It's been hard lately to be happy. The pandemic, the Derecho, the very cold winter, quarantining, and other reasons we are all probably trying to forget, have really dropped our happiness level. A new study has come out revealing the happiest cities in America, and a town in Iowa is in the top 10.

Our friends at WalletHub wanted to find out which cities are the happiest throughout the country. To do so, they compared 182 of the largest cities, including the 150 most populated U.S. cities, plus at least two of the most populated cities in each state, across three key dimensions:

  1. Emotional & Physical Well-Being
  2. Income & Employment
  3. Community & Environment

WalletHub then evaluated those categories using 31 relevant metrics. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing maximum happiness.

After doing all of the math, they found the happiness level of all 182 cities across the country. The top 5 happiest cities in America are:

  1. Fremont, CA
  2. Bismarck, ND
  3. Fargo, ND
  4. Madison, WI
  5. San Jose, CA

Below is an interactive map showing all 182 cities and how they rank from happiest to saddest:

Source: WalletHub
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WalletHub has only two cities in Iowa that were on the list. Cedar Rapids and Des Moines.

Des Moines ranked as the 36th happiest city in America. This is the scores that Des Moines got in each category and overall:

  • Rank = 36th
  • Overall Score = 62.33
  • Emotional & Physical Well-Being = 37
  • Income & Employment = 88
  • Community & Environment = 29

Cedar Rapids actually made the top 10 on this list. WalletHub found that Cedar Rapids is the 9th happiest city in the country. This is the scores that Cedar Rapids got in each category and overall:

  • Rank = 9th
  • Overall Score = 67.64
  • Emotional & Physical Well-Being = 11
  • Income & Employment = 74
  • Community & Environment = 19

Only two cities in Illinois were on this list, Aurora and Chicago. Aurora ranked 42nd overall, while Chicago ranked 84th.

Happier in 5 minutes

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