U.S. ranks 24th in global happiness study

The 2025 World Happiness Report shows that happiness levels in the United States are at their lowest. The report, released last week, highlights that the U.S. falls behind several countries in North America and Europe in terms of overall happiness. The Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford conducts this annual study. It considers various factors like inequality, generosity, freedom, life expectancy, and perceptions of corruption. This year, the theme focuses on "the impact of caring and sharing on people’s happiness." Researchers base the global happiness ranking on a question asking people to rate their life quality on a scale from 0 to 10. Finland continues to be the happiest country in the world, topping the ranking for several consecutive years. Other Nordic countries, like Denmark and Iceland, also ranked highly. The top 10 countries in the report include Costa Rica, Norway, and Israel. In contrast, the U.S. ranked 24th, which is a significant drop from its standing as the 11th happiest country in 2011. The report also noted that the U.S. is ranked 115th in terms of freedom, which raises concerns about people's satisfaction with their life choices. Despite its low happiness ranking, the U.S. has a high GDP, at $76,276 per person, and ranks fourth for GDP globally. However, it is also highlighted that many people are eating alone, contributing to declining well-being. The report indicates that Nordic countries lead in happiness due to their strong health, education, and social support systems, resulting in low inequality of well-being.