A number of factors can impact a person's happiness, from their natural disposition to the people they hang out with. But, when it comes to measuring unhappiness, there's another, commonly overlooked factor: Zip code. Just as living in some cities can send your state-of-mind into the stratosphere, living in others can cause your overall mood to plummet—fast.
To find out which U.S. cities are the worst when it comes to happiness, we combed through figures from the Census and Centers for Disease Control on the 200 largest cities in the country, looking at factors most closely associated with happiness level: physical and mental health, employment, family stability, and more. From there, we crunched the numbers to find which cities are most conducive to happiness—and which are prone to misery. Here are the results—ranked in increasing order of unhappiness with our proprietary "Unhappiness Score." And if you're curious where in America people are super happy, don't miss The 50 Cities in America Where People Live the Longest.
30 Grand Rapids, MI
Population: 196,445
Households Earning Annual Income Above $75K: 25.8%
Unemployment Rate: 5.0%
Poverty Level: 22.5%
Divorce Rate: 11.3%
Mental Health: 14.0%
Physical Health: 13.5%
Unhappiness Score: 63.10
And for more stats on our country's locales, learn all about The 20 American Cities with the Most Unfaithful Husbands.
29 Winston–Salem, NC
Population: 242,203
Households Earning Annual Income Above $75K: 26.7%
Unemployment Rate: 5.0%
Poverty Level: 23.3%
Divorce Rate: 11.4%
Mental Health: 14.1%
Physical Health: 12.9%
Unhappiness Score: 65.40
28 Columbus, GA
Population: 197,485
Households Earning Annual Income Above $75K: 26.3%
Unemployment Rate: 5.7%
Poverty Level: 21.7%
Divorce Rate: 13.6%
Mental Health: 14.0%
Physical Health: 14.1%
Unhappiness Score: 68.60
Next, check out The 50 Most Caffeinated Cities in America.
27 Philadelphia, PA
Population: 1,567,872
Households Earning Annual Income Above $75K: 26.5%
Unemployment Rate: 6.8%
Poverty Level: 25.8%
Divorce Rate: 9.2%
Mental Health: 15.3%
Physical Health: 14.6%
Unhappiness Score: 69.00
26 Laredo, TX
Population: 257,156
Households Earning Annual Income Above $75K: 26.2%
Unemployment Rate: 3.2%
Poverty Level: 30.6%
Divorce Rate: 8.7%
Mental Health: 14.2%
Physical Health: 16.0%
Unhappiness Score: 71.10
You also don't want to be single here, as Laredo is one of The 50 Cities with the Worst Singles Scenes in America.
25 Richmond, VA
Population: 223,170
Households Earning Annual Income Above $75K: 27.6%
Unemployment Rate: 5.7%
Poverty Level: 25.2%
Divorce Rate: 11.5%
Mental Health: 13.8%
Physical Health: 12.3%
Unhappiness Score: 73.50
24 Kansas City, KS
Population: 151,709
Households Earning Annual Income Above $75K: 22.6%
Unemployment Rate: 5.5%
Poverty Level: 22.3%
Divorce Rate: 13.4%
Mental Health: 13.6%
Physical Health: 13.6%
Unhappiness Score: 73.80
23 St. Louis, MO
Population: 311,404
Households Earning Annual Income Above $75K: 23.8%
Unemployment Rate: 6.1%
Poverty Level: 25.0%
Divorce Rate: 12.6%
Mental Health: 15.5%
Physical Health: 15.4%
Unhappiness Score: 76.40
22 Brownsville, TX
Population: 183,823
Households Earning Annual Income Above $75K: 20.3%
Unemployment Rate: 4.3%
Poverty Level: 31.4%
Divorce Rate: 6.9%
Mental Health: 14.3%
Physical Health: 16.5%
Unhappiness Score: 76.70
21 Memphis, TN
Population: 652,717
Households Earning Annual Income Above $75K: 22.6%
Unemployment Rate: 6.6%
Poverty Level: 26.9%
Divorce Rate: 10.7%
Mental Health: 15.9%
Physical Health: 16.5%
Unhappiness Score: 77.60
Oh, and by the way, Memphis is among The 50 Fattest Cities in America.
20 New Orleans, LA
Population: 391,495
Households Earning Annual Income Above $75K: 27.5%
Unemployment Rate: 5.3%
Poverty Level: 25.4%
Divorce Rate: 13.3%
Mental Health: 13.3%
Physical Health: 12.7%
Unhappiness Score: 78.50
19 Milwaukee, WI
Population: 595,047
Households Earning Annual Income Above $75K: 22.1%
Unemployment Rate: 5.9%
Poverty Level: 27.4%
Divorce Rate: 10.1%
Mental Health: 15.4%
Physical Health: 14.0%
Unhappiness Score: 78.70
18 Fresno, CA
Population: 522,053
Households Earning Annual Income Above $75K: 28.7%
Unemployment Rate: 6.8%
Poverty Level: 28.4%
Divorce Rate: 10.4%
Mental Health: 14.6%
Physical Health: 14.3%
Unhappiness Score: 79.20
17 Knoxville, TN
Population: 186,239
Households Earning Annual Income Above $75K: 20.4%
Unemployment Rate: 4.2%
Poverty Level: 26.5%
Divorce Rate: 13.0%
Mental Health: 16.1%
Physical Health: 15.1%
Unhappiness Score: 79.50
Still, it's not all bad news: Knoxville is one of The 50 Cities with the Best Singles Scenes in America.
