Santa Cruz-Watsonville and Salinas make list of 25 happiest U.S. cities

Santa Cruz-Watsonville and Salinas have made National Geographic’s list of “Happiest Cities in the United States.”

#2: SANTA CRUZ-WATSONVILLE: “The Santa Cruz-Watsonville area on California’s central coast boasts beautiful beaches, a family-friendly boardwalk, and one of the state’s oldest amusement parks–all overlooking stunning Monterey Bay.”

#13: SALINAS, CALIFORNIA: “Salinas, California, was the hometown of Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck, who based many of his novels here. Fans of his work can visit the Steinbeck House (his boyhood home) and the National Steinbeck Center.”

National Geographic social scientists teamed up to develop an index that assesses happiness by identifying where Americans live “their best lives.”

According to the publication, “the study established 15 metrics–from eating healthy and learning something new every day to civic engagement, financial security, vacation time, and even dental checkups–that signal happiness. The National Geographic Gallup Special/Blue Zones Index draws on nearly 250,000 interviews conducted with adults from 2014 to 2015 in 190 metropolitan areas across the U.S.”

To see the entire list, click here.