There’s a search that we are all on that dwarfs our job or career search — the search for happiness.
And as we all know, where we live and the job we have can all play a big part in our overall sense of contentment and happiness. For that reason, we took a dive into a the most recent census data to help you identify which places in New Hampshire have the biggest smile of them all.
On our happy data journey, we settled on seven criteria to help determine which New Hampshire places are the happiest. The criteria include things like having insurance, owning a home, and having a job.
As it turns out, life is all rainbows and butterflies in Hampton, the happiest place in New Hampshire.
Don’t start feeling sad, there’s plenty of happy to go around as life is still pretty sweet in the following “Happiest Places in the Granite State”:
There’s Nothing We’d Rather Do Than Measure Happiness In The Granite State
There’s a bunch of different studies out there that try to measure what makes people truly happy. And while we all know that money doesn’t buy happiness, it definitely removes anxieties and helps keep you healthy. It’s just that anything past about $70,000 a year doesn’t help as much.
So what else besides money contributes to your happiness? Well we think the following certainly do:
- Being well educated (Population with at least a bachelor’s degree)
- Having a job (As measured by the unemployment rate)
- A short commute to work (God do people hate traffic)
- Low cost of living
- Having a family (Getting, and staying married, has a ton of happiness benefits, on average)
- Owning a home (That’s a big plus)
- And the poverty rate (Money definitely helps out)
That’s a ton of fun — and happiness — for the whole family, backed by science. The data all comes from the 2010-2014 American Community Survey.
After we decided on the criteria, we gathered the data for the 24 places in New Hampshire with over 2,000 people.
We then ranked each place from one to 24 for each of the seven criteria with a score of one being the happiest (Any ties were given to the larger place).
Next, we averaged the seven rankings into a Happiness Index for each place with the lowest overall Index being crowned “Happiest Place In New Hampshire”.
Read on for more happy information about the top ten or skip to the end to see a list of how every places in New Hampshire ranked. Our apologies to Hanover which ranked 11th overall and just missed the list.
1. Hampton
Population: 9,417 People Who Own Their Home: 67.5%
Married Adults: 58.7%
2. South Hooksett
Population: 5,378 People Who Own Their Home: 84.8%
Married Adults: 50.3%
3. Exeter
Population: 9,303 People Who Own Their Home: 61.6%
Married Adults: 49.3%
4. Lebanon
Population: 13,474People Who Own Their Home: 46.6%
Married Adults: 49.5%
5. Hudson
Population: 7,725 People Who Own Their Home: 70.9%
Married Adults: 48.4%
6. Portsmouth
Population: 21,366People Who Own Their Home: 49.2%
Married Adults: 43.5%
7. Londonderry
Population: 10,637 People Who Own Their Home: 79.8%
Married Adults: 57.8%
8. Nashua
Population: 86,799People Who Own Their Home: 53.2%
Married Adults: 48.6%
9. Derry
Population: 22,129 People Who Own Their Home: 53.4%
Married Adults: 47.9%
10. Milford
Population: 8,970 People Who Own Their Home: 48.0%
Married Adults: 52.9%
Detailed List Of Happiest Places In New Hampshire
| City | Rank |
|---|---|
| Hampton | 1 |
| South Hooksett | 2 |
| Exeter | 3 |
| Lebanon | 4 |
| Hudson | 5 |
| Portsmouth | 6 |
| Londonderry | 7 |
| Nashua | 8 |
| Derry | 9 |
| Milford | 10 |
| Hanover | 11 |
| Dover | 12 |
| Somersworth | 13 |
| Rochester | 14 |
| Keene | 15 |
| Concord | 16 |
| Berlin | 17 |
| Suncook | 18 |
| Laconia | 19 |
| Manchester | 20 |
| Claremont | 21 |
| Durham | 22 |
| Franklin | 23 |
| Newmarket | 24 |