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Instagram can inform you what’s new, what’s cool, and what’s for a feast. But can you apply it to find happiness? The data analysts at HouseFresh assume so, and they analyzed thousands of Instagram selfies to identify the happiest locations in the United States–and those places where intense smiles are more prevalent than genuine joy.
Happiness may be difficult to find, but it’s even harder to fabricate. A generation of internet users has grown up with everyone constantly looking happy on Instagram, and they have figured out how to tell the difference. No matter how much you rehearse or how many discarded shots end up in your phone’s trash, people have studied to piece together the clues from your selfies and figure out how you truly feel.
Thankfully, robots are selfie-literate, too. Artificial intelligence can recognize every face in a crowd, but it can also determine every emotion in a selfie. So, HouseFresh put technology to the test…
To calculate the happiest states and cities in the U.S., HouseFresh used Microsoft Azure’s Face API. This facial recognition tool places numerical estimations on emotions based on characteristics and expressions. They analyzed images from each state’s Instagram page, as well as from the top 100 U.S. cities by population. To work out the happiest cities and U.S. states, the team used the FaceAPI happiness score, averaging all the scores for the faces detected by FaceAPI in each location. For the smiliest American cities and states, they considered that a face has a smile if its smile score was more significant than 0.75. The locations were ranked by the percentage of people smiling.
The Happiest U.S. States
Utah comes out on top, with a happiness score of 74.49 out of 100. The Beehive State ranks high in many quality of life categories, including work-life balance and community engagement. Utah also boasts some of the best scenic views and cleanest air in America.
The Smiliest U.S. States
Sharing your smile with the world can be a satisfying thing, even if it’s only a selfie on Instagram. But which states have the smiliest citizens? Utah residents clearly have a lot to smile about, as 70.78% of photos contained a cheery grin. The Beehive State narrowly beat out Wisconsin (68.46%) and Nebraska (68.12%).
The Happiest Cites in the U.S.
Concord, California, is America’s happiest city, with a happiness score of 79.14 out of 100. Located in the Bay Area just 30 mins from San Francisco, Concord residents have plenty of reasons to be cheerful – an ideal climate, a vibrant community, and two theme parks.
Home to Brigham Young University, student selfies on campus help boost Provo, Utah (74.95%) to second on the list, just ahead of Knoxville, Tennessee (74.72%) in third.
The Smiliest Cities in the U.S.
It’s all smiles for residents of Concord, California, as it can lay claim to being America’s smiliest city, with nearly three-quarters of residents (74.41%) grinning in their photos. The Bay Area suburb beat out Knoxville, Tennessee (72.37%) and Charleston, South Carolina (71.70%). Orlando, Florida, places just within the top 20, with just 56.05% of people smiling for photos, despite hosting the ‘happiest place on Earth.’
Key Findings
Utah is the happiest and smiliest state in the United States, with a happiness score of 74.4 out of 100 and 70.7% of shots containing a cheery grin.
Location matters – 8 of the ten most cheerful American states lie west of the Mississippi River.
America’s happiest city is Concord in California, with a happiness score of 79.1 out of 100.
With nearly 3/4 of inhabitants (74.4%) grinning in their photos, it’s also the smiliest
