Study: Beaumont is the unhappiest city in the country

Meanwhile, Napa is one big happy. Obviously.

AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez

This is Beaumont in 2008 after Hurricane Ike.

In a University of Vermont study that came out today, a group of scholars mapped happiness by using geographically-targeted tweets to decide if residents of certain cities are joyful.

The results aren't all that surprising: Napa, California, is the happiest city in the U.S., and Beaumont, Texas, is the saddest.

Other cities that are all smiles were Santa Fe, New Mexico; Green Bay, Wisconsin; and Boulder, Colorado. Frowny faces go to Shreveport, Louisiana; Memphis, Tennessee; and Flint, Michigan.

AP Photo/Eric Risberg

This is Napa Valley in June 2011. Where would you rather be: Beaumont or Napa?

The point of the study was to decide how living in an urban area correlates to personal well-being. It looked at 10 million geo-tagged tweets from 373 cities in the U.S. in 2011. Certain words were given ratings -- 1 (sad) to 9 (happy) -- and then those ratings were matched to the place where the tweet originated. "LOL" would get you some good points. "Hate" or curse words -- not so good.

The list ranks "rainbow" as one of the happiest words found on Twitter. "Earthquake" is one of the saddest, notes CNN. Unsurprising is that wealthier areas have high levels of happiness. Areas of high obesity are generally sadder, according to the report.

It's worth noting that only 15% of adults are on Twitter, and many of those are in the 18-29 age bracket, so the study (like any) should be considered within its own restrictions. Here's our takeaway: Young people hate Beaumont and would rather be drinking in Napa.

And that seems pretty believable, no?