Could the city that never sleeps also be the city that never…smiles? According to a new study by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NEBR), the answer may be yes; the research suggests that New York City is the unhappiest major city in the U.S., after adjusting for demographics, employment, and income.
Researchers, led by Joshua Gottlieb of the University of British Columbia's Vancouver School of Economics, reached this conclusion by analyzing data from the 2010 U.S. Centers for Disease Control survey on American life satisfaction. Between 2005 and 2010, the CDC conducted this survey, asking 300,000 people nationwide about how satisfied they were with their lives (and they repeated the survey each year). While the researchers admit that satisfaction isn't exactly the same thing as happiness, they decided to use the terms interchangeably.
Obviously, these responses can be majorly skewed by each person's life circumstances—which is why researchers controlled for individual income and employment. Rounding out the rest of the top 10 unhappiest cities list were (in order): Pittsburgh, Louisville, Milwaukee, Detroit, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Las Vegas, Buffalo, and Philadelphia.
Curious why New Yorkers are so bummed? While the study doesn't explicitly highlight any specific cause for why the Big Apple is the unhappiest city, it did find some correlations worth noting: Researchers found residential segregation is generally negatively associated with wellbeing—and in New York, neighborhoods are becoming increasingly segregated by income, according to recent Pew Institute research. Additionally, researchers believe weather can significantly affect happiness levels and found some weak evidence that milder winters result in greater life satisfaction. The study also touches on how expensive rent is in New York City, suggesting this high cost of living could contribute to residents’ general unhappiness.
Of course, if you live in New York City—or one of the other "unhappy" ranked cities, that doesn't mean you're doomed to suffer from depression. There's a lot you can do to take control of your own happiness: Check out these ways to be happier and healthier at work and these essential lessons to feel more happiness in your life.
MORE: 11 Tiny Life Changes That'll Bring You Major Bliss
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