Suche
Mein Konto
Kassel is Germany’s happiest city – all the surprises in the ranking!
Weil am Rhein in focus: Analysis of happiness in German cities in 2025 shows surprising rankings and life satisfaction trends.
Kassel is Germany’s happiest city – all the surprises in the ranking!
A current survey on life satisfaction in major German cities shows that happiness is strongly influenced by the size of the city. In the latest study, Kassel emerged as the happiest big city in Germany, followed by Krefeld and Düsseldorf. This reports Jaumann publishing house.
What is astonishing is that only two of the ten largest cities in Germany, namely Düsseldorf and Hamburg, are in the top ten for happiness. This shows once again that smaller cities are often ahead when it comes to quality of life. Beyond the ranking, it is noticeable that Erfurt and Aachen, which were in second and third place last year, slipped to fifth and sixth place in the current ranking. Rostock, however, remains in last place in the study, just like in 2024.
Augsburg: Bavarian happiness
The Bavarian city of Augsburg has established itself as the happiest among the major cities in Germany. According to a survey by the “Glücksatlas” of the South German Class Lottery (SKL), it ranks fourth among the 40 largest cities with over 200,000 inhabitants. This represents a significant achievement, especially considering that Munich and Nuremberg rank behind Augsburg. Munich has lost three places compared to last year and is now in 27th place, while Nuremberg fell from 33rd to 36th. Time online summarizes that the decline in large cities shows an alarming trend.
Bernd Raffelhüschen from the University of Freiburg explains that the distribution of satisfaction is crucial for happiness in life. Smaller cities often score points with a pleasant student-oriented environment, a younger population, lots of green spaces and above-average medical care. This could explain why they perform so well compared to metropolises such as Frankfurt am Main and Berlin, which are ranked 35th and 37th.
The happiness index is changing
Another consideration is the so-called happiness index, which in 2024 gave Hamburg the highest value in Germany at 7.38 points. Overall life satisfaction has increased slightly, but the gap between large and small cities remains. While people in cities like Leipzig and Dresden tend to be unhappier, surrounding smaller cities often show a different picture. Statista provides important information that sheds light on the causes of life satisfaction.
In summary, the survey shows that life satisfaction in Germany has improved slightly compared to the previous year. Overall, people are happier than the EU average, which is certainly positive news.