With an H-E-B on almost every street corner and authentic barbecue a minute’s drive away from home, there are several reasons to rejoice in Texas. However, a new study takes a closer look at which states host the “happiest” residents.
Financial literacy company WalletHub recently released a 2026 study that uses positive-psychology research to rank 182 of the largest U.S. cities for where Americans are most content. Analysts evaluated each place across three areas: emotional and physical well-being, income and employment, and community and environment. Metrics such as the depression rate and the food-insecurity rate fall under these umbrella categories. They can provide between 0.79 and 7.14 points to a city’s overall score.
The study names San Antonio in the bottom tier, coming in at 154, indicating it’s a rather unhappy city. It landed in the No. 13 spot among the 16 included Texas towns, being beaten by Austin, Irving, and Grand Prairie, among others. Here in the 210, we host amusement parks, green areas, and some of the largest celebrations, so what’s going on?
According to the report, San Antonio did the worst in the community and environment category, coming in at No. 158. The heaviest factors (~3.57 Points) in this section include a city’s separation and divorce rate and hate crime incidents per capita. Among these is a destination’s Sharecare Well-Being Community Index Score, defined as “liking where you live, feeling safe and having pride in your community.”
On the other hand, it did best in its income and employment rank. At No. 93, it performed better than El Paso, Dallas and Houston, to name a few. This bracket includes any given area’s income-growth rate, weekly work hours and unemployment rate.
Dr. Matthew J. Grawitch, a Director of Strategic Research at Saint Louis University, offered insight into how this helps improve the moods of San Antonians.
“Clearly, other factors – meaningful work, relationships, health, and environment – play critical roles,” Grawitch said in the report. However, money is a “valuable resource for achieving happiness because it makes it easier to secure financial stability and gives people greater freedom to invest in the relationships, experiences, and living conditions that matter to them,” they continued.
Looking at Texas-only, Plano cinched the No. 1 spot (No. 16 nationally), followed by Austin (No.39 nationally) and Irving (No. 70 nationally). From an aerial view, Fremont, California, topped every other city. According to its website, it’s home to the nation’s highest-ranking public schools and beautiful hiking vistas.
This article originally published at Is San Antonio one of the ‘happiest cities’ in US? New report begs to differ..