Kassel remains the happiest big city in Germany in the Glücksatlas 2025!

Kassel remains the happiest big city in Germany in the Glücksatlas 2025!

Kassel, Deutschland - On June 12, 2025, Kassel was again awarded the happiest city in Germany. According to the “Glücksatlas” of the South German class lottery (SKL), Kassel takes first place in the ranking of the 40 largest cities with more than 200,000 inhabitants for the second time in a row. With an average number of 7.44 on a scale from 0 to 10, the city was able to increase its satisfaction slightly compared to the previous year - from 7.38 points to 7.44 points. Krefeld and Düsseldorf follow in places second and three, while Wiesbaden ranks in the penultimate place and cuts out to 35 in Frankfurt am Main. Rostock again takes the last place with only 6.08 points.

The survey, which was carried out between January 2022 and April 2025, interviewed a total of 23,468 inhabitants. Bernd Raffelhüschen, the championship manager from the University of Freiburg, emphasizes that an even distribution of satisfaction is crucial for happiness in cities. This is particularly evident in large cities such as Frankfurt am Main, where there is a noticeable gap between satisfied and dissatisfied citizens. In contrast, smaller cities receive advantages through a student -shaped environment, a young population, a lot of green and comprehensive medical care.

higher satisfaction in small cities

The lucky atlas has shown that life satisfaction tends to decrease with the city size. In fact, only two large cities, Düsseldorf and Hamburg, are represented among the ten most satisfied cities. For comparison, larger cities such as Munich, Frankfurt am Main and Berlin prove places 27, 35 and 37.

• Kassel: 7.44 points
• Krefeld: 2nd place
• Düsseldorf: 3rd place
• Wiesbaden: 39. Place
• Frankfurt am Main: 35th place
• Rostock: 40th place

Sven Schoeller, Mayor of Kassel, emphasizes the attractive living conditions in his city, which contribute to this high level of satisfaction. The combination of a subjective feeling and objectively measurable quality of life, which also includes living situation, demography, prosperity and environmental quality, proves to be a central aspect of the urban rank. Overall, general life satisfaction in major German cities has increased by 0.13 points compared to the previous year, which indicates a slight but positive trend.

Research also shows that despite the objectively high quality of life in some cities, such as one in Baden-Württemberg, the subjective satisfaction of the residents can be low. Kassel, on the other hand, remains a prime example of a successful quality of life, which becomes clear both in the survey and in the everyday perception of the citizens.