The U.S. failed to break the top 20 in the latest edition of the World Happiness Report. The top spots went mostly to Nordic and Northern European countries, though Costa Rica and Israel came in at No. 4 and No. 8, respectively. The U.S. was ranked a distant No. 23, after most of Western Europe, Mexico, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia. To determine the ranking, the Gallup World Poll asks respondents in 147 countries to evaluate their lives using the image of a ladder, with the best possible life as a 10 and the worst possible as a 0. The top-ranked Finns reported an average life satisfaction score of 7.76, while the U.S. reported 6.82, down 0.27 from the year before. Researchers also look at six factors including GDP per capita, life expectancy, generosity, and perceptions of freedom and corruption to try to account for variations among countries. Life satisfaction among Americans under 25 in particular has dropped by almost a full point over the last decade.
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