How happy do you feel in the city you live in? This was the question answered by 35,897 Polish residents in a survey conducted by Otodom and ThinkCo between September 2021 and February 2022. It turned out that the “happiest” Polish cities are: Gdynia, Gdańsk and Zielona Góra, while the residents of Częstochowa, Kalisz and Ruda Śląska feel unhappy.

Respondents expressed their evaluation on a scale of 1 (completely unhappy) to 5 (maximally happy). The aim of the survey was to understand what influences the subjective feeling of happiness in the city and its immediate surroundings. Therefore, in addition to generally indicating the level of happiness, respondents also indicated which elements affect it positively and which negatively. Thanks to this, we know in which Polish cities people feel happiest and what causes this.

More than half of Poles are happy in their cities. More than 57% of respondents declare that they are happy where they live. However, as many as 20.9% do not assess the level of happiness in their city very well.

What influences our subjective feeling of happiness in cities?

As many as 29% of Poles point the access to shops. They want to do the most important daily errands in the immediate vicinity and are happy with a discount shop or a shop near home.

Poles also appreciate cities that give access to nature (21.7%) and are well connected (23.9%) and with many options for entertainment and relaxation (21.1%), as well as being safe (21.7%).

Poles complain about the poor state of the environment such as access to green spaces, traffic noise levels or air cleanliness (23.9%), limited access to healthcare (22.2%) and inefficient public transport and commuting problems (22%).

However, the cost of living hurts them the most. As many as 36% of those surveyed indicated that finances were their biggest obstacle to happiness.

Adrian Andrzejewski