America's Happiest Cities

Photo: Richard Newstead | Lifesize | Getty Images If the recession or life in general has got you feeling down, you may want to consider moving to a happier place to live. A new study reveals the happiest metro areas in the United States, ranking 187 cities on six categories: life evaluation, emotional health, work experience, physical behaviors and basic access [to food, shelter and health care]. The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, based on random, phone interviews with more than 350,000 Americans in 2009, asked questions ranging from "Did you smile or laugh a lot yesterday?" to "Do you have a personal doctor?"So, which cities are the happiest in America? Click ahead to find out!By Natalie ErlichPosted 22 Feb 2010

Photo: John Elk III | Lonely Planet Images | Getty Images Population: 797,740  Subindex Rank: Emotional Health: 85Work Experience: 5Physical Health: 36Healthy Behaviors: 14Basic Access: 36

Photo: Alexa Miller | Taxi | Getty Images Population: 531,488  Subindex Rank:  Emotional Health: 126Work Experience: 7Physical Health: 73Healthy Behaviors: 46Basic Access: 14

Photo: Tim Sloan | AFP | Getty Images Population: 5,358,130  Subindex Rank: Emotional Health: 15Work Experience: 91Physical Health: 12Healthy Behaviors: 40Basic Access: 24

Photo: Bernd Geh | Photographer’ Choice | Getty Images Population: 1,819,198  Subindex Rank: Emotional Health: 51Work Experience: 14Physical Health: 8Healthy Behaviors: 10Basic Access: 27

Photo: David Madison | The Image Bank | Getty Images Population: 405,396 Subindex Rank:  Emotional Health: 48Work Experience: 19Physical Health: 16Healthy Behaviors: 8Basic Access: 86

Photo: Paul Thomas | The Image Bank | Getty Images Population: 466,741Subindex Rank:Emotional Health: 33Work Experience: 16Physical Health: 32Healthy Behaviors: 5Basic Access: 48

Photo: Cheyenne Rouse | Lonely Planet Images | Getty Images Population: 540,820  Subindex Rank:  Emotional Health: 5 Work Experience: 49Physical Health: 4Healthy Behaviors: 37Basic Access: 12

Photo: Holger Leue | Lonely Planet Images | Getty Images Population: 905,034  Subindex Rank:  Emotional Health: 2Work Experience: 36Physical Health: 3Healthy Behaviors: 8Basic Access: 8

Photo: Michael Snell | Robert Harding World Imagery | Getty Images Population: 260,364  Subindex Rank:Emotional Health: 3Work Experience: 31Physical Health: 1Healthy Behaviors: 50Basic Acess: 10

Population: 293,161  Subindex Rank:  Emotional Health: 27Work Experience: 1 Physical Health: 7Healthy Behaviors: 4Basic Access: 10

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