Pearl City is ranked the nation’s fourth happiest

DENNIS ODA / OCT. 22

A WalletHub study has listed Central Oahu’s Pearl City as the fourth-happiest U.S. city. A group enjoys the Seven Seas Ride during the inaugural Pearl City Carnival, held last fall on the grounds of Pearl City High School and sponsored by the Pearl City Community Association.

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Pearl City is the fourth-happiest city in the U.S., according to a WalletHub study released Monday in honor of the upcoming International Day of Happiness on March 20.

WalletHub, a Washington, D.C.-based personal finance website, compared more than 180 of the largest U.S. cities across three key dimensions including emotional and physical well-being, income and employment, and community and environment. The cities were evaluated using 28 key indicators, ranging from weather to income growth rate, depression rate and average leisure time spent per day.

Pearl City scored 75.19 points, ranking second in emotional and physical well-being as well as in community and environment. It ranked 57th, or in the top third, for income and employment. Honolulu, which tied Newark, N.J., for 171st place, ranked at bottom for lowest adequate sleep rate.

Pearl City was beaten out by San Jose, Calif. (No. 3), Bismarck, N.D. (No. 2), and Fremont, Calif. (No. 1). Detroit ranked last out of the 182 cities, with a score of 28.65.

Fremont, ranked the happiest city in the U.S., has the lowest separation and divorce rate. Pearl City ranked fifth lowest in separation and divorce rate.

Location plays a key role in happiness, according to WalletHub, which gave double weight to indicators including adequate sleep, depression and income growth rates. Factors such as food insecurity and share of people age 12 or older who used marijuana in the past month were also considered.

One of the study’s key findings was that people who make $75,000 a year won’t get any higher satisfaction from more money.

Data were pulled from the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and The Trust for Public Land.