16 Tucson, AZ
Population: 530,706
Households Earning Annual Income Above $75K: 22.3%
Unemployment Rate: 5.7%
Poverty Level: 24.1%
Divorce Rate: 13.7%
Mental Health: 14.1%
Physical Health: 14.4%
Unhappiness Score: 79.70
15 Miami, FL
Population: 453,579
Households Earning Annual Income Above $75K: 22.9%
Unemployment Rate: 5.0%
Poverty Level: 25.8%
Divorce Rate: 13.1%
Mental Health: 13.1%
Physical Health: 15.5%
Unhappiness Score: 80.20
14 Akron, OH
Population: 197,633
Households Earning Annual Income Above $75K: 19.3%
Unemployment Rate: 5.9%
Poverty Level: 24.1%
Divorce Rate: 13.5%
Mental Health: 15.6%
Physical Health: 15.2%
Unhappiness Score: 80.40
13 Springfield, MO
Population: 167,319
Households Earning Annual Income Above $75K: 17.5%
Unemployment Rate: 3.9%
Poverty Level: 25.7%
Divorce Rate: 13.5%
Mental Health: 15.7%
Physical Health: 14.9%
Unhappiness Score: 81.20
12 Newark, NJ
Population: 281,764
Households Earning Annual Income Above $75K: 20.0%
Unemployment Rate: 9.2%
Poverty Level: 28.3%
Divorce Rate: 8.0%
Mental Health: 15.8%
Physical Health: 16.7%
Unhappiness Score: 84.00
11 Hialeah, FL
Population: 236,387
Households Earning Annual Income Above $75K: 14.7%
Unemployment Rate: 4.1%
Poverty Level: 25.9%
Divorce Rate: 12.9%
Mental Health: 13.0%
Physical Health: 17.0%
Unhappiness Score: 84.00
10 Buffalo, NY
Population: 256,902
Households Earning Annual Income Above $75K: 20.9%
Unemployment Rate: 5.2%
Poverty Level: 30.9%
Divorce Rate: 9.8%
Mental Health: 15.5%
Physical Health: 15.8%
Unhappiness Score: 85.50
9 San Bernardino, CA
Population: 216,239
Households Earning Annual Income Above $75K: 22.8%
Unemployment Rate: 7.3%
Poverty Level: 30.6%
Divorce Rate: 10.4%
Mental Health: 16.6%
Physical Health: 16.6%
Unhappiness Score: 88.90
8 Cincinnati, OH
Population: 298,800
Households Earning Annual Income Above $75K: 24.2%
Unemployment Rate: 6.8%
Poverty Level: 28.7%
Divorce Rate: 12.8%
Mental Health: 15.0%
Physical Health: 13.7%
Unhappiness Score: 92.00
And for more startling zip code stats, here are The 100 Drunkest Cities in America.
7 Toledo, OH
Population: 278,508
Households Earning Annual Income Above $75K: 19.7%
Unemployment Rate: 6.7%
Poverty Level: 26.5%
Divorce Rate: 15.0%
Mental Health: 15.9%
Physical Health: 15.2%
Unhappiness Score: 93.80
6 Birmingham, AL
Population: 212,157
Households Earning Annual Income Above $75K: 18.5%
Unemployment Rate: 6.5%
Poverty Level: 28.1%
Divorce Rate: 14.1%
Mental Health: 15.2%
Physical Health: 16.3%
Unhappiness Score: 96.10
5 Jackson, MS
Population: 169,148
Households Earning Annual Income Above $75K: 20.6%
Unemployment Rate: 7.7%
Poverty Level: 28.9%
Divorce Rate: 12.6%
Mental Health: 15.1%
Physical Health: 14.6%
Unhappiness Score: 97.30
4 Syracuse, NY
Population: 143,378
Households Earning Annual Income Above $75K: 20.4%
Unemployment Rate: 5.9%
Poverty Level: 32.6%
Divorce Rate: 11.0%
Mental Health: 15.9%
Physical Health: 14.8%
Unhappiness Score: 97.40
3 Rochester, NY
Population: 208,880
Households Earning Annual Income Above $75K: 17.4%
Unemployment Rate: 7.5%
Poverty Level: 33.1%
Divorce Rate: 11.2%
Mental Health: 16.4%
Physical Health: 15.5%
Unhappiness Score: 97.90
2 Detroit, MI
Population: 672,795
Households Earning Annual Income Above $75K: 13.7%
Unemployment Rate: 10.6%
Poverty Level: 37.9%
Divorce Rate: 11.3%
Mental Health: 18.0%
Physical Health: 19.3%
Unhappiness Score: 98.40
You might not want to drive here either because Detroit is one of The 50 Worst Cities to Drive In.
1 Cleveland, OH
Population: 385,809
Households Earning Annual Income Above $75K: 14.2%
Unemployment Rate: 9.4%
Poverty Level: 35.2%
Divorce Rate: 14.3%
Mental Health: 16.5%
Physical Health: 17.5%
Unhappiness Score: 99.00
Next, learn all about The 50 Most Tax-Friendly Cities in America.
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Alex Daniel A journalist based in Brooklyn, New York.Read moreFiled UnderCitiesRead This Next30 Most Dangerous Cities in America
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