Minneapolis has been named the happiest city in the country, according to a new ranking.
The Midwestern Minnesota city was the only U.S. city to rank “gold” out of a list of 250 cities around the world.
Research agency Institute for Quality of Life, which conducts the research, ranks the cities in five categories: citizens, governance, economy, environment and mobility.
The city was one of only 37 cities around the world that the London-based company deemed worthy of its gold status.
The city, home to more than 425,000 people, scored highly in the citizen and economy categories and finished 18th overall, one of four U.S. cities in the top 100.
The Midwestern Minnesota city was the only U.S. city to rank “gold” in a list of 250 cities around the world
The city, home to more than 425,000 people, scored highly in the citizen and economy categories and finished in 18th place overall. It is one of four American cities in the top 100.
Minneapolis received high marks for the city’s abundance of outdoor space, including 180 parks, 55 miles of biking and walking trails, 22 lakes and 12 gardens.
It also received a high score for its mobility due to easy access for buses and light rail, with the research showing it to be a relatively affordable city.