Just one California city has made this year’s list of the 250 happiest cities in the world, and it may come as a surprise.
San Francisco — a city with its very own poop map — ranked 114th on the ‘Happy City Index’ compiled by researchers at London’s Institute for Quality of Life. That makes it the happiest in California.
The researchers took five main factors into consideration: citizens, governance, environment, economy, and mobility. Minneapolis was named the happiest city in the U.S., ranking 18th. Aarhus, Denmark was named the happiest city in the world.
Other outlets have picked up on San Francisco’s sunny disposition before. The City by the Bay was named the fifth happiest city in America by WalletHub earlier this year. Its high ratings are partly owed to residents’ sizable earnings. The median income in San Francisco is $113,900.
No matter how many websites say it, many people aren’t buying it. After all, crime and drug use are so bad in parts of the city that some retail stores have been subjected to a mandatory curfew.
"They're all so happy, they scrambled to the burbs to work from home,” someone quipped on X.
“Asking the fentanyl and Clepto sideshow boys doesn’t count,” another wrote.
Or maybe rumors of San Francisco's demise have been exaggerated.
Read more about the happiest cities in the world and see a full list here.