Buettner mentions, “if you want to get happy, don’t try and change your belief system. Change your environment.” In National Geographic’s November cover story and newly-published The Blue Zones of Happiness, Buettner reveals the world’s happiest places (Denmark, Costa Rica and Singapore) and explains environmental and lifestyle factors that contribute to the overall happiness in these geographic regions. Pulling from years of experience studying the world’s most-thriving populations, Buettner, National Geographic and Gallup developed a methodology for measuring where Americans are living their happiest lives.
The full list of the 25 Happiest Cities, in order by National Geographic/Blue Zones® Index score, is below.
California contributed 8 entries to this list – with the majority being on the beautiful Central Coast.
1. Boulder, CO
2. Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA
3. Charlottesville, VA
4. Fort Collins, CO
5. San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles-Arroyo Grande, CA
6. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
7. Provo-Orem, UT
8. Bridgeport-Stamford, CT
9. Barnstable Town, MA
10. Anchorage, AK
11. Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island, FL
12. Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA
13. Salinas, CA
14. North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, FL
15. Urban Honolulu, HI
16. Ann Arbor, MI
17. San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA
18. Colorado Springs, CO
19. Manchester-Nashua, NH
20. Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA
21. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
22. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI
23. San Diego-Carlsbad, CA
24. Portland-South Portland, ME
25. Austin-Round Rock, TX
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Excellent article, Dave. We’ve been to 15. Sadly, #3 – Charlottesville, VA, after the murders may not be as happy as it once was when Dan Buettner and Gallup originally announced ‘The 25 Happiest Cities.’
Thanks for the info.
M&G, NYC
Thanks Michael – yes, #3 will bounce back. 8 are in California 🙂