Happy days are here

Austin shines merry and bright as one of the happiest cities in America for 2022

United Way for Greater Austin presents Ruthless Good: The Great Austin Scavenger Hunt

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Things are looking especially merry in Austin, home to some of the happiest people in the U.S., according to a new study.

The Capital City comes in at No. 20 in a new study by SmartAsset that ranks the top 50 places where Americans are happiest in 2022.

The study analyzes the 200 largest cities by comparing 13 different metrics across three categories: personal finance, well-being and quality of life.

"Research shows that in some cases, money does lead to happiness," the report says. "In fact, a 2021 University of Pennsylvania study found a correlation between happiness and income growth, even past an annual income of $80,000. This is in contrast to previous research that found happiness stagnated after an individual earned $75,000. However, not all places can offer the same level of happiness, as some cities offer more economic opportunities and a better quality of life than others."

Six California cities dominated the top 10, which also included two Texas cities: Frisco, at No. 5, and Plano, at No. 6.

To conduct their study, SmartAsset analyzed four metrics relating to the category of personal finances. The metrics included the percentage of individuals earning $100,000 or more annually, the cost of living as a percentage of income, personal bankruptcy filings, and down payment-to-income ratios.

To research each cities’ level of well-being, SmartAsset studied the percentage of reported poor mental health days, life expectancy rates, percentage of reported physical inactivity, and percentage of adults with health insurance.

The cities’ quality of life was calculated based on the percentage of adults living below the poverty level, marriage rates, average commute time, violent crime rates, and the concentration of restaurants, bars and entertainment establishments within each city.

In the SmartAsset ranking index, Austin scored 88.75 out of 100 for Personal Finance, 76.87 for Well-Being, and 49.35 for Quality of Life.

This isn’t Austin's first time in the happy-and-bright spotlight this year. In March, personal finance website WalletHub ranked Austin as the second happiest city in Texas, behind Plano, and the 30th happiest city in the U.S.

Sunnyvale, California was deemed the happiest place in America for 2022 by SmartAsset.

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Top of the class

UT Austin ranks among best U.S. schools for entrepreneurship in 2025

UT Austin, University of Texas at Austin, top Texas schools, best public universities, best colleges

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The University of Texas at Austin has earned two top-10 spots on The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur’s lists of the best graduate and undergraduate schools for entrepreneurship studies for 2025.

UT Austin's McCombs School of Business ranks seventh in the graduate category, and UT ranks second in the undergraduate category.

The school is no stranger to the prestigious national lists. In the 2024 rankings, UT also appeared as No. 2 among undergraduate programs, and No. 6 in the ranking for the best graduate programs.

This year marks the fourth time that the school has landed in the top 5 on the undergraduate side, and the 12th time in 15 years that McCombs has made the top 10 among graduate programs in the annual ranking, UT notes in a news release.

The only other schools in Texas to make either top-10 list for 2025 were Rice University (No. 1 graduate school) and the University of Houston (No. 1 undergraduate program).

Rankings for The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur’s 2025 lists were based on a survey of administrators at nearly 300 schools in the U.S., Canada, and Europe that offer entrepreneurship studies. Among the more than 40 factors used for the rankings were academic programs, faculty credentials, mentorship opportunities, and alumni entrepreneurship ventures.

"If the focus of the MBA program at McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin were to be summed up in one word, it would be 'collaboration,'" reads the 2025 graduate schools report. "Students in more than 20 concentrations uniformly crow over its 'incredibly collaborative culture,' citing the 'supportive culture' as a top reason they ultimately picked the program. As a 'top 20 school,' the 'rigorous academic[s]' and 'focus on clean energy,' 'technology,' and 'entrepreneurship,' are other stand-out elements of the program."

The top 10 schools on the list of 50 best graduate schools for entrepreneurship studies in 2025 are:

1. Rice University
2. University of California-Los Angeles
3. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
4. Washington University in St. Louis
5. Babson College
6. University of Washington
7. University of Texas at Austin
8. University of Virginia
9. Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands
10. University of South Florida

The top 10 schools on the list of 50 best undergraduate schools for entrepreneurship studies in 2025 are:

1. University of Houston
2. University of Texas at Austin
3. Babson College
4. University of Washington
5. Washington University in St. Louis
6. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
7. University of Maryland-College Park
8. Miami University of Ohio
9. Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico
10. Northeastern University

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The story originally was published on our sister site, InnovationMap.

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