How Happy—or Unhappy—are Your Favourite Cities?

Tokyo ranked a miserable 42nd in the 6th global Happy City Index, which featured 200 locations. Copenhagen (above) claimed the top spot, while somewhere called Pula in Croatia came last, just below Houston, Texas.

Singapore (3rd), Seoul (6th) and Taipei (8th) were the “happiest” Asian cities in the “Gold” category, with New York scoring 17th and London—home to the Happy City Index—at 31st.   

One of the world’s largest urban studies said: “A city of happy people will always mean something different to a five-year-old—who may expect places to play and opportunities to spend quality time with their parents, such as a quick return home from work—compared to a student, a corporate professional or a senior citizen, all of whom have specific needs and expectations.

Therefore, it is not fair to establish a single city as the leader. It is more appropriate to recognize a group of cities committed to cultivating and growing happiness, where education, inclusive policies, the economy, mobility, environmental protection, access to green areas and innovation are not only important components of official policies but are also evident in the solutions implemented. These solutions should be tangible for residents and have a direct impact on their quality of life.”

A city can only be included in the Happy City Index if reliable, measurable and comparable data are available for the categories of citizens, governance, environment, economy, health and mobility. 

Tokyo’s middling ranking has raised questions about the balance between economic strength and emotional well-being. While the city consistently ranks highly for safety, cleanliness and efficiency, it may lag in areas such as work-life balance, social cohesion and mental health support. Experts suggest that while infrastructure and services are world-class, policies that foster a deeper sense of belonging and leisure may need more attention.

The judges are a globally connected group of researchers, practitioners and innovators with a shared mission: understanding and enhancing the quality of life in urban areas with a focus on sustainable development. 

The Institute for Quality of Life—a global think tank dedicated to advancing the principles of sustainable development, with a focus on balancing the needs of present and future generations—is home to the Happy City Academy that offers courses tailored to empower city leaders, urban planners and stakeholders with the tools and knowledge needed to enhance the quality of life. See where your favourite—and least favourite—city is placed in the 2025 Happiness Ranking below, with full details here: https://happy-city-index.com/

Rank	City	Country	Total
1	Copenhagen	Denmark	1039
2	Zurich	Switzerland	993
3	Singapore	Singapore	979
4	Aarhus	Denmark	958
5	Antwerp	Belgium	956
6	Seoul	South Korea	942
7	Stockholm	Sweden	941
8	Taipei	Taiwan Region	936
9	Munich	Germany	931
10	Rotterdam	Netherlands	920
11	Vancouver	Canada	919
12	Vienna	Austria	918
13	Paris	France	909
14	Helsinki	Finland	908
15	Aalborg	Denmark	906
16	Berlin	Germany	905
17	New York, NY	United States	902
18	Dresden	Germany	893
19	Brussels	Belgium	887
20	Geneva	Switzerland	883
21	Porto	Portugal	879
22	Barcelona	Spain	875
23	Oslo	Norway	870
24	Dublin	Ireland	862
25	Milan	Italy	856
26	Roskilde	Denmark	855
27	Reykjavik	Iceland	854
28	Auckland	New Zealand	853
29	Adelaide	Australia	846
30	Minneapolis, MN	United States	845
31	London	United Kingdom	842
32	Leuven	Belgium	840
33	Lyon	France	838
34	San Diego, CA	United States	831
35	Bruges	Belgium	830
36	Amsterdam	Netherlands	830
37	Utrecht	Netherlands	828
38	Turin	Italy	824
39	Ghent	Belgium	823
40	Randers	Denmark	822
41	Ljubljana	Slovenia	817
42	Tokyo	Japan	814
43	Washington, DC	United States	813
44	Holstebro	Denmark	812
45	Ballerup	Denmark	811
46	Graz	Austria	811
47	Linz	Austria	806
48	Basel	Switzerland	806
49	Liege	Belgium	802
50	Eindhoven	Netherlands	801
51	Canberra	Australia	794
52	Bilbao	Spain	793
53	Espoo	Finland	792
54	Beijing	China	784
55	Busan	South Korea	782
56	Salt Lake City, UT	United States	780
57	Düsseldorf	Germany	779
58	Bern	Switzerland	778
59	Ulsan	South Korea	776
60	Florence	Italy	774
61	Bergen	Norway	774
62	Vilnus	Lithuania	773
63	York	United Kingdom	771
64	Columbus, OH	United States	771
65	The Hague	Netherlands	769
66	Hannover	Germany	768
67	Bologna	Italy	767
68	Melbourne	Australia	767
69	Cork	Ireland	766
70	Los Angeles, CA	United States	759
71	Kaunas	Lithuania	759
72	Incheon	South Korea	756
73	Vasteras	Sweden	756
74	Buenos Aires	Argentina	756
75	Sydney	Australia	754
76	Hsinchu	Taiwan Region	754
77	Luxembourg	Luxembourg	752
78	Gothenburg	Sweden	751
79	Brisbane	Australia	751
80	Seattle, WA	United States	750
81	Mechelen	Belgium	749
82	Frankfurt	Germany	743
83	Reading	United Kingdom	742
84	Baltimore, MD	United States	741
85	Zaragoza	Spain	741
86	Lausanne	Switzerland	735
87	Changhua	Taiwan Region	733
88	Gold Coast	Australia	730
89	San Antonio, TX	United States	726
90	Lisbon	Portugal	726
91	Wellington	New Zealand	725
92	Kaohsiung	Taiwan Region	725
93	Aalter	Belgium	721
94	Trondheim	Norway	720
95	Aachen	Germany	720
96	Tampere	Finland	718
97	Valencia	Spain	718
98	Nashville, TN	United States	718
99	Turku	Finland	716
100	Tel Aviv	Israel	715
101	Jonkoping	Sweden	713
102	Manchester	United Kingdom	713
103	Bristol	United Kingdom	708
104	Maribor	Slovenia	708
105	Bremen	Germany	707
106	Innsbruck	Austria	707
107	Alesund	Norway	706
108	Arendal	Norway	703
109	Tallinn	Estonia	702
110	Wuhan	China	700
111	Budapest	Hungary	700
112	Indianapolis, IN	United States	699
113	Taichung	Taiwan Region	698
114	Christchurch	New Zealand	696
115	Taoyan	Taiwan Region	695
116	Rome	Italy	693
117	Malmo	Sweden	693
118	Oxford	United Kingdom	692
119	San Jose, CA	United States	689
120	Monaco	Monaco	687
121	Namur	Belgium	687
122	Lucerne	Switzerland	683
123	Gdynia	Poland	683
124	Genoa	Italy	683
125	Oulu	Finland	682
126	Eskilstuna	Sweden	680
127	Istanbul	Turkey	678
128	Shanghai	China	677
129	Osaka	Japan	675
130	Birmingham	United Kingdom	675
131	Boston, MA	United States	672
132	Białystok	Poland	671
133	Madrid	Spain	671
134	Tainan	Taiwan Region	669
135	Hobart	Australia	668
136	Dalian	China	658
137	Jinan	China	654
138	Riyadh	Saudi Arabia	651
139	Gdansk	Poland	648
140	Andorra la Vella	Andorra	648
141	Portland, OR	United States	647
142	Debrecen	Hungary	646
143	İzmir	Turkey	645
144	Leipzig	Germany	640
145	Cambridge	United Kingdom	638
146	Darwin	Australia	631
147	Cracow	Poland	629
148	Halifax	Canada	627
149	Kiel	Germany	627
150	Parnu	Estonia	626
151	Ioannina	Greece	624
152	Palermo	Italy	623
153	Prague	Czech Republic	620
154	Sapporo	Japan	620
155	Lublin	Poland	618
156	Suzhou	China	618
157	Sofia	Bulgaria	618
158	Bordeaux	France	617
159	Valetta	Malta	613
160	Toronto	Canada	613
161	Edinburgh	United Kingdom	611
162	Bydgoszcz	Poland	611
163	Lübeck	Germany	607
164	Kobe	Japan	606
165	Perth	Australia	604
166	Vigo	Spain	603
167	Kuala Lumpur	Malaysia	602
168	Chengdu	China	601
169	Quezon City	Philippines	598
170	Moscow	Russia	597
171	Naples	Italy	597
172	Chiayi	Taiwan Region	591
173	Keelung	Taiwan Region	591
174	Cebu City	Philippines	586
175	Warsaw	Poland	585
176	Orlando, FL	United States	582
177	Brno	Czech Republic	582
178	Ottawa	Canada	579
179	Roeselare	Belgium	578
180	Sopot	Poland	575
181	Phoenix, AZ	United States	574
182	Newcastle	United Kingdom	574
183	Nicosia	Cyprus	573
184	Athens	Greece	573
185	Petaling Jaya	Malaysia	573
186	Chisinau	Moldova	570
187	Quito	Ecuador	569
188	Leicester	United Kingdom	566
189	Czestochowa	Poland	564
190	Kunming	China	562
191	Podgorica	Montenegro	561
192	Guadalajara	Mexico	561
193	Makati City	Philippines	556
194	Quebec City	Canada	556
195	Bridgetown	Barbados	556
196	Riga	Latvia	556
197	Panama City	Panama	555
198	Ankara	Turkey	552
199	Houston, TX	United States	552
200	Pula	Croatia	548

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