Krefeld inspires: Second place in the 2025 happiness ranking!

Krefeld inspires: Second place in the 2025 happiness ranking!

Opinions differ when it comes to satisfaction levels in large cities. Krefeld cuts a strong figure here and has reached second place in Germany in the “SKL Happiness Ranking 2025”. LocalClick reports that Professor Dr. Bernd Raffelhüschen from the University of Freiburg and his team found striking results in terms of life satisfaction when they examined 23,468 respondents between the ages of 16 and 78. Krefeld's own residents contribute significantly to these surprising values ​​with their positive attitude, as only 4.2 percent of Krefeld residents feel dissatisfied - for comparison: nationwide this value is 9.5 percent.

Although Krefeld is often viewed as having weaker economic data and a higher crime rate compared to other cities, there is still a surprising result: the subjective life satisfaction of Krefeld residents exceeds the objective welfare indicators. With 7.39 points in the ranking of the 40 major German cities with more than 200,000 inhabitants, this is a remarkable success and shows that a strong community and a high quality of life are crucial. Krefeld performs particularly well in the areas of home ownership and living space per person, which benefits the happiness of its citizens. According to an evaluation SKL Happiness Atlas Air quality, which is often above the level of other large cities, also plays a significant role.

Factors for life satisfaction

But what should we blame for the high level of satisfaction in Krefeld? In addition to the strong community, four factors are of central importance: health, money, genetic disposition and the social environment. The community is particularly important and supporting each other is a given for many people in Krefeld. There is a harmonious balance, so that few people in Krefeld are dissatisfied. A study shows that nine out of ten city dwellers feel comfortable where they live. Leisure activities and job opportunities play a major role here.

However, there are also critical voices: high traffic congestion and the living situation are hotspots that can affect the quality of life in some aspects. However, Krefeld has managed to continue to set positive accents in these challenges and to position itself as a city in which happiness in life can be kept high, despite objective reality.

The results of the study make it clear once again that satisfaction is contagious. The positive atmosphere in Krefeld radiates not only within the city limits, but also into the neighboring regions, which fills the locals with pride.