Sad News: Philly Named Among the Unhappiest Cities in the US According to a New Study

Researchers from the University of British Columbia and Harvard University conducted a study to determine which cities in the United States are the unhappiest.  Philadelphia which is notorious for landing at the top of negative lists such as these ended up 10th on the list.

The researchers determined the rankings by  “large survey that asks respondents about their satisfaction with life. This measure, which is often interpreted as a measure of happiness, indicates that individuals may willingly endure less happiness in exchange for higher incomes or lower housing costs.”  Joshua Gottlieb of the Univeristy of British Columbia and co-author of this study stated, “Our research indicates that people care about more than happiness alone, so other factors may encourage them to stay in a city despite their unhappiness…This means that researchers and policy-makers should not consider an increase in reported happiness as an overriding objective.”

Either way we feel this study is definitely a false representation of the Philly spirit.  I guess the bright side is that we are 10th and other cities are deemed a lot less unhappy.  Here is the a snapshot of the study which can be found at http://news.ubc.ca/2014/07/21/unhappy-cities/

Top 10 happiest metropolitan areas with a population greater than 1 million (as of 2010):

1. Richmond-Petersburg, VA
2. Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Newport News, VA
3. Washington, DC
4. Raleigh-Durham, NC
5. Atlanta, GA
6. Houston, TX
7. Jacksonville, FL
8. Nashville, TN
9. West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, FL
10. Middlesex-Somerset-Hunterdon, NJ

Top 10 unhappiest metropolitan areas with a population greater than 1 million (as of 2010):

1. New York, NY
2. Pittsburgh, PA
3. Louisville, KY
4. Milwaukee, WI
5. Detroit, MI
6. Indianapolis, IN
7. St. Louis, MO
8. Las Vegas, NV
9. Buffalo, NY
10. Philadelphia, PA

U.S. metropolitan areas with the highest reported happiness:

1. Charlottesville, VA
2. Rochester, MN
3. Lafayette, LA
4. Naples, FL
5. Baton Rouge, LA
6. Flagstaff, AZ
7. Shreveport, LA
8. Houma, LA
9. Corpus Christi, TX
10. Provo, UT

The least happy American regions are:

1. Scranton, PA
2. St. Joseph, MO
3. Erie, PA
4. South Bend, IN
5. Jersey City, NJ
6. Johnstown, PA
7. Non-metropolitan West Virginia
8. Springfield, MA
9. New York, NY
10. Evansville-Henderson, IN-KY