happy go lucky plano
Dallas neighbor dazzles on new list of happiest cities in America
Plano's the happiest city in all of Texas.
A new happiness study has ranked Plano one of the happiest cities in America this year, and it once again landed on top as the happiest city in Texas.
Plano has moved up on the list and ranks as the 16th happiest U.S. city in 2026. Last year, it was 17th.
WalletHub determined the happiest cities in America based on 29 relevant metrics based on "positive-psychology research" across three main categories: emotional and physical wellbeing, income and employment, and community and environment. As with most WalletHub studies, it compared the 182 most populous U.S. cities.
Fremont, California claimed the top spot as the happiest city nationwide for another year. Bismark, North Dakota and Scottsdale, Arizona, respectfully, rounded out the top three.
Here's how WalletHub ranked Plano across the three key dimensions:
- No. 15 – Emotional and physical wellbeing
- No. 22 – Community and environment
- No. 72 – Income and employment
The report additionally found that Dallasites spend the third-most amount of time at work in the nation. The city ranked No. 180 in the national analysis of U.S. cities with the "fewest work hours."
WalletHub also emphasized that money doesn't buy happiness — after a certain point.
"For decades, researchers have explored the science of happiness and identified several core factors, including mental well-being, physical health, strong social ties, job satisfaction, and financial stability," the report said. "Still, income has its limits — studies show that earning more than $75,000 a year does not lead to greater happiness."
Six-figure earners in Plano aren't necessarily as happy as those who don't make as much, as a separate financial study from SmartAsset revealed these big earners are only taking home about $72,653 after taxes and adjusted for the cost of living.
This is how other Texas cities ranked in the report:
- No. 39 – Austin
- No. 128 – Houston
- No. 135 – Lubbock
- No. 137 – El Paso
- No. 140 – Laredo
- No. 143 – Amarillo
- No. 150 – Brownsville
- No. 154 – San Antonio
- No. 155 – Corpus Christi
