Irvine ranks 7th most serene city in US, Huntington Beach at 18th

Orange County is home to two of the nation’s happiest and low-stress cities, according to a pair of rankings.

In the past year, the financial information website WalletHub has twice ranked 182 big U.S. cities – including 29 in California – for measures of what I’ll call “serenity.”

One measure tracks happiness while the other gauges stressful living. Happy was defined by 29 metrics to score well-being, economics and community, while 39 data points graded key stresses — work, financial, family, health and safety.

My trusty spreadsheet averaged those grades to rank the cities for an overall sense of serenity. Irvine ranked No. 7 in the combined scorecard, with a No. 3 grade for happiness and a No. 16 score for low stress. Huntington Beach was No. 18 for serenity — No. 10 for happiest, and No. 34 for least stressed.

The most serene city was the Bay Area’s Fremont, which received the top honor in both rankings. Others in the serenity top five were Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Lincoln, Nebraska; Overland Park, Kansas; and Bismarck, North Dakota.

The Bay Area also had high on the serenity scorecard: No. 6 San Jose — from a No. 2 happiest grade and a No. 15 least-stressed ranking — and No. 24 San Francisco — No. 9 happiest and No. 43 least stressed.

Top half scores

Other California cities with above-par grades in the serenity rankings …

San Diego: No. 32 combined serenity ranking among 182 U.S. cities — from 15th happiest ranking and 53rd lowest stress.

Chula Vista: No. 35 — No. 27 happiest, No. 52 low stress.

Garden Grove: No. 36 — No. 20 happiest, No. 60 low stress.

Santa Rosa: No. 38 — No. 32 happiest, No. 49 low stress.

Anaheim: No. 45 — No. 30 happiest, No. 61 low stress.

Rancho Cucamonga: No. 48 — No. 42 happiest, No. 56 low stress.

Santa Clarita: No. 51 — No. 31 happiest, No. 73 low stress.

Glendale: No. 60 — No. 38 happiest, No. 81 low stress.

Santa Ana: No. 61 — No. 48 happiest, No. 72 low stress.

Oakland: No. 62 — No. 35 happiest, No. 87 low stress.

Oceanside: No. 67 — No. 43 happiest, No. 90 low stress.

Oxnard: No. 72 — No. 63 happiest, No. 84 low stress.

Fontana: No. 80 — No. 72 happiest, No. 88 low stress.

Riverside: No. 81 — No. 76 happiest, No. 85 low stress.

Long Beach: No. 89 — No. 87 happiest, No. 102 low stress.

Sad and stressed

Nine California cities that fell into the bottom half of the combined happy/stress rankings, included:

Sacramento: No. 99 for serenity among 182 cities — the 92nd happiest and 109th with the lowest stress.

Ontario: No. 101 — No. 86 happiest, No. 119 low stress.

Moreno Valley: No. 102 — No. 89 happiest, No. 117 low stress.

Stockton: No. 103 — No. 112 happiest, No. 96 low stress.

Los Angeles: No. 110 — No. 77 happiest, No. 141 low stress.

Modesto: No. 127 — No. 103 happiest, No. 143 low stress.

Bakersfield: No. 128 — No. 127 happiest, No. 120 low stress.

Fresno: No. 140 — No. 126 happiest, No. 154 low stress.

San Bernardino: No. 151 — No. 135 happiest, No. 164 low stress.

The least serene of the 182 cities, by this math, were Cleveland, Detroit, Memphis, Gulfport, Mississippi, and Birmingham, Alabama.

Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com