Santa Barbara Ranked Most Expensive U.S. City to Achieve Happiness

September 11, 2023, 10:13 am 14.0k Views 39 Comments

By the edhat staff

We’ve all seen the articles about which countries are deemed the “happiest.” Headlines around the globe wait for the annual survery that delcares [insert Scandanavian country here] as the place where happiness abounds. 

It could be the universal healthcare, free higher education, rehabilitation programs, and plethora of other social safety nets that contribute to baseline of contentment of said Nordic country. Things that seem mythical to Americans, but an Australian-based money exchange server, S Money, decided to narrow the happiness scale in a way Americans can understand, using capitalistic dollars and cents. 

Look no further than our own little town. Santa Barbara has been listed as the most expensive U.S. city to be happy in.

The researchers used data from a 2018 Purdue University study on the relationship between happiness and income to find the price of happiness in every city. They converted data from the study to compare the actual price of happiness in each city according to the cost of living value.

As many of us already know, it’s expensive to live here. Virtually every discussion on housing turns into diatribes of how the cost of living in this former sleepy beach town has launched higher than a SpaceX rocket.

Sure, there will always be those 7th generation Santa Barbarans who inherited their great grandparents home that was originally purchased for 4 nickels and a basket avocadoes that don’t understand. To burst their generational-wealth bubbles, the cost of living in Santa Barbara is 57% above the national average, according to the Economic Research Institute.

This latest report puts a price of happiness in Santa Barbara at an annual income of $162,721.

Santa Barbara County has also been named one of the happiest places in the world based on The Blue Zones Index. It ranks the parts of the world where people regularly live longer than average.

So what do we have to complain about if we’re so happy, other than going broke?

While Santa Barbara tops the happy-expensive list, four other California cities aren’t far behind. 

10 most expensive cities to be happy in the U.S.

  1. Santa Barbara, Calif.
  2. Honolulu, Hawaii
  3. New York, N.Y.
  4. San Francisco, Calif.
  5. Seattle, Wash.
  6. Oakland, Calif.
  7. Anchorage, Alas.
  8. Sacramento, Calif.
  9. Boston, Mass.
  10. Irvine, Calif.

Honolulu, Hawaii, ranks as the second most expensive city in the U.S. to be happy in. The Hawaii capital, located on the island of Oahu, had an annual price of happiness of $148,943.

On the flip side, Knoxville, TN is the American city with the lowest cost of happiness at $88,032.

If you feel like trading your flip flops for cowboy boots, researchers seem to feel we’d all be happy there for a lower price.

Edhat Staff

Written by Edhat Staff

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  6. They don’t make it really clear how they measure this. And the top ten list is pretty random. It is notable that it includes Anchorage, Alaska. I would think it is most expensive to be happy if you are in an unpleasant place that is remote. Because you have to spend a lot of money to get to somewhere nice!
    It is also expensive to be in a high crime area.
    Most of what makes Santa Barbara a happy place to live is free, once you are here. Hiking in the mountains. Going to the beach. Enjoying one of our many free festivals.
    Yes, housing is expensive here. But most costs here are not much different than in the rest of the US. A refrigerator costs about the same here as in Tennessee. Same for health care. I think we have quite a bargain here.

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    • Most of the “nice places” in SB are so lavish and high maintenance that you will need to hire people to take care of it for you. Gardeners, maids, handymen; pretty soon you are running a small business and a money pit at that just to be in a “nice place.” It’s no wonder you’re unhappy. Downgrade your standard of living and get more enjoyment out of life.

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  10. I agree with the article, but I understand where the article is coming from. The sooner a person stops expecting “government” and others to make them happy or responsible for providing a higher quality of life, the sooner that person can continue to be unhappy on their own. Most of us know people with plenty of dough who are not happy. I’d like to hear the perspective from other folks who actually live in Santa Barbara and not from those who feel that they are part of SB or live “vicariously” via other nearby cities/towns/areas. For myself, well, I’d rather have the money to fund my lifestyle and not worry about what makes “the other guy” happy (and don’t tell me g’ment is going to make us happy….LOL).

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    • “The sooner a person stops expecting “government” and others to make them happy or responsible for providing a higher quality of life….” – Said no one. What you’re conflating this with is that developed countries with social safety nets for those who need them all have an objectively higher quality of life than the US. Go travel and see for yourself. Heck, just do a google street view in Copenhagen, Oslo, Munich, etc….

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    • The article is NOT about happiness per se, it’s about how much it costs to live here “comfortably.” As I said in my previous comment, happiness comes from within. I certainly know what it’s like to have no dough (once got down to 58 cents….that’s right….five dimes, a nickel, and three pennies, which was a last straw for me, after which I vowed to never/ever/EVER scrounge or beg to feed/clothe myself). As far as seeing things in other countries via Googs Street View…well, I have not been to Oslo (yet), but have seen things for myself in Munich, Copenhagen, London, Paris, Rome, Tokyo, Buenos Aires, Sydney, Prague, Madrid, Lisbon, Vienna, Athens, Beijing, Nadi, Venice, Brussels, all 50 states, across Canada, plus a whole lot of other places. My conclusion and the conclusion of true open-minded, experienced, and direct thinkers: The US has got it over every other place if you are willing to put in the work and rely upon yourself. If you are unwilling to do this, you get left behind or fall through the cracks. Stop worrying about others and take care of yourself and your family….if you do that, the “good stuff” will follow. Remember….don’t worry about me, a random commenter who wants everyone else to do well….again, take care of #1 (that’s you, and let me take care of me and my biz and we’ll get along just fine).

