New recruitment tool? Study IDs happiest U.S. cities

Let’s switch gears today and talk about WalletHub’s new report on 2022’s Happiest Cities in America. Yep, that’s right. No doom-and-gloom talk about COVID-19 or all the regulatory requirements coming down the line. We’re focusing on happiness and how this report could help your recruiting and retainment efforts!

For employers who require their employees to work in the office, if your city happens to be one of the “Happiest Cities in America,” you may have just gotten a new recruitment tool. And if you have a 100% remote policy, hiring people from the happiest cities give morale a shot in the arm!

We’ve been living with the pandemic for a few years now. And turmoil seems to break out all over the place. But WalletHub’s study illustrates that moving to specific cities can help with people’s happiness via being more content.

Each city was analyzed based on 30 key indicators of happiness. They included things like depression rate, income growth rate and average leisure time spent per day.

Top 25 happiest cities

Now on to the list. Here are the top 25 – the actual list goes up to 182 – happiest cities in America and their total scores:

1. Fremont, CA (77.13)
2. Columbia, MD (71.64)
3. San Francisco (71.15)
4. San Jose, CA (71.00)
5. Irvine, CA (70.38)
6. Madison, WI (68.10)
7. Seattle (67.67)
8. Overland Park, KS (67.46)
9. Huntington Beach, CA (66.43)
10. San Diego (65.82)
11. Fargo, ND (65.46)
12. Minneapolis (65.09)
13. Bismarck, ND (64.65)
14. Santa Rosa, CA (64.52)
15. Santa Clarita, CA (64.44)
16. Oakland, CA (64.35)
17. Sioux Falls, SD (64.34)
18. Glendale, CA (64.05)
19. Scottsdale, AZ (63.78)
20. Anaheim, CA (63.72)
21. Aurora, IL (63.60)
22. Plano, TX (63.33)
23. Oxnard, CA (63.29)
24. Garden Grove, CA (63.15)
25. Chula Vista, CA (63.01)

Some other findings of the study:

• Pearl City, HI, has the lowest depression rate
• Newark, NJ, had the lowest suicide rate
• Burlington, VT, had the fewest work hours, and
• Fremont, CA, had the lowest separation and divorce rate.

Spread happiness

If you can’t recruit people from these cities, don’t fret. Focus on creating a celebration for March 20!

What’s March 20 you may ask?

Well, it’s not St. Patrick’s Day. That’s March 17. And it’s not Mardi Gras. That’s March 1.

March 20 is International Day of Happiness!

So why not celebrate it all month long? Send out a corny joke a day. Send out a puzzle to see who can find the most words in the phrase “International Day of Happiness” and give out a prize for the winner or the top five winners.

People love to work for companies that have fun and invest in their employees’ happiness!

If you wear a mask in the office, draw a smile on it. Create a happiness wall and have people put up notes about or photos of what makes them happy. Or channel your inner Boss Ross and hold a “Joy of Painting” party. Your imagination is the limit.

Culminate the month with a party on March 20. Stop work for an hour or so and celebrate being happy!

After all, couldn’t we all use to smile a little more?