Money doesn’t buy happiness — well actually it sometimes does. Several studies show a positive relationship between income growth and happiness, surpassing an annual income of $80,000. Location and economic prospects offer more opportunities to be happy, and North Texas proves those opportunities.
A study by Smart Asset examined data from the 200 largest cities, with 164 of them having accessible data. The analysis considered 13 distinct metrics, categorized into three main areas: personal finance, well-being and quality of life.
The study findings determine that Frisco is the fifth happiest city in the U.S. The city secured the top position in two categories, boasting the highest marriage rate (62.6%) and the lowest percentage of residents living below the poverty level (2.5%).
The city ranked second for its affordability, with living costs compared to the median household income at 29.55%, and it has a low violent crime rate (approximately 86 crimes per 100,000 residents). Frisco ranked 85.72, about 9 points below the top-ranked Sunnyvale, California.
Plano also secured a place in the top 20 rankings across six different metrics. The city ranked the fourth-highest marriage rate (56.9%) and the 10th-lowest rate of violent crime (approximately 155 incidents per 100,000 residents). Additionally, slightly over a third of Plano's population earns $100,000 or more, and the typical cost of living expenses accounts for 40.43% of the median household income in the city. Plano is about 10 points below Sunnyvale.
California’s cities dominated the top 10 positions, with 6 cities ranking highly. While Sunnyvale and Fremont lead in terms of the highest individual earnings, Western cities excel in the quality of life category. In particular, the top 10 cities in California demonstrate lower poverty rates, higher marriage rates and lower rates of violent crime.
