On the world stage, happiness in the U.S. appears to be trending down, as the country found itself one spot lower than the year prior in the 2025 World Happiness Report.
But as a recent study indicates, there are still plenty of cities throughout America where residents are reportedly happy and joyful. One of these cities, which is located in Texas, has earned the coveted title of “happiest” city in the U.S.
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The study, which was conducted by SmartAsset, ranked American cities based on several metrics across three main categories: quality of life, wellbeing and personal finance.
And while popular cities like Seattle and San Francisco managed to crack the top 15, this Texas town takes the top prize thanks to factors such as household income, life expectancy, marriage rate and percentage of days with good mental health.
What makes this Texas town the ‘happiest’ in America?
Plano, Texas — with a population of nearly 300,000 — sits atop the list in the Where Americans are Happiest — 2025 Study. Why? Well, to kick things off, more than half of the households in the city (54.3%) earn more than $100,000 annually.
Though money can’t exactly buy happiness, a relatively high household income generally gives people living in that house more control over the joy in their lives. With enough income to cover expenses and then some, those living in high-income households can often afford perks such as vacations, luxury items and premier entertainment.
In addition, only 13% of Plano households spend more than 50% of their income on housing, while the city’s poverty rate sits at 7%, which is significantly lower than the national poverty rate of 11.5%.
Beyond attractive financial positions, those surveyed in Plano reported that 84.8% of their days included good mental health. In terms of physical health, 93% of the population claimed to have adequate access to fitness options, while 90.3% said they’re covered by health insurance.
All of the positive health metrics lead to an average life expectancy of 81.31 years, which is several years higher than the national average of 77.5. Since feeling healthier and living longer seems common in Plano, these factors likely contribute greatly to the community’s overall happiness.
Another interesting feature of the Plano community is its 55.9% marriage rate, which is a tad higher than the national marriage rate of 47.1%.
Finally, the city boasts a low overcrowding rate of 2.8%, which suggests residents have enough space for themselves and generally don’t have to deal with overcrowding.
Ultimately, Plano’s community offers a unique mix of features, which results in a joyful place to live. But you don’t have to live in Plano in order to be happy and financially secure.
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3 ways to bolster your finances — and happiness
As we alluded to earlier, more money doesn’t exactly equate to more happiness, but the extra cash certainly helps. With that in mind, there are a few ways to increase your success in both areas of life — even if you don’t live in Plano.
Boost your retirement savings
For starters, you should try to boost your investments into your future, and if you haven’t started setting money aside for your retirement, now is a great time to start.
Every dollar that you invest today can build more wealth for yourself down the road, and investing money for retirement is a smart way to ensure that you remain happy throughout your senior years. Building a solid nest egg for retirement can also give you peace of mind in securing your financial future.
There are many great investment tools that can be used to build a nest egg, but your best option may be an employer-sponsored 401(k).
These accounts often come with an employer match, which means your employer matches your contribution to the account, effectively doubling your investments. This is basically free money that your employer dumps into your retirement savings, and who doesn’t want free money?
The percentage of income that you should be investing for retirement largely depends on your age, but experts traditionally recommend stashing 15% of your annual income for your investment portfolio.
Create a budget and track your spending
Saving money is great, but that can be tough to do if your spending doesn’t leave much income left for investments. With this in mind, creating a budget is a great way to free up some cash for your investments, or whatever you may want to spend your saved money on.
Some people see budgeting as restrictive, but taking a good look at your spending can be extremely beneficial to your finances. You can start by adding up all of your monthly expenses and getting a sense of how much disposable income you have on a monthly basis. From there, you can evaluate the perks that you often spend money on and figure out how much of your budget or disposable income you want to allocate for such things.
Keeping track of your spending can often lead to cutting down on certain expenses, so it will be up to you to decide which items or services you can cut back on without affecting your happiness. There are also several money management apps that can help you create a budget and track your spending.
Take on a side hustle
According to Side Hustle Nation, 39% of working Americans — which is roughly 80 million people — have a second job on the side to earn extra income.
If budgeting and/or saving for retirement is depleting your income, a side job may be just what you need. Of course, a second job will likely eat into your free time, but if your current income isn’t contributing to boosted levels of happiness, a little extra income might be worth sacrificing 10-15 hours of free time per week.
Delivering packages, driving for a ride-share service, babysitting or even pet sitting for your neighbors are all good side hustles that can offer flexible schedules and decent income.
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This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
