The U.S. might have missed the list of the happiest countries this year, but there are still plenty of happy spots across the nation. In fact, 10 U.S. cities recently made it into the world’s happiest cities.
Researchers from the Institute for Quality of Life, a London-based organization, recently published their latest ‘Happy City Index‘ featuring the 250 happiest cities worldwide. They examined various indicators that directly influence the quality of life and happiness of residents.
Cities needed at least 300,000 inhabitants, although some exceptional cities were also included. They were ranked based on five key areas that directly affect happiness: citizens, governance, environment, economy, and mobility.
Within those areas, there were 24 subcategories, such as the city’s educational system and transportation safety. Instead of assigning a numerical rank, the 250 cities were divided into three groups: golden, silver, or bronze.
Aarhus, Denmark, topped the list, just ahead of Zurich, Switzerland.
The 17 highest-scoring cities were all in Europe, including Denmark, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Austria, and Iceland.
Europe dominated the golden group with 37 cities, but one U.S. city, Minneapolis, Minnesota, also made the list. Excelling in the economic category, Minneapolis narrowly surpassed Basel, Switzerland.
Overall, 10 U.S. cities featured in The Happy City Index. Boston, Baltimore, and the District of Columbia were among the ‘silver’ cities. San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Madison, Wisconsin, Pittsburgh, Rochester, Minnesota, and Portland, Oregon, were ranked as ‘bronze’ cities.
Of these, only San Francisco was recently listed among the 10 happiest cities in the U.S.
Earlier this year, personal finance website SmartAsset reviewed the nation’s 90 largest cities based on 11 “happiness” factors, including life expectancy, marriage rates, traffic volume, and the number of residents earning $100,000 or more.
Arlington, Virginia, with a population under 300,000, was named the happiest city in that index. SmartAsset’s researchers credited Arlington’s happiness to its residents’ long life expectancies.
San Francisco ranked 10th, while Minneapolis came in 14th in that report. Portland, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and Boston were all outside the top 25, and the District of Columbia, Salt Lake City, Madison, and Rochester didn’t make SmartAsset’s list.
However, the Happy City Index researchers emphasize that happiness can’t be fully measured by numbers.
“There is no statistical woman or man whose sense of happiness can be studied by locating her or him in different cities of the world. In each location, a bunch of other determinants affect the feeling of happiness.”
Read More:
