Kids & Family

Lake Forest Is the 9th Happiest City in California, Study Says

CreditDonkey.com ranked the top 10 "happiest cities" for workers in the Golden State, and Lake Forest makes the cut.

A new study published this week by a financial website ranks Lake Forest among the top places to live in the state for happiness. 

CreditDonkey.com says they looked at four main things to determine the best places to live and work:  

  • The freedom to get another job if the current one is horrible
  • A decent wage
  • Not having to get up when it’s still dark 
  • A reasonable, non-stressful commute
The study used U.S. Census data to determine unemployment rates and examined per capita annual household income when compiling the list.

"We figured that a low unemployment rate means it’s relatively easy to find another job," the findings state.  

It seems that Californians are most happy in one of two regions: The Bay Area and close to the beach in SoCal. Six of the top 10 cities are located in the Bay, three are in Orange County and one is on the coast, north of Los Angeles. 

As for Lake Forest, here's what the study says: 

Lake Forest looks like a town full of go-getters; it has the highest commute time on the list, but it also has the lowest unemployment rate. Thankfully, not too many of them have to get up at the crack of dawn to do the getting.

Here's the full list of the Top 10 Happiest Cities in California:
  1. Mountain View
  2. Santa Barbara
  3. Santa Clara
  4. Newport Beach
  5. Irvine
  6. Milpitas
  7. Sunnyvale
  8. Redwood City
  9. Lake Forest
  10. San Mateo 


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