Only One Wisconsin City Was Ranked Among The World’s Happiest

Based on this information, the United States shouldn't be confused with the "happiest place on Earth."

That said, there are few exceptions to the rule because 10 cities in America have been ranked among the happiest in the world.

The Institute for Quality of Life released its "Happy City Index" of Earth's top 250 happy towns.

Breaking Down the Happy City Index: How Cities Are Ranked

To understand it all, the London-based group examined indicators that directly relate to its residents' quality of life and sense of happiness.

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From there, the top 250 happy cities were placed in gold, silver, and bronze groups.

European Cities Shine in Happiness Rankings: Aarhus, Denmark Claims Top Spot

To no one's surprise, 37 European cities were in the gold of happy cities, with Aarhus, Denmark, taking the top spot, narrowly beating out Zurich, Switzerland.

US Cities Among World's Happiest: Minneapolis Takes Top Spot

The highest-scoring American city was Minneapolis, Minnesota, one of the gold group's twin cities. In silver, Boston, Baltimore, and the District of Columbia followed.

San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Pittsburgh, Portland, Oregon, Rochester, Minnesota, and Madison, Wisconsin, placed in bronze.

Ranked 167th overall, Madison was right before KARLOVY VARY in the Czech Republic and behind Serdang in Malaysia.

Madison was the only city in Wisconsin to make the top 250. Minneapolis and Rochester are the only other Midwest cities to make the list.

US Cities Lacking Happiness? Most Illinois Cities Didn't Make the Cut

In case you're keeping score, there wasn't one city in Illinois that made the list.