Fremont has retained its “Happiest City” title in 2026, at least by WalletHub standards. When I hear this news, my first reaction is “Fremont, really?” Not somewhere cool like Carmel? And then, “So, is this as good as it gets?”
It’s a little weird to hear your own hometown dubbed the happiest in America. Most people dream about growing up and discovering their own home where they feel they truly belong. If your hometown is already the standard, that limits your options.
What is happiness anyway? WalletHub lists household income (OK, but we all know that depends heavily on overall cost of living), low divorce rates and high life expectancy (those two I can vibe with). But it’s hard to put a dollar amount or a number on happiness. It means different things to different people.
This reminds me of my college reading of Milton’s Paradise Lost, which tells about the Biblical rebellion of Satan against God and the exile of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden.
Satan himself can never return to the original “happiest city,” AKA Heaven, but comforts himself with the thought, “The mind is its own place, and in itself / Can make a Heav’n of Hell, a Hell of Heav’n.” However, this later comes back to haunt him as he reflects, “Which way I fly is Hell; myself am Hell.”
Essentially, he discovers the adage: Wherever you go, there you are. If you’re a stinker like Milton’s Satan, anywhere you go is going to suck because your character flaws make you (and everybody else) miserable.
Even in our official happiest city we’re allotting a Motel 6 for 150 emergency shelters because so many are affected by homelessness. For sure, we have some problems. I think a statistics-based designation like “happiest city” can be useful as a reminder that your own city isn’t a uniquely terrible place while other parts of America are havens of good vibes and cheap housing. It could even be a source of positive competition and civic pride.
But in the end, you are the creator of your own happiness. Paradise Lost teaches us that even the perfect environment doesn’t absolve us of moral responsibility. It’s scary to think we could lose everything by our own selfishness and hubris. But the flip side is that we have discernment and free will.
Whatever our city, we can find some happiness and work to make it a little happier next year than last year.
