Only two U.S. cities made a list of the "happiest" in the world, and one of them is located in the Midwest.
According to the 2025 Happy City index, 31 cities from around the globe were given "gold" status, the highest rank on the list.
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WATCH HEREProduced by the Institute for Quality of Life in London, the ranking looks at a number of factors to determine each city's "happiness" level.
The criteria includes 82 elements across six "themes" or categories:
- Citizens
- Governance
- Environment
- Economy
- Health
- Mobility
"We know happiness is influenced by many factors, and a wealth of research backs this up. Every year, we work hard to objectively assess what truly matters to city dwellers, using this insight to evaluate their happiness," the ranking states.
Using that criteria, the ranking named 200 cities around the world, ranking them from bronze to silver to gold.
Local
Of the 31 cities on the gold list, New York and Minneapolis were the only two from the U.S. New York ranked at No. 17, followed by Minneapolis at No. 30.
Copenhagen in Denmark was ranked the happiest of all, followed by Zurich in Switzerland.
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SIGN UP In total, 18 U.S. cities made the full list of 200. Indianapolis was the only other Midwest location to make the cut, however.
See the full ranking here.
