One’s environment can play a significant role in overall happiness. While family, friends, activities, entertainment and even work can help boost an individual’s happiness, the city they live in can also determine how happy they feel.
In order to discover where people in America are most content with their lives, WalletHub compared more than 180 of the largest U.S. cities across 30 key indicators of happiness, ranging from depression rate and income-growth rate to average leisure time spent per day.
The study found that Scottsdale, Ariz. is the 16th happiest city in the U.S. Scottsdale scored extremely high in the metric category for Community & Environment and also scored relatively well in the metric categories for Emotional & Physical Wellbeing and Income & Unemployment. Additionally, Scottsdale ranked No. 4 on the top five list for cities with the highest sports-participation rate.
Gilbert, Ariz. is the next happiest city in the state, with an overall happiness score of 30. Gilbert ranked No. 4 on the top five list for the cities with the lowest separation and divorce rate. Other Arizona cities and their rankings include Chandler at No. 51, Tempe at No. 54, Peoria at No. 67 and Mesa at No. 82.
According to Sherry Hamby, Ph.D., a distinguished research professor of psychology at University of the South, the amount of resources that a city offers is one factor that plays into the way your environment influences your happiness.
“Where you live makes a difference, to be sure, although where you live probably is not as big a factor as personal and family influences on any one person’s happiness,” Hamby told WalletHub. “Places with more resources—whether these are natural resources, like beaches and mountains, cultural resources, like museums and theaters, or essential resources, like health care and transportation—tend to have happier people than other places.”
With the beautiful surrounding desert mountains, lively urban scene and unique culture and community that make up Scottsdale, it makes sense that the popular Arizona destination is also one of the happiest cities.
To read WalletHub’s complete study and view the full list of city rankings, click here.
