'Happiest Cities in America' List Includes Tennessee Valley

Looking to increase your quality of life? Look no further than the Tennessee Valley.

WalletHub.com has compiled their ‘2022 Happiest Cities in America‘ list, and Huntsville (No. 140, pictured above), Knoxville (No. 164), Chattanooga (No. 166) and Birmingham (No. 170) are all smiles.

This should come as no surprise to residents and visitors of these cities. The region features the Tennessee River, French Broad River, Wheeler Lake, Lake Guntersville and numerous trout streams. Add to that the hills in northern Alabama, southern Tennessee and the Great Smoky Mountains, and there many opportunities for outsiders to adventure and relax.

According to WalletHub.com, not everywhere in the U.S. experiences a uniform level of happiness. As the study aims to illustrate, moving to a certain city may help you be more content. They say researchers have studied the science of happiness for years and found that its key ingredients include a positive mental state, healthy body, strong social connections, job satisfaction and financial well-being.

WalletHub.com drew upon the various findings of positive-psychology research in order to determine which among more than 180 of the largest U.S. cities is home to the happiest people in America. They examined each city based on 30 key indicators of happiness. These indicators range from the depression rate to the income-growth rate to average leisure time spent per day.

Speaking of leisure time in these areas, check out TVO’s event calendar for some excellent opportunities to get outside this weekend: