--- title: Why Americans Have Gotten a Lot Less Happy Over the Past Decade description: A new report that measures happiness found that the United States is falling, while Denmark has taken top spot for happiest country. authors: - name: Martha C. White role: Writer url: https://money.com/author/martha-c-white/ education: BA, English, Princeton University at_money_since: 2015 articles: 350 covers: - Lifestyle - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Federal Reserve Rate Cuts - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology published: '2016-03-16T13:35:14.000Z' modified: '2024-04-16T10:19:21.000Z' section: Lifestyle tags: - Happiness - Income Inequality - International Happiness Day - money and happiness - pubdesk word_count: 276 canonical: https://money.com/happiness-report-americans/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![american flag with unhappy emojis for stars](https://img.money.com/2016/03/160316_em_americanslesshappy.jpg) People in the United States are less happy than they were a decade ago, a new global study finds. We don't even rank in the top 10 happiest countries. The new [World Happiness Report 2016](http://5c28efcb768db11c7204-4ffd2ff276d22135df4d1a53ae141422.r82.cf5.rackcdn.com/HR-V1_web.pdf), released just before UN World Happiness Day on the 20th, determined that the United States came in 13th in a ranking of countries as measured by happiness. The report's happiness index uses a seven-point scale to measure each country that includes GDP, social support, healthy life expectancy, the freedom to make choices in life, generosity, and the perception of corruption, as well as a "dystopia" score. While 13th isn't bad, relatively speaking, another measure puts this into perspective by noting that the U.S. happiness level dropped sharply over roughly a decade. In a list of 126 countries, with No. 126 the economically troubled Greece, the U.S. came in 93rd, indicating that we're much less happy since an earlier measurement taken between 2005 and 2007. What's more, the U.S. doesn't just have [income inequality](https://money.com/income-inquality-democrats-republicans/): It has happiness inequality, too. The report found that the gap between the most and least-happy Americans was significant: We came in 85th out of 157 countries "There is a very strong message for my country, the United States, which is very rich, has gotten a lot richer over the last 50 years, but has gotten no happier," Jeffrey Sachs, head of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, which developed the report, told [Reuters](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-world-happiness-idUSKCN0WI0TJ). "The message for the United States is clear. For a society that just chases money, we are chasing the wrong things. Our social fabric is deteriorating, social trust is deteriorating, faith in government is deteriorating." 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