Reno: Happiest Big City In Nevada

RENO, NV - Reno is apparently the happiest city in Nevada, according to a recent WalletHub ranking of the happiest cities in the United States. Reno was ranked the 88th happiest city in the nation out of the 182 largest American cities. It was the highest rated Nevada city on the list.

The Silver State's four largest cities - Reno, Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, and Henderson - were all ranked on the list. In 2017, Nevada was ranked as the 37th happiest state in the U.S., according to WalletHub. (Happiest state rankings for 2017 https://wallethub.com/edu/happiest-states/6959/)

To come up with the rankings, WalletHub compared 182 of the largest American cities, including the 150 most populated cities in every state. WalletHub also included at least two of the most populated cities in each state in its analysis. The cities were evaluated across three categories: emotional and physical well-being, income and employment, and community and environment.

The three categories were evaluated across 28 metrics using data from government and private agencies. (You can read more about the methodology here.)

Reno was ranked 102nd for emotional and physical well being, 89th for income, and 61st in community and environment.

In Southern Nevada, Henderson was ranked the 105th happiest city in America, North Las Vegas was ranked 145th, and Las Vegas was ranked 156th.

According to WalletHub, the 10 happiest cities in the U.S. are:

1. Fremont, California
2. Bismarck, North Dakota
3. San Jose, California
4. Pearl City, Hawaii
5. Plano, Texas
6. Fargo, North Dakota
7. Sioux Falls, South Dakota
8. Irvine, California
9. Huntington Beach, California
10. Grand Prairie, Texas

The WalletHub ranking also lists the most glum cities. They are:

1. Detroit, Michigan
2. Birmingham, Alabama
3. Huntington, West Virginia
4. Gulfport, Mississippi
5. Little Rock, Arkansas
6. Charleston, West Virginia
7. Wilmington, Delaware
8. Mobile, Alabama
9. Columbus, Georgia
10. Cleveland, Ohio

WalletHub asked a panel of experts to explain why where a person lives has such an influence on happiness. Here’s what one expert had to say:

“This comes down to a person’s interests and values,” writes Sarah Collins, director of the college to career center at Doane University in Nebraska. “If you love spending time outdoors, then living in a place with a temperate climate could make you happier, as it would allow you to fulfill this interest more often. If family is very important to you, then being close to them, wherever they are, might make you happier.”

You can see the full rankings here.

Patch reporter Feroze Dhanoa contributed to this report.

Image via ThomasPhoto, Shutterstock.com