Zurich is the second-happiest city in the world, out of 250 surveyed, according to Happy City Index 2024.

This ranking may, however,  leave some readers perplexed. (Share your own views in the survey or comments section below.)

Aarhus in Denmark got the top spot, while Geneva was ranked in the 9th place.

What is the score based on?

The Happy City Index is based on indicators that relate “to the quality of life and the sense of happiness of residents”.

Unlike traditional indices that focus mainly on economic indicators like GDP, the Happy City Index considers a wide range of factors that contribute to residents’ quality of life that are divided into five key categories, such as citizens, governance, environment, economy and mobility.

Zurich scored high on citizens category (even higher than Aarhaus) but lower on governance.

Governance  includes factors such as involving residents in decision making processes and being transparent (which is odd, since Switzerland has the world’s most direct democracy, which gives each citizen a say in political matters).

On the other hand, the city did well in terms of economy as well as mobility, the latter referring to public transport options available to local population.

But are international residents as happy in Zurich as locals seem to be?

Every year, InterNations conducts the Expat Insider Survey, questioning more than 12,000 respondents about their experiences of living and working abroad in 53 destinations.

In that particular study,  Switzerland’s largest city ranks 16th out of 49.

While  the survey found that Zurich offers the best economy worldwide, it received a poor score (37) for the “ease of settling in” — that is, finding friends and local friendliness toward foreigners.

So do international residents find Zurich a happy city to live in? What is it about Zurich that makes them happy and what makes them unhappy? Share your views in the survey below or the comments section to give other readers some insights into life in Zurich.

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