Huntington beach
A general view of atmosphere during the Grand Opening of The Bungalow Huntington Beach at The Bungalow Huntington Beach on July 7, 2016 in Huntington Beach, California. Getty Images

California is resoundingly the place to be for those looking to brighten up their life in 2017, according to a survey released Monday. The Golden State was featured eight times among the top nine happiest cities in America to live, as indicated by a report from personal-finance website Wallet Hub.

On the list of the top cities, based on 30 key indicators including income, depression and divorce, the suburb of Fremont led the way, followed by another Bay Area city in San Jose. Fellow California locales Irvine, San Francisco, Huntington Beach, San Diego, Oakland and Santa Rosa also featured prominently. Sioux Falls, South Dakota, was ranked fifth, and Washington D.C., was in and 10th place, the only non-Californian cities in the top 10.

Read: Best City To Live In USA 2017: Find Out The Top Places To Reside In America, According To The Well-Being Index​

The survey’s analysts evaluated 150 of the largest cities across the United States in three main categories: emotional and physical well-being, income and employment and community and environment.

Emotional and physical well-being factors, which included life expectancy, life-satisfaction index and obesity rate, were each weighted with 50 points. Income and employment considerations, comprising job satisfaction and poverty, along with community and environment, including weather and leisure time, were weighted with 25 points.

Source: WalletHub

While the survey reflected the country’s continued interest in happiness, one of the experts consulted for the survey, S. Katherine Nelson-Coffey, assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of the South, cautioned that too much focus on it could lead to the reverse effect.

“Studies suggest that happiness is an important goal for people around the world, so Americans aren’t the only ones who value happiness,” she said. “That said, placing too much importance on happiness for its own sake can have negative consequences. When people obsessively seek happiness, they are often disappointed.”

Californian cities scored highly both in terms of low rates of depression and low obesity rates. Fremont also had the lowest separation and divorce rate.

At the other end of the scale, the city with the highest separation and divorce rate, Detroit had a rate 2.7 times higher. Detroit was also ranked at the bottom of the overall happiness list. Joining Detroit in the bottom five were Cleveland, Augusta, Georgia, Birmingham, Alabama and Toledo, Ohio.