The newest SKL Happiness atlas (Glücksatlas), which surveyed 3.001 people living and working in Germany, has revealed the cities where people are feeling the best about life and where the mood is a little less perky.

Happy as Hamburgers

At the moment, it is easy to feel that in the grand history of the universe, we were not born in a merry hour. However, Hamburgers don’t seem to have gotten this memo. According to the most recent SKL Glücksatlas of German cities, the population of Hamburg is the happiest of all the large cities in the federal republic.

The Glücksatlas research was conducted by academics at the University of Freiburg, who asked 3.001 people in Germany between the ages of 16 and 74 to rate how satisfied they were with life on a scale of one to 10. The study found that inhabitants in the northern Hanseatic city gave their lives a 7,16 satisfaction score. Frankfurt (7,07), Munich (6,9), Berlin (6,88) and Hanover (6,75) followed in the ranking of the top five German cities where people are the happiest in 2023.

Leipzig (6,44), Dresden (6,49) and Bremen (6,5) were named as the three cities where people are a little less satisfied with what life is throwing at them, with the three metropolises placing bottom for 2023. In comparison to many cities, while people living in Dresden weren’t so happy with the circumstances in their lives, they were particularly in love with the city in which they live.

Wage satisfaction is a big factor for Germany’s city dwellers

Freiburg University researcher Brend Raffelhüschen pointed out that “citizens’ satisfaction with their level of income, personal health, their sense of belonging in their city and satisfaction with public services play a particularly important role” in determining their overall happiness.

Though Berliners were above the national average for happiness levels (6,72), people living in the capital were particularly unhappy about the quality of transportation, security and administration and public services in the city, which ranked the lowest of all categories with a 5,02 satisfaction level.

Frankfurt, which was recently ranked 13th in the World’s Wealthiest Cities Report for 2023, came top as the German city where the largest number of citizens said they were satisfied with their salary. Berlin, Munich and Hamburg followed after the banking capital.

Where Germans are the happiest overall, in Hamburg, the GDP per capita is 64.000 euros. This is in contrast to Leipzig, the city where the greatest number of people said they were dissatisfied with their current income, where the GDP per capita is a significantly smaller 38.000 euros.

Happiest German cities in 2023

Overall, these are the German cities where people are the happiest, according to the SKL Glücksatlas:

1. Hamburg (7,16)
2. Frankfurt (7,07)
3. Munich (6,9)
4. Berlin (6,88)
5. Hanover (6,75) 
6. Düsseldorf (6,69)
7. Cologne (6,65)
8. Essen (6,63)
9. Stuttgart (6,54)
10. Bremen (6,5)

For more information on the ranking, visit the SKL Glücksatlas website. 

Thumb image credit: Paranamir / Shutterstock.com