Disneyland may be known as the "Happiest Place on Earth," but apparently the happiest place in the New York City area is...Yonkers?
It's the truth, at least according to a report by personal finance website WalletHub, which examined 182 cities based on a variety of different indicators of happiness. Yonkers was rated the 18th-happiest city in the U.S., the highest ranking for any city in the tri-state area.
The city just north of NYC was rated highly for residents' emotional and physical well-being, at 17th overall in the country. That measure combines categories such as life expectancy and rates for food insecurity, sleep, depression, suicide and sports participation. Yonkers was rated 44th in community and environment, though was rated much lower for income and employment (118th).
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Jersey City was the only other metropolitan area to crack the top 50 for WalletHub's list, coming in at number 32. The five boroughs were rated 57th, finishing 16th in community and environment, which rates things like weather, leisure time, park space, and wedding and separation rates. NYC was ranked 61st in emotional and physical well-being, and 152nd (out of 182) in income and employment.
Other cities from the tri-state that made WalletHub's list included Bridgeport, Connecticut, at 68th, and Newark, which was 125th.
Overall, the NYC area had one element that was the best in the country: lowest suicide rate. Newark, Jersey City, NYC and Yonkers all were in the top five for that category.
The top city on the list was Fremont, California, which was found to have the best emotional and physical well-being as well as best community and environment. Two other California cities, San Jose and San Francisco, both made the top five as well, finishing 2nd and 5th, respectively. Madison, Wisconsin, and Overland Park, Kansas, completed the top five.
While California led all states with three cities in the top 10, WalletHub's report found a much smaller state also had two cities made the upper echelon. Vermont had South Burlington and Burlington both make the top 10.
As for the city that ranked the lowest, that would be Detroit, Michigan, which was found to have finished no better than 178th in any of the three categories. Also finishing at the bottom of the list were Montgomery, Alabama; Cleveland, Ohio; Shreveport, Louisiana; and Huntington, West Virginia.
