has the seventh-highest life expectancy for residents, the third-lowest percentage of adults who report having 14 or more mentally unhealthy days per month, the eighth-lowest depression rate, and the third-lowest separation and divorce rate. On top of that, its residents are doing well financially—nearly 68% of households make over $75,000 per year.

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Rounding out the top 10 list were other Western cities: Scottsdale, Arizona, ranked eighth, San Francisco, California, ranked ninth, and Huntington Beach, California, ranked tenth.

For the study, the WalletHub team “drew upon the various findings of positive-psychology research in order to determine which among more than 180 of the largest U.S. cities is home to the happiest people in America.” Each city was graded based on 29 key indicators of happiness, like depression rate, life expectancy, income-growth rate, and average leisure time spent per day.

Take a look at the top 20 cities below:

1. Fremont, California
2. San Jose, California
3. Irvine, California
4. Sioux Falls, South Dakota
5. Overland Park, Kansas
6. Lincoln, Nebraska
7. Madison, Wisconsin
8. Scottsdale, Arizona
9. San Francisco, California
10. Huntington Beach, California
11. Bismarck, North Dakota
12. Omaha, Nebraska
13. Seattle, Washington
14. Charleston, South Carolina
15. San Diego, California
16. Columbia, Maryland
17. Plano, Texas
18. Honolulu, Hawaii
19. South Burlington, Vermont
20. Garden Grove, California