Can Money buy happiness?

 It’s a tough question, an easier one might be how much do happy people earn? This is an interesting question and one that the United Nations has examined.

The World Happiness Report is an annual survey by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network for the United Nations. This report examines global happiness in 156 countries, ranking countries using the Gallup World Poll according to six factors: levels of GDP, life expectancy, generosity, social support, freedom and corruption income. The World Happiness Report was first launched in 2012.

Another study looked at the relationship between salary and worldwide location, with judgements based on self-reported happiness around the world.

The world’s 25 happiest countries, in order of happiness, are Finland, Denmark, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, Netherlands, Sweden, New Zealand, Austria, Luxembourg, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, Israel, Costa Rica, Ireland, Germany, United States, Czech Republic and Belgium.

The happiest country in the world is Finland and in Helsinki, its capital, the average salary is £27,936 (about $36,000). Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, the second happiest country in the world, has a much higher salary of £34,342 ($44,255). The U.K. was the 15th happiest city, where people earn an average of £33,396 ($43,023).

People in the ten happiest U.S. states earn, on average, $44,903. The top ten happiest states in the U.S. in order are currently Hawaii, Utah, Minnesota, North Dakota, California, Idaho, Maryland, Iowa, South Dakota and Nebraska. (Amongst these states, 63 is the average retirement age and 80 is the average life expectancy).

The average salary across these ten states is $44,903, although it was markedly less in the happiest state, Hawaii, where the average annual salary is $38,604 and life expectancy is the highest of any U.S. state at 82.3 years. Utah was second with an annual salary of $45,563 and Minnesota was third with $51,339.

I should note that these figures are based on self-reported happiness. However, it is impossible to assume causal relationships between happiness and money earned—there are always other factors to take into consideration. For instance, there is a lot of research to show that globally, societies are happier where there is less inequality.