The 10 U.S. cities where people are most satisfied with their jobs—New York didn’t make the cut

Where you live has a greater impact on your happiness and career than you might imagine. 

According to new research from Glassdoor, the cost of living, weather, traffic patterns and popular industries within a city, among other factors, all have a significant impact on our happiness at work.

To find out where some of the happiest employees in the U.S. live, workplace insights platform Glassdoor created a list of the top cities with the most satisfied workers. To develop the rankings, Glassdoor analyzed over 20,000 employee reviews posted on their site between January 2022 and April 2023 by city and identified the 25 cities in the U.S. with the highest ratings.

Here are the top 10 cities with the most satisfied employees in the U.S., along with the average salaries for workers in those cities, according to Glassdoor:

1. Provo, Utah
   Average overall company rating: 3.94
   Average annual salary: $61,973
   
2. San Jose, California
   Average overall company rating: 3.88
   Average annual salary: $117,188
   
3. Santa Barbara, California
   Average overall company rating: 3.87
   Average annual salary: $72,240
   
4. College Station, Texas
   Average overall company rating: 3.83
   Average annual salary: $43,118
   
5. Boston, Massachusetts
   Average overall company rating: 3.82
   Average annual salary: $87,433
   
6. San Francisco, California
   Average overall company rating: 3.81
   Average annual salary: $108,426
   
7. Gainesville, Florida
   Average overall company rating: 3.81
   Average annual salary: $50,026
   
8. Washington, DC
   Average overall company rating: 3.80
   Average annual salary: $87,374
   
9. Salt Lake City, Utah
   Average overall company rating: 3.79
   Average annual salary: $69,274
   
10. San Diego, California
    Average overall company rating: 3.79
    Average annual salary: $77,027

California is the clear winner, boasting four of the top 10 cities on the list. San Jose and San Francisco, in particular, have been identified as two of the happiest cities in America in other research, in part because of their low depression and unemployment rates. 

Several of the top 10 cities earned their spot not only for being home to companies with inclusive, collaborative cultures and ample career opportunities, per Glassdoor's research, but also for having nice weather, a blossoming tech scene and a fairly low cost of living compared to other major metros.

New York City ranked last on Glassdoor's list, with an average company rating of 3.72. According to PayScale, the average cost of living in New York is 128% higher than the national average.

DON'T MISS: Want to be smarter and more successful with your money, work & life? Sign up for our new newsletter!

Check out:

6 remote and hybrid companies that help pay for employees' vacations—and are all hiring now

This author spent 3 years interviewing over 100 workers—here's the No. 1 career move that made them happier

The fastest-growing jobs that don't require a bachelor's degree, according to LinkedIn—some pay over $100,000