Community Corner

Mountain View is the Happiest City in California, Study Says

CreditDonkey.com ranked the top ten "happiest cities" for workers in the golden state, and Mountain View took home top honors.

A new study published this week by a financial website ranks Mountain View the top place to live in the state for happiness. 

CreditDonkey.com says they looked at four main things to determine the best places to live and work:  

  • The freedom to get another job if the current one is horrible
  • A decent wage
  • Not having to get up when it’s still dark 
  • A reasonable, non-stressful commute
The study used U.S. Census data to determine unemployment rates and examined per capita annual household income when compiling the list.

"We figured that a low unemployment rate means it’s relatively easy to find another job," the findings state.  

It seems that Californians are most happy in one of two regions:  The Bay Area and close to the beach in SoCal.   Six of the top ten cities are located in the Bay, three are in Orange County and one is on the coast, north of Los Angeles. 

As for Mountain View, here's what the study says: 

"With good incomes, good jobs prospects, good working hours, and reasonable commutes, Mountain View takes first place for happiest workers. Google, which is headquartered in the area, may have a lot to do with this. The employer is famous for its culture and talent, but it’s not the only player. LinkedIn, Intuit, 23andMe, Mozilla, and plenty of other innovators are in the area too."

Here's the full list of the Top 10 Happiest Cities in California:
    1. Mountain View
    2. Santa Barbara
    3. Santa Clara
    4. Newport Beach
    5. Irvine
    6. Milpitas
    7. Sunnyvale
    8. Redwood City
    9. Lake Forest
    10. San Mateo 

    What do you think of the rankings?  Do you agree with the findings?  Tell us in the comments!



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