Sunnyvale Tops America’s 10 Happiest Cities List: 62% of Residents Earn $100,000

Sunnyvale, California, a city where nearly two-thirds of residents earn $100,000 a year, topped the list of “America’s Happiest Cities” despite the Golden State experiencing an exodus and a drop in house prices. living place.

In fact, California was home to six of the top 10 cities on the list, which combines 13 different metrics across three categories: personal finance, well-being and quality of life, according to SmartAsset.

Nearby Fremont and San Jose also make the list at number four and eight, while in the south, Santa Clarita and Irvine (ninth and 10th) and further north, Roseville (seventh) rounded out the top ten.

Bellevue, Washington finished third in the metrics, while Frisco and Plano, Texas each finished fifth and sixth.

The only city in the eastern half of the United States to finish in the top ten was Arlington, Virginia, home to the Pentagon and the US Department of Defense.

Sunnyvale’s population was 155,805 at the 2020 census, making it the second most populous city in the county.

Sunnyvale topped the list due to its scores on the ‘well-being’ and ‘quality of life’ metrics.

At least 62.5 percent of the city’s residents earn $100,000 a year or more and it has the third lowest percentage of residents below the poverty line.

The city also has a fairly low violent crime rate (149 per 100,000 residents) and a high marriage rate.

Home to several US government workers in nearby Washington, Arlington has 48 percent of residents earning $100,000 or more per year.

Cost of living represents less than 35 percent of median household income and resides in the county studied with the fewest bankruptcy filings.

Bellevue, Washington (61 percent) and Fremont, California (55.4 percent) ranked second and third, respectively, for the percentage of residents earning at least $100,000 a year.

Frisco, a suburb of Dallas, has the highest marriage rate (62.6 percent) of any of the cities studied under the metrics.

The city also scored a perfect 100 on the ‘personal finance’ metric. The only other city to score 100 in any category was Sunnyvale for ‘quality of life.’

The list combines 13 different metrics in three categories: personal finance, well-being and quality of life, according to SmartAsset.

Sunnyvale has a single, unified Department of Public Safety where all public servants are taught police, fire, and EMT skills.

Home to several United States government workers in nearby Washington, Arlington, Virginia has 48 percent of residents earning $100,000 or more per year.

Sunnyvale’s population was 155,805 at the 2020 census, making it the second most populous city in the county.

It also has a single, unified Department of Public Safety where all public servants learn skills to be police officers, firefighters, and EMTs.

The city has the second-highest population in Santa Clara County and the seventh-highest in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Six of the top 10 cities being California might come as a surprise, as the city has had a turbulent few years since the pandemic with higher taxes, rising crime and a troubling homelessness problem in major cities.

According to new research, there are 20 major US cities that have seen home prices fall in the past year, four of which are in California.

Only 20 of the top 186 markets tracked by NAR saw single-family home price declines in the fourth quarter, but experts suggest there may be more to come.

Six of the top 10 cities that are Californian might come as a surprise, as the state under Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has been through some turbulent years since the pandemic with higher taxes, rising crime and a troubling homelessness problem in The main cities.

The median price of single-family homes increased 4 percent in the fourth quarter from the same period last year. The average single-family residence now costs about $378,700, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Only 20 of the top 186 markets tracked by NAR saw declines in the fourth quarter, but experts suggest there may be more to come.

The west showed the lowest growth in the country at just 2.6 percent. Los Angeles has seen prices fall just 1.3 percent, but Sunnyvale’s close neighbors in San Francisco had the biggest drop in the country at 6.1 percent, with San Jose down 5.8 percent.

San Jose, the largest city in Santa Clara County, had one of the biggest drops but remains the most expensive place to buy a home in the country at a median price of $1,577,500. Prices peaked at $1.9 million in early 2022.

Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Jose, all of which have experienced major problems with homelessness and crime in recent years, are three of the markets that have seen declines. Nearby Anaheim also showed a 1.6 percent decline.

In fact, Bay Area homes are selling below their listing price for the first time in 10 years, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin, told Mercury News that it represents the largest exodus from the region, driven by remote work, especially in the tech sector.

“We can see this new normal where the San Francisco Bay Area is more like the rest of the country,” he said.

However, according to the NAR, what is driving the exoduses are massive tax breaks elsewhere, especially as Governor of California Gavin Newsom raise taxes on the rich.

In fact, all of the markets with home price declines are run by Democratic mayors, while those in California and Colorado are run by Democratic mayors and governors.

The downtown Bellevue, Washington skyline, which finished second on SmartAsset’s list

Frisco, Texas is a suburb of Dallas and home to the United States Soccer Hall of Fame. He finished sixth in the metrics.

An article published by the Los Angeles Times in early February he found out that crowds of residents are moving to northern Nevada and causing problems with pre-arranged residents who are seeing price hikes and traffic issues.

With people packing up and heading for greener pastures, even more could flee with progressive Democratic Assemblyman Alex Lee recently introducing a bill that would impose an additional 1.5 percent annual tax on residents, past and present. , with a worldwide net worth of over $1 billion, as of January 2024.

Already in 2026, the threshold for paying taxes would decrease. Those with a worldwide net worth of more than $50 million would have to pay a 1 percent annual wealth tax, while billionaires would still pay a 1.5 percent tax.

World wealth includes various holdings, such as agricultural assets, arts and other collectibles, as well as stocks and hedge fund interests.

California already taxes the wealthy more than most states, with the top 1 percent earning about half of the state’s income tax collections.

According to Forbes’ 2022 World’s Billionaires list, there are 186 billionaires living in California, up from 189 the year before, but far more than in any other state.

In 2020, California had the most millionaire households in the US, with 1.14 million households with a million or more in investable assets.

While some are fleeing Los Angeles because of rising taxes, others worry that homelessness, poverty and crime are on the rise as well.

Homelessness, and especially homelessness with the added facet of severe drug addiction, presents a significant problem for many major US metropolitan areas at this time.