By Brett Deneve:
What doesn’t make you happy? A long white-knuckled commute into the big city? How about working for an organization that supplies sub-par equipment? What about being under constant financial uncertainty?
Although some actually enjoy taking up the challenges life out, most can relate to these stresses, or so we think. A BRO reader discovered a site called “creditdonkey.com” – a credit card comparison site, which had recently published a study that found Buffalo to be the second happiest city in the country.
The study’s methodology is listed and has taken five things into account: the freedom to get another job granted “the current one sucks,” a short-lived commute, a decent wage, a lack of “crappy office equipment,” and a “non-nitwit boss,” said Tina O, author of the article for credit donkey.
Through some up-to-date U.S. Census information and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, credit donkey was able to track daily commute times as well as where employment rates are low. They also analyzed U.S. Census data for per capita annual income and benefits.
Buffalo, coming in second to Rochester, found it’s top-two finish with a 20.9 minute commute. “That leaves plenty of wing-consumption time, though you’ll have to be sure to do it off the clocks so you don’t get fired,” O said. Buffalo, with a 6.5% unemployment rate, holds the second-highest rate of the top ten, second only to Hartford, CT with a 6.8%.
They then looked what they called their “Frustration Index;” data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics “Computer, Automated Teller, and Office Machine Repairers” occupation category. “The more repairers per 10,000 residents, the higher the presence of poorly functioning office equipment,” said Tina O, author of the study’s article. This did not sit as heavily in factoring out final results because “a lame boss, bad pay, or a lousy commute usually outweighs constant paper jams or pleas for toner,” O said.
The Queen City practically waltzed into the top 3 cities with the least amount of faulty office equipment with a 4.40. Hartford crossed the finish line a step ahead with a 4.29; Boston, MA came in third with a respectable 4.70. Hartford came in third place overall in the study, right behind Buffalo, while Boston just cracked the top ten list.
Finally, they looked at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for complaints concerned with: sexual harassment, retaliation, racial or national origin, religion, age, and disability. “Ironically, the home of the EEOC (Washington, D.C.) gets the top dishonor,” O said.
We tied Rochester in boss comparability with a 0.18 claims per capita. Oklahoma City, OK and Kansas City, MO, came in at 0.36 and 0.33 respectively; they ranked seventh and sixth overall but dead last in the EEOC category. Hartford, with a 0.08, finished on Boston’s coat tails; they received a 0.06.
O began her article by discussing the grandiose yet steryotypical draws to a “big city” lifestyle. ” . . . dreams of being actors/rock stars/ writings/ corporate raiders. The idea is alluring,” she said. Buffalo, the city of good neighbors, is easy to acclimate on top of being quite malleable; this city has faced its fears and pushed forward.
To check out the findings yourself, just click here. For a listing of numerous other studies from Credit Donkey, check out their Facebook page by clicking here.