What’s the happiest WA city? New study has the answer. We want to hear your thoughts on it
If you were to ask multiple people what “happiness” means to them, chances are you will get a different answer each time. But is there actually a way to quantify happiness at the city-population level? Apparently there is, and one Washington city ranks above dozens of others.
Personal finance website WalletHub identified the nation’s happiest cities, and you may or may not agree with the results.
Seattle nearly made it into the top 10 happiest U.S. cities, at 11th place. The Emerald City ranked high for emotional and physical well-being (7th) and income and employment (4th). Meanwhile, Tacoma ranked 96th overall. The list is based on 182 of the country’s largest cities.
According to the list, nearly half the country’s happiest cities are located in California. The top 10 consists of:
Fremont, California
San Jose, California
Madison, Wisconsin
Overland Park, Kansas
San Francisco, California
Irvine, California
Columbia, Maryland
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
South Burlington, Vermont
Burlington, Vermont
Source: WalletHub
On the opposite end of the list, Detroit ranked the worst, which would technically crown it America’s saddest city. It also ranked nearly last for emotional and physical well-being, income and employment, and community and environment.
Even though Seattle didn’t make the top 10, WalletHub’s analysis puts the Emerald City in the top five for other criteria. Namely, Seattle is fifth for both highest adequate-sleep rate and income growth, and its second in sport-participation rate, only behind South Burlington, Vermont.
To create the ranking, WalletHub examined cities based on 30 different metrics. Some that held high weight included depression and rate, adults’ mental health, income-growth rate, weekly work hours, divorce rates, hate-crime incidents per capita and average leisure time spent per day.
Data sources included the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Which WA city do you think is happiest?
For Tacoma residents, it may come as a shock that Seattle ranked significantly higher on WalletHub’s list. Or perhaps it didn’t.
What city do you think is happier — Tacoma or Seattle? What factors do you consider when deciding what makes a city happy? Leave us your reasons, and you may be featured in a future article from The News Tribune.
Survey responses will be open until noon Friday, March 10. Be sure to let us know what brings you enjoyment and whether Seattle or Tacoma does a better job at providing it.
