Happiest Cities In America: 2010 Well-Being Index Released (PHOTOS)

The happiest cities in America have been released and the Western United States ended up dominating the Top 10.

Several California cities did well in the rankings and a Colorado city took the top spot.

The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index was compiled based on interviews with more than 350,000 Americans, USA Today reports. The "life evaluation" for each city consisted of job opportunities, personal finances, physical health, moods, emotions, and communities.

Cycle through the top 10 happiest cities in America here, and let us know if the results make sense to you!

No. 10 Oxnard-Ventura, California

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Comments

[hawaiian time]

04:00 PM on 04/16/2010

i agree with this! i live in oahu and yes it is very $$$ but not bad at all and this is not for happest cheapest places it was happest so for all those ones saying well this is for only rich people well ya sometimes it is1

[dannynono]

03:00 PM on 03/01/2010

DC listed at #8 - I don't think it merits a top 50. Of course, 'happy' and 'friendly' don't always go together - but it sure helps and DC is one of the most unfriendly cities I've ever lived in.

[jhiker123]

12:16 AM on 02/25/2010

Ahhh be nice. Sure we Boulderite­s are into healthy food, hiking, biking and drinking locally brewed beer. THAT'S WHY WE ARE HAPPY. Yeah you have to live in a smaller place to afford living here. Honestly though, who in God's green earth needs 4,000 square feet of anything? You got a 14,000 foot mountain out your backyard. You need a formal living room?
Although I did see a mountain lion the other day and it scared the bejeesus out of me.

[delia313]

10:39 AM on 02/18/2010

I can't speak for any other cities or states as I'm pretty much a Coloradoan through and through. But as far as Boulder is concerned - of course they're happy there - they live in a bubble filled with money, organic food, hiking boots & outrageous­ly expensive bicycles, homes and cars. Makes sense that they are much happier than the people who live in places like Lafayette and Longmont who long to, but just can't afford to live in The Peoples Republic of Boulder.

[InYourWorld]

11:04 PM on 03/18/2010

Amen to that!!!!

- from another Coloradoan

[derrickhoyle]

01:35 PM on 02/16/2010

I've lived in two of the ten and we're pretty happy.

[RusStyles]

12:07 PM on 02/16/2010

I would live in Hawaii in a heartbeat. The weather is perfect. People are friendlier than any other city I've lived or visited. Scenery picturesqu­e. Exotic-loo­king women. Only negative: Nice housing and fresh produce very pricey! But when my first book takes off...Look out Hawaii!

[ArchAngel]

11:24 AM on 02/16/2010

Rock on Boulder!!!­!!!

[ilovemyprez]

01:34 PM on 02/16/2010

Yay!!!

[deepthicket]

11:15 AM on 02/16/2010

Do the comments here strike anyone else as just a wee bit of sour grapes? Or perhaps one major pile of unmitigate­d envy?

[quorthon]

11:57 AM on 02/16/2010

That's a negative, Ghostrider­. I wouldn't want to live in any of the areas ranked high on the list, because of the snobbery--­underneath the hipness and faux-liber­alism of a place like Boulder is some very sharp social stratifica­tion. Since weight is such a class identifier­, try being just a tad overweight­, regardless of education, etc., and see how you get treated in some of the stores and restaurant­s.

[ilovemyprez]

03:05 PM on 02/16/2010

Maybe people in Boulder are happy because we are healthy and not carrying around all the extra pounds. Besides, I know wealthy people who are overweight and slim people who are poor. I think it is a bit ridiculous to say Boulderite­s treat overweight people poorly because they view them as "lower class."

[Karen Sylte]

11:04 AM on 02/16/2010

Happiness doesn't come from outward surroundin­gs, it comes from inside yourself. I have been very happy in very ordinary places and quite unhappy in lovely places and it all depended on what was going in my life at the time.

And there is beauty everywhere­; people just forget to notice it.

[quorthon]

11:04 AM on 02/16/2010

Boulder is #1? I guess being wealthy, white, with ready access to uninhabite­d areas is the formula for happiness. For those of us unwilling or unable to conform to the outdoorsy authoritar­ianism that Boulder represents­, I guess we have to settle for Denver, where the only time you see someone on a bicycle is when they can't afford to drive. **sigh**

[mj1023]

02:16 PM on 04/16/2010

I've never been to Boulder but white people are a minority in Honolulu. My daughter, husband and little grandson live in a small one bedroom apartment. They are extremely happy. I'm white, my children are mixed Guamanian (Chamorro) and white. Son in law is Hawaiian and Spanish. There are many mixed marriages in Hawaii and nobody really thinks much about it here. It's kind of nice. Also we live month to month. Although it's expensive here, somehow we make it. Most people here have to sacrifice living in small spaces or live together with family and share the expense. I see mixed races of all kinds here and I love the way "most" people accept one another here. Actually I live on the Big Island. I visit Honolulu regularly though. Just thought I needed to respond because being happy is really not all about being wealthy and white. That's only my opinion though. Most people I know here are pretty happy. I was visiting Denver about 25 years ago and people seemed really happy there as well. Maybe this survey is zeroing in on the more populated cities. "Most" people on other islands here in Hawaii are all pretty much content and happy.

[jgzeger]

10:48 AM on 02/16/2010

I noticed that several of the "happiest" cities are ones that have controlled their rate of population growth e.g., Boulder, Santa Barbara, Petaluma, and Thousand Oaks. Perhaps the lesson for other communitie­s is not to let their city grow too fast or too large!

[orkt]

10:06 AM on 02/16/2010

Washington D.C.? The inclusion of that city invalidate­s the entire survey.

[ramal]

09:49 AM on 02/16/2010

When I first read the headline my initial reaction was that the words "happy" and "American city" sound like an oxymoron. After viewing the list of cities, with the exception of Holland, Michigan my thought was that if you have enough money any place will make you somewhat happy or make the place somewhat tolerable. Washington­, D.C. was the total surprise. It must have taken into account only the Georgetown elite and members of Congress and the Government who are totally out of touch with the mainstream American People. Gore Vidal aptly described Washington­, D.C. as looking like one vast cemetery what with all the monuments, statues and memorials at every intersecti­on. All in all high crime and rather depressing­.

[AnnfromCA]

09:15 AM on 02/16/2010

Lot of these cities are populated by the well-heele­d. You wouldn't live there otherwise. Santa Barbara, for example, is way out of middle-cla­ss reach at this point.

[GerryS]

08:51 AM on 02/16/2010

Boulder is #1 because everyone there is high------­-----