Painted ladies houses at sunset in San Francisco

 – 
Staff Writer

 · 
March 30, 2026

The Happy City index is the largest community-driven study of urban development worldwide, compiling data from 251 cities. The 2026 edition is here, and San Francisco ranked first among U.S. cities, placing 45th overall.

San Francisco was the only city in the United States to rank in the top 150 on the list. The next U.S. city is San Diego, placed at 155, followed by San Jose at 172 and Boston at 177.

The Happy City Index studies 251 major cities around the world, using 64 indicators placed into 6 key dimensions. This is the 6th edition of the Happy City Index, and it was compiled by hundreds of researchers. The indicators were grouped into four methodological types, each with different rules for weighing and interpreting.

The six themes for metrics are citizens, governance, environment, economy, health, and mobility.

Dolores Park on a sunny day with groups of people sitting on the grass.Photo by Dan Dennis on Unsplash

Some examples of indicators in the citizens category include higher education density, housing affordability ratio, and cultural institutions per 100,000 residents.

In the governance category, indicators include open data portal availability and
electronic payments for municipal services. Environmental indicators include the recycling rate, the biodiversity protection strategy, and more. Indicators in the economy category include GDP per capita, youth unemployment ratio, and businesses per 1,000 Residents.

Some examples of health indicators include parks per kilometer, the percentage of the population covered by medical insurance, and life expectancy at birth. Finally, mobility indicators include public transit ridership per capita, road traffic accidents per 1,000 residents, and more.

The top 10 happiest cities

Copenhagen was ranked first in the index, followed by Helsinki. Switzerland was well represented in the top 10, with three cities, and Sweden has two cities in the top 10.

Copenhagen, Denmark

Helsinki, Finland

Geneva, Switzerland

Uppsala, Sweden

Tokyo, Japan

Trondheim, Norway

Bern, Switzerland

Malmö, Sweden

Munich, Germany

Aarhus, Switzerland

You can learn more about the 2026 Happy City Index and see the full ranking here.