Happy in the big city: Why Kassel is at the head of the happiness ranking

Happy in the big city: Why Kassel is at the head of the happiness ranking

happy in the small town: the life satisfaction of the Kasseler

The residents of Kassel, whether old -established or moved, consider themselves the happiest city dwellers in Germany. According to the recently published SKL-Glücksatlas, Kassel leads the list of 40 largest German cities in terms of life satisfaction. Erfurt, Aachen, Kiel, Krefeld and Münster follow in the other places. The Institute for Demoscopy Allensbach surveyed inhabitants of 40 major cities with over 200,000 inhabitants to create this ranking. It was shown that personal happiness is greatest in smaller, quieter cities. In contrast, the residents of Wiesbaden, Karlsruhe and Rostock are the most dissatisfied.

A look at the weighting of the happiness -determining factors in Kassel also offers interesting findings for other municipalities. Surprisingly, it is often not the economically strong cities like Munich that are considered happy, but softer factors that are decisive. This includes, for example, family policy measures such as the availability of daycare centers. Fortunately, a low school leaving rate and an efficient health system also contribute. On the other hand, crime, economic strength and the cultural offer only have an average influence. It turns out that demographic factors play a subordinate role. Cities like Görlitz benefit from their high average age, which, contrary to common assumptions, has no influence on general well -being.

Although Görlitz is not a big city itself, parallels can still be drawn to the findings of the lucky atlas. Here, too, it can be seen that smaller cities usually enable higher life satisfaction because they have fewer stress factors. The absence of excessive pressure and hustle and bustle therefore seems to be positive about the well -being of the residents.

The results of this comparison not only offer an insight into the mood of the city dwellers, but also provide important impulses for local politics. By concentrating on the significant factors that promote the happiness of citizens, cities like Kassel and Görlitz can further improve their quality of life and consolidate their position as the happiest places in Germany

Author: Max Mustermann / 12.03.2025

- Nag