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    • Rather than “why should you,” it would make more sense to have written “why would you.” You are correct that I am “comfortable” in a sense. Comfortable with who I am. Comfortable with the decisions I’ve made and continue to make. Comfortable with selling my Silicon Valley house in the mid 1990s at a loss to purchase a home in SB in late 90s….SB property has gone up a bit. Hardly any regrets except I should have purchased more AMGN when I was working there, leaving too late and missing the ferry to cross over to the Isle of Skye (there’s a bridge now), and bending the truth a smidge with cops to get out of tickets. Bottom line is my experience (that’s MY personal firsthand experience….not from some book, not visiting other places via Google Street View….really? uhhhhhgggg) is that there is no doubt that the US is by far and hands-down the best place on the planet to live. The Great Barrier Reef is incredible, the beach towns and cities along the Queensland coast and islands are for the most part gorgeous…wonderful to visit, wonderful to travel, wonderful to vacation…..but to live there is a different thing altogether. Funny thing is that for those of us who have truly traveled to other parts of the world (not from inside gated all-inclusive resorts), we know how good we have it here…..not perfect, but much better than everywhere else that I’ve been.

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    • BABY – yup there you go again…. assuming you’re the only one who has “traveled” here. What “gated” resorts have you heard of in Europe? Hey, if you think the US is the best, fine. I could give a rats. I’ve seen your kind all over the world in my non-resort travel (never seen the inside of an all inclusive), we all have. They’re usually the ones lined up outside of McDonald’s in Florence or Five Guys in Nuremburg.

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    • Baby why don’t you just like what you like and stop your condescending assumption that people on this board who travel do so to gated resorts and don’t see the “real” place. You have no idea.
      I’ve been all over the world from five dollar a night and unsafe accommodations to 1200 a night places. I’be also lived in a foreign country, I suspect you haven’t.
      You saying that “My conclusion and the conclusion of true open-minded, experienced, and direct thinkers: ”
      Is freaking laughable.

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    • “we know how good we have it here…..not perfect, but much better than everywhere else that I’ve been.” – OK, you’ve bragged and ridiculed, but really have said NOTHING. What, exactly, is better about American healthcare, education, mental health treatment, homeless care, etc?
      Come on, your time to shine with some meaningful input. How is the quality of life better in the US than anywhere else (despite all studies/review/polls showing that’s not true)?
      Like with many other threads, we’re all waiting for some specific examples. Anyone can say “I’ve traveled, I know the US is better.” OK, Mr. Steves (not “Steve’s”….. whoops), tell us what’s better, with specifics.

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    • Stew–
      Exactly–this sort of simplistic and extreme thinking entirely fails to consider anything that the thinker in question doesn’t want to think about.
      “America is the best place on Earth.”
      How? Why? People either need to define what constitutes greatness. Military strength? Sure. The ability to earn insane amounts of wealth? Probably. Infant mortality, literacy, childhood poverty, crime, addiction, education….no, no, no, no….
      What other metrics do people want to consider. People like Babycakes don’t actually have any interest in thinking about people who suffer because of the way that our particular society has developed. If you dare to ask then it’s “We’re number one! We’re number one!” and, essentially, I’m good so F the rest of you.

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    • America is great. No doubt. But happiness in life comes about by finding and creating your own paradise. Making your own home, community and place within it better. It isn’t about a border, nor a political ideology or chosen theology. It’s about one’s inner path towards peace and happiness and how they embrace those things. Some of the happiest people on earth live in the worst places and have the least – they find their inner peace and happiness in their own homes and communities. You’d be better served to get off your high horse and realize that nothing you have or have had is a determination of your own happiness. And frankly, reading your vacillations between the extremes over the last year makes me think that you’re a lot farther from being truly happy than you care to admit.

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  11. Yikes…. But does that mean that people making less than that are unable to achieve happiness? No. I will say though, I’d be much happier and feel more secure, regardless how many $$$ I bring in, if I had the luxuries of universal healthcare, high quality education through college, lengthy parental leave without stigma, etc etc. It’s unfortunate, that in the US, happiness (and security) requires a high paycheck so as to be able to afford what people in other developed nations receive regardless of their income. Why is the US so insistent on denying its citizens a higher quality of life?

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  12. United States is approximately 9,833,517 sq km, while France is approximately 551,500 sq km, making France 5.61% the size of United States. Meanwhile, the population of United States is ~337.3 million people (269.0 million fewer people live in France). It’s kinda easier to do with less people and not having that pesky Constitution in the way. Glad Oakland made the list of happiest places bahahhahaha;)

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  13. Clearly there are parts of the US that are not wonderful and to drill down, there are parts of our most beautiful cities that are a mess. Chicago, LA and San Francisco come to mind. This is no different than Paris, London, Oslo, Brussels, etc.
    Our system isn’t perfect, but it works pretty well for being such a huge and diverse nation (USA is 5th in “most talked languages” with 435). We have huge diversity even within categories like “white” “black” “hispanic” “asian”. The US has immigrants from every country in the world

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  14. Everyone in this comment thread is blessed. You live here, by choice, you afford it, one way or another, so it’s the best place for you. And despite your complaints and sarcasm, and the bitching and moaning, you wouldn’t want to live any where else. And why should you? Because of what I said before, you afford it, you like it, and you’re blessed to be here.
    So, stop your wanking. You’re the 1% (or less) and you know it. So just stop.

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