San Francisco and Los Angeles have been included in a new ranking of the world's happiest destinations, but both California cities finished near the bottom of the top 20. San Francisco secured 17th place with a "Happy Place" score of 67.5, while Los Angeles ranked 19th with a score of 61.9, according to a study by Irish travel insurance company JustCover.
The ranking analyzed over 1 million online reviews of tourist attractions, entertainment venues, national parks, scenic spots, and resorts across 155 global destinations. Researchers measured the frequency of language expressing happiness and joy in traveler reviews relative to the total number of reviews for each location.
Mexico's Tulum topped the global list with a perfect score of 100, followed by Soufrière, Santa Lucia, with 95.2. Oaxaca, Mexico, placed third, and Las Vegas came in fourth with a score of 88. The study noted that Las Vegas' high ranking was attributed to travelers arriving in celebration modes for events such as weddings and birthdays.
Maui rounded out the top five, with New York City at sixth place. Other U.S. destinations like Chicago, Austin, New Orleans, and Miami also outperformed California's major cities in the happiness index.
San Francisco narrowly finished ahead of Nashville, which was ranked 18th. Los Angeles, in comparison, scored higher than only Boston among the top 20 destinations. Anaheim, home to Disneyland, did not appear in the top 20 list.