3 Midwest cities arranged in the recent index of ‘happiest’ in the world

A recent index produced by the Institute for Quality of Life in London arranged cities based on a number of factors to determine “happiness” factors, where three cities from the Midwestern US make the cut.

According to this year Happy City Index31 cities from all over the world were given the “gold” status, the highest rank on the list.

While only two American cities were in the “Golden” status, Minneapolis was one of them, ranking as the 30th happiest city in the world.

New York City was ranked as the happiest city in America in the index and the 17th happiest in the world.

While a total of 18 American cities were ranked on the full list of 200 cities, Indianapolis and Columbus were the only other Midwestern cities that made the index, at number 63 and no. 112 respectively.

Produced by the Institute for Quality of Life in London, the ranking looks at a number of factors to determine the “happiness” level of each city.

The criteria include 82 elements in six “themes” or categories:

1. Citizens
2. Management
3. Environment
4. Economy
5. Health
6. Mobility

“We know that happiness is influenced by many factors, and a wealth of research supports this. Every year we work hard to objectively assess, which is really important for city dwellers, using this insight to evaluate their happiness,” says the ranking.

With the help of those criteria, the ranking listed 200 cities around the world and ranked from bronze to silver to gold.

Copenhagen in Denmark was arranged as the happiest of all, followed by Zurich in Switzerland.

There is a look at where the American cities that made the list were arranged:

Gold

• No. 17: New York, New York
• No. 30: Minneapolis, Minnesota

Silver

• No. 34: San Diego, California
• No. 43: Washington, DC
• No. 56: Salt Lake City, Utah
• No. 63: Columbus, Ohio
• No. 70: Los Angeles, California
• No. 80: Seattle, Washington
• No. 84: Baltimore, Maryland
• No. 89: San Antonio, Texas
• No. 96: Nashville, Tennessee

Bronze

• No. 112: Indianapolis, Indiana
• No. 119: San Jose, California
• No. 131: Boston, Massachusetts
• No. 141: Portland, Oregon
• No. 176: Orlando, Florida
• No. 181: Phoenix, Arizona
• No. 198: Houston, Texas

See the full ranking here.