Lot of smiles here

Austin named one of the happiest cities in America for 2019

Austin has some the happiest residents in the U.S

iStock

Life's still good in Austin, where folks are among the happiest in the country — and they're even happier than last year, a report from WalletHub finds.

The personal finance site reviewed 31 "key indicators of happiness," including income-growth rate, average leisure time spent on a given day, and depression rate in more than 180 cities to determine the happiest places in the U.S.

Austin ranks No. 14 for 2019. That's an improvement from last year, when the Capital City came in at No. 21. Austin ranked eighth in income and employment, 15th in emotional and physical well-being, and 80th in community and environment.

"Location plays a hand in how bright or gloomy our days are," the report says. "For years, researchers have studied the science of happiness and found that its key ingredients include a positive mental state, healthy body, strong social connections, job satisfaction, and financial well-being. However, money can only make you so happy — people who make $75,000 a year won’t get any higher satisfaction from more money."

The Dallas-Fort Worth area has the happiest cities in Texas.

Plano takes the No. 1 spot — making it the happiest place in America — for 2019, and Grand Prairie lands at No. 7. Those are improvements from last year, when Plano came in at No. 5 and Grand Prairie placed at No. 10.

Maybe there's something to the old adage "happy wife, happy life" in Plano, where the separation and divorce rate is the fourth lowest in the country. The three cities with lower rates are Fremont, California (No. 1); Irvine, California (No. 2), and Gilbert, Arizona (No. 3).

Irving (No. 31), Fort Worth (No. 42), Garland (No. 47), Arlington (No. 49), and Dallas (No. 68) are the other DFW cities that made the list.

Meanwhile, other Texas cities fall on the unhappy end of the spectrum, including Brownsville (No. 86), San Antonio (No. 97), Amarillo (No. 98), Houston (No. 106), Laredo (No. 111), Lubbock (No. 124), and Corpus Christi (No. 129). El Paso tied with Arlington at No. 49.

rankings reports texas

merry xmas atx!

Austin makes merry as one of the best cities to celebrate Christmas

City of Austin Government - Facebook

undefined

Austinites are right at home when it comes to experiencing the best Christmas in Texas this year. The very merry state capital has jumped into the No. 23 spot on WalletHub's annual list of the best cities for celebrating Christmas in 2024.

The yearly report ranks the 100 most populous U.S. cities across five key dimensions: Traditions and fun, observance, generosity, shopping opportunities, plus travel and meal costs.

Austin previously ranked as the No. 31 best U.S. city for celebrating Christmas in WalletHub's 2023 report.

Here's how Austin performed in the five main categories in the study:

No. 19 – Traditions and fun rank
No. 20 – Shopping rank
No. 36 – Costs rank
No. 42 – Generosity rank
No. 72 – Observance rank

Austin gets to cheer itself on as the highest-ranked Texas city in 2024 thanks to its heap of holiday happenings, including numerous delightful light displays throughout town. From local restaurants and bars putting their all into creating festive feasts to-go and delightful cocktail experiences, to locals supporting small businesses at holiday markets, there is plenty to get Austinites in the holiday spirit this year.

Smaller Central Texas towns like Smithville have also transformed into fun, festive escapes for city dwellers this time of year.

Austin households also have bigger holiday budgets in 2024 than they did the year before. According to a separate WalletHub study, the average Austin household is expected to spend about $1,905 on Christmas gifts this year, versus $1,877 in 2023.

"With inflation making Christmas celebrations, gifts, food and travel more expensive, certain cities are much better for your wallet than others during the holiday," said WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo. "In addition to being affordable, the best cities have a large number of people celebrating, plenty of places for Christians to worship, populations who give generously to charity, and plenty of fun activities to enjoy with family and friends."

In a separate report by home services provider Thumbtack, Austin was crowned the No. 1 most festive U.S. city for the third year in a row.

Elsewhere in Texas, other festive cities that earned spots in the top 50 include San Antonio (No. 30), Dallas (No. 31), and Houston (No. 41).

The top 10 best places to experience Christmas in 2024 are:

No. 1 – Atlanta, Georgia
No. 2 – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
No. 3 – Seattle, Washington
No. 4 – Las Vegas, Nevada
No. 5 – Orlando, Florida
No. 6 – San Francisco, California
No. 7 – St. Louis, Missouri
No. 8 – Miami, Florida
No. 9 – Chicago, Illinois
No. 10 – New York, New York

christmas holidays lists bests