Despite our fixation with Fiesta and our ability to show tourists a good time, San Antonio ranks as one of the nation's unhappiest cities in the nation, according to a new study.
Financial site WalletHub — which sure does love this business of ranking cities — took a look at the happiness of the 182 largest U.S. cities and determined the Alamo City belongs in the bottom 10%. Indeed, we ranked 17th in the nation for being bummed out and earned the title of Unhappiest City in Texas.
WalletHub based its ranking using 29 key indicators of happiness, including each city’s reported rate of depression, its income-growth rate and the average leisure time spent per day. San Antonio ranked in the bottom half when it came to emotional and physical well-being, community and environment, and also income and employment.
Maybe the poor ranking on employment makes sense. The annual Status of Poverty report published this month found that nearly 20% of San Antonio residents live in poverty despite the city’s employment rate being above the national average. Worse, nearly half of all Alamo City residents can't cover basic expenses or are one financial emergency away from financial ruin, that analysis found.
Although money doesn’t buy happiness, experts agree that one’s happiness plateaus at an annual salary of $75,000, according to a study cited by WalletHub. Still, with a median income of $59,593, San Antonio falls short of that number.
Other factors contributing to Alamo City’s sadness include lack of green space, food insecurity, and long commute times, the WalletHub study said.
Sounds like we all need a margarita to chase the blues away. Assuming it doesn't break the bank.
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Study: San Antonio ranks as one of the nation's saddest cities
While Alamo City residents love to party, the analysis gave us poor rankings for income, employment and emotional well being, among other things.
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