Which American cities are home to the happiest people? National Geographic announced its 2017 rankings of happiest cities in the U.S. – most of which happen to be cities where you can get an in-home massage delivered on-demand. Coincidence? We think not.
The happiest cities rankings are based on a comprehensive study that looks at “pleasure, pride, and purpose,” including specific factors such as how walkable and bikeable each city is.
“There’s a high correlation between bikeability and happiness in a city,” notes Dan Buettner, bestselling author, avid traveler and self-proclaimed “happiness planner” who worked with National Geographic and Gallup’s social scientists to compile the data.
Other surprising insights from the study include a strong correlation between the quality of water in a given city and how happy its residents are.
See the full list of happiest U.S. cities below, and read more on NatGeo.
Happiest cities in the U.S.
- Boulder, Colorado
- Santa Cruz – Watsonville
- Charlottesville, Virginia
- Fort Collins, Colorado
- San Luis Obispo, California
- San Jose, California
- Provo, Utah
- Bridgeport – Stamford – Norwalk, Connecticut
- Barnstable Town, Massachusetts
- Anchorage, Alaska
- Naples – Immokalee – Marco Island, Florida
- Santa Maria – Santa Barbara, California
- Salinas, California
- North Port – Sarasota – Bradenton, Florida
- Honolulu, Hawaii
- Ann Arbor, Michigan
- San Francisco – Oakland – Hayward, California
- Colorado Springs, Colorado
- Manchester – Nashua, New Hampshire
- Oxnard – Thousand Oaks – Ventura, California
- Washington – Arlington – Alexandria, District of Columbia / Virginia
- Minneapolis, Minnesota
- San Diego – Carlsbad, California
- Portland, Maine
- Austin, Texas
See a full map of Zeel cities across the U.S. here.