Kassel leads the city ranking: the happiest city in Germany!

Kassel leads the city ranking: the happiest city in Germany!

There is news from the world of life satisfaction: Kassel again attracts attention and leads in the 2025 urban ranking as the happiest city in Germany. According to the study of the lucky atlas, which was commissioned by the southern German class lottery (SKL), Kassel reaches 7.44 points on the satisfaction scale from 0 to 10. The city thus puts its competitors in the shade and confirms its top position compared to 39 other major cities. MDR reports that Kassel remains at the top of the rankings at the subjective life satisfaction.

The surrounding cities have to dress warmly: Krefeld follows with 7.39 points , followed by Düsseldorf, which has 7.36 points . In this ranking, larger cities make a rather bad impression.

The gap of satisfaction

Bernd Raffelhüschen, who is responsible for the investigation and researches at the University of Freiburg, explains that a large gap between satisfied and dissatisfied people has a negative impact on the happiness level of a city. This counts especially for cities like Frankfurt am Main, which with 6.65 points and Rostock does not cut out well in these statistics.

subjective satisfaction versus objective quality of life

An important aspect of the study is the comparison between subjectively perceived life satisfaction and objectively measured quality of life. The latter refers to statistics on living situation, demography, prosperity and environmental qualities. SKL reports that cities like Karlsruhe, which are in front of the quality of life, nevertheless perform weakly in life satisfaction: a paradoxical situation that has their roots in high living costs.

Average the life satisfaction of all 40 cities fell at 0.15 points compared to last year, which continues the gap between smaller and larger cities. For example, while Lübeck and Bonn had remarkable growth, the hall (Saale) and Frankfurt am Main experienced in satisfaction.

what makes Kassel so special?

Kassel is not only at the top of the lucky ones, but also deserves the title of an "overperformer": Despite a placement in the quality of life ranking, the city addresses its residents through low incomes, well -kept recreation areas and good health care. This is a fact that contradicts the general trend and puts Kassel in a particularly positive light.

The city clerk 2025 is based on the comprehensive survey of 23,468 inhabitants from the 40 largest cities in Germany between January 2022 and April 2025. This gives the survey a solid statistical background and shows the connections between living and life satisfaction more clearly.

Where do the others stand? In addition to Kassel at the top, there are other remarkable cities in the top ten list: Augsburg, Aachen and Münster. These offer young, student -shaped population and good medical care, which has a positive effect on the quality of life. [DIE ZEIT] (https://www.zeit.de/gesellschaft/2025-06/gluecksatlas-lebenspreellung-kassel-rostock survey) promotes the image of smaller cities with a high level of happiness and shows where the big cities are disadvantage.

whether Kassel can defend the top position again next year? The citizens are excited and it remains to be seen whether satisfaction remains in the upper regions.