You may have seen our previous coverage of the North Carolina city named one of the “saddest” in America , but it turns out the people living in two of the state’s most popular cities are also some of the happiest in the country.
ALOT Travel compiled a list of the 20 “happiest cities” in the U.S., basing its rankings on the Community Well-Being Index, a report by Gallup and Healthways that “measures the opportunities cities provide for social and financial success, community integration, and life purpose for their residents.” California takes the crown as the state with the most cities on the list, followed closely by Florida and Texas; however, two metropolitan areas in North Carolina also managed to snag a spot.
According to the report, the Triangle is well-represents among the happiest cities in the country, with with Durham, Chapel Hill and Raleigh all present on the list. Durham-Chapel Hill was recognized as having a high percentage of residents with a higher education, while Raleigh, also an education hub, got a shoutout for its booming tech firms. Here’s what the site had to say: