Don't Worry, Be Happy Because If You Live in Dallas, You ARE Happier Than Anyone Else

Are you generally happy? Living in Dallas? I’m sure we all stop to think, what if I lived somewhere else? Like New York City, where we came very close to living years ago, or Portsmouth, New Hampshire. I nixed my beloved native Chicago because it’s too dang cold from December to March or April. San Francisco is, however, one of my favorite cities and I love it there… still contemplating a second home at the Fairmont Ghirardelli Square.

But guess what? I should just stay put because Dallas residents are happier than anyone living in those places.

A poll from those inquisitive folks at Harris Interactive showed that 33% of Americans are actually very happy, as it explored the parameters which create Americans’ happiness, including age, gender and race/ethnicity.

Then, using another newfangled “Harris Interactive’s new Harris Poll® Major Market Query (MMQ) survey”, they confirmed that location correlates with overall happiness. Interestingly, it wasn’t cities by the sea with the happiest campers — it was us in land-locked Dallas. Spirituality and economics had a lot to do with it.

According to the Harris Poll Happiness Index, Americans in Dallas/Fort Worth came out on top because 38% of us defined ourselves as “very happy,” compared to a 10-city average of 33% happy, leaving the rest blah, in the markets studied:

• On the positive side, they (Dallasites) are among the Americans most likely to say their spiritual beliefs are a positive guiding force to them (75%) and that they rarely worry about their health (59%), as well as being among the least likely to feel their voices are not heard in national decisions that affect them (67%).
• But even America’s happiest city shows room for improvement. Dallas/Fort Worth residents are among the Americans least likely to agree that they have positive relationships with their family members (though it’s worth noting that 83% do agree with this sentiment) and among the most likely to agree that they rarely engage in hobbies and pastimes they enjoy (34%)

Houston came in second, no surprise, but seeing San Francisco at the bottom is a shocker. Sort of. Love it, but I think San Francisco can be a tough city to live in. We beat Boston, New York City, Chicago and Atlanta, no shocker there. Must have had something to do with our mild summer: participants were surveyed online between July 24 and 30, 2013 by Harris Interactive. How in the world do you measure happiness besides looking at House Porn? Asking toughie questions like: My relationships with my friends bring me happiness, or, I have positive relations with my family members, or, I frequently worry about my financial situation. 

I measure happiness by Second Home Porn: the swimming pool above at Long Cove is awesome, makes me happy.