With more than 10 years of experience as a professional writer, Megan holds a degree in Mass Media from her home state of Minnesota. After college, she chose to trade in her winter boots for slippahs and moved to the beautiful island of Oahu, where she has been living for more than five years. She lives on the west side but is constantly taking mini-road trips across the island and visits the neighboring islands whenever she can getaway. She loves hiking, snorkeling, locally-grown coffee, and finding the best acai bowl on Oahu.
With near-perfect weather year-round, incredible beaches and a laid-back lifestyle, the Hawaiian Islands are simply paradise. In fact, the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index has named Hawaii the happiest state in the country this year, the fifth time the Aloha State has been awarded this honor.
But not all cities are created equal, which is why we’ve compiled this list using data found from RoadSnacks.net to determine the happiest cities in the state. We removed housing communities from the list, such as Ocean Pointe in Ewa Beach, while keeping all census-designated places, cities and towns in the rankings. Keeping this in mind, here are the 14 happiest cities in Hawaii, ranked from least to most happy.
With less than 5,000 residents, this sleepy Kauai town is full of smiling faces who surely must enjoy their laid-back lifestyle and the phenomenal scenery.
Though Royal Kunia and Waipahu are separated only by H-1, the two areas couldn’t be any more different – 67 percent of Royal Kunia residents own their homes, compared to just 54 percent of Waipahu residents.
Beautiful scenery and shorter commute times make this area most desirable. According to areavibes.com, East Honolulu has the highest livability rating in the state, and is number 29 in the nation.
This family-centric community, where approximately 75 percent of residents own their homes and 58 percent are married, is a wonderful place to settle down and raise a family.
An astonishing 88 percent of residents own their homes in this residential area. Located just north of Kaneohe is the Census-designated place of Heeia, the happiest city in Hawaii!
I wonder what it says about the islands that 12 out of 14 of the happiest cities are all on Oahu – I’m sure it has something to do with the potential for career development as compared to the neighboring islands. What do you think? Did your city or community make the list? If not, check out the full rankings here and let us know how your city compares!
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