The Minnesota City That’s Now the 30th Happiest Place in the World

Each year, an updated version of the Happy City Index is released. This is put together annually by the website that goes by the same name, Happy City Index. This year, there's a Minnesota city that ended up as one of the happiest places in the world!

ALSO READ: Is Minnesota Considered a 'Green' State?

Happy City Index takes many pieces of information into consideration when making these rankings because happiness means something different for different people. The example they gave is:

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 ... compared to a student, a corporate professional, or a senior citizen.

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That's why they always come out with a ranking instead of naming one singular city as the happiest, and that's it.

What Makes a City Happy

To determine the rankings, they looked at things like:

• education
• inclusive policies
• the economy
• mobility
• environmental protection
• access to green areas
• and innovation

After all of that, they gave cities around the world gold, silver, or bronze awards. A total of 200 cities from around the world made the list in one of those three award brackets.

The Happiest Places in the World

Let's take a look at the 10 happiest cities in the world based on this study.

10. Rotterdam, Netherlands

9. Munich, Germany

8. Taipei, Taiwan Region

7. Stockholm, Sweden

6. Seoul, South Korea

5. Antwerp, Belgium

4. Aarhus, Denmark

3. Singapore, Singapore

2. Zurich, Switzerland

1. Copenhagen, Denmark

So a Minnesota city didn't make the top 10. However, we did make the gold ranking and came in at number 30! That honor goes to Minneapolis.

ALSO READ: Two Minneapolis Bars Honored as Some of the Best in the World

Happy City Index describes Minneapolis as a "vibrant urban gem". They write:

From lakeside serenity to a thriving creative spirit, Minneapolis combines social cohesion, cultural expression, and green ambition in a way few cities do.