The Institute for Quality of Life has dished out its annual list of the world’s happiest cities, and Denmark’s capital came out on top.
Copenhagen had the highest number of points on the 2025 index, making it this year’s happiest place to be. The city claimed the No. 1 spot due to its spotlights on education, democracy, digitalization, healthcare, holistic well-being, and its economy. Moreover, Copenhagen was highly positioned on the index due to its sustainability and safe public transportation.
The Happy City Index’s Top 5 was consecutively rounded out by Zurich, Switzerland; Singapore; Aarhus, Denmark; and Antwerp, Belgium. The highest ranked United States city on the 2025 list was New York City, in 17th place.
What Else Should I Know About The 2025 List Of The World’s Happiest Cities?
The cities are assessed in 26 ways and then ranked based on their scores in six key factors — citizens, governance, environment, economy, health, and mobility.
The 2025 index’s “gold” cities are the 31 happiest places. The Institute for Quality of Life noted that “there is no single perfect place to live that guarantees happiness for all its residents. However, some cities implement urban policies with remarkable wisdom, continuously analyzing their effectiveness, and their results are clearly reflected in the data.”
“This is why we created the GOLD Cities group,” the organization explained. “Not because we have deemed them the best, but because their indicators and figures allow meaningful comparisons with other places around the world, and the impact of their social policies is undeniably visible.”
Besides New York City, Minneapolis, Minnesota was the only other U.S. city to land in this year’s gold cities category. The midwestern hub ranked as the world’s 30th most happy place.
Seoul, South Korea; Stockholm, Sweden; Taipei, Taiwan; Munich, Germany; and Rotterdam in the Netherlands consecutively rounded out the gold list’s Top 10. Other global hubs on the larger list were Vancouver, Canada; Paris, France; Berlin, Germany; Porto, Portugal; Reykjavik, Iceland; Milan, Italy; and Dublin, Ireland — to name a few. The index ranked London as the world’s 31st most happy city.
