WalletHub names America’s happiest cities. See where New Jersey ranks

Are you happy?

Financial website WalletHub decided to dig into the topic of happiness, finding the happiest cities across the United States.

“For decades, researchers have explored the science of happiness and identified several core factors, including mental well-being, physical health, strong social ties, job satisfaction, and financial stability,” the website says.

How did WalletHub determine happiness?

The website says it analyzed more than 180 of the largest U.S. cities, evaluating them across “29 key indicators of happiness,” which included depression rates, income growth and average daily leisure time. Its three key dimensions were Emotional & Physical Well-Being, Income & Employment and Community & Environment.

It found the happiest city in America is Fremont, California. That was followed by Bismarck, North Dakota; Scottsdale, Arizona; South Burlington, Vermont and Fargo, North Dakota rounding out the top 5.

Happiest city in New Jersey

According to the WalletHub study, the happiest city in New Jersey is Jersey City. The city came in No. 31 in the nation.

According to WalletHub, New Jersey had the lowest depression rate among the cities studied.

The other New Jersey city ranked in the study was Newark, which came in at No. 147.

Happiest city in America

Just what makes Fremont, California, so happy?

According to WalletHub, it has the highest share of households with an income above $75,000, at nearly 80 percent, the highest rate of life satisfaction, the seventh-lowest depression rate and the fifth-highest average life expectancy in the country, as well as the lowest separation and divorce rate in the country, 9.3 percent, the lowest share of adults who report having 14 or more mentally unhealthy days per month and ranks fifth among the most caring cities in America, WalletHub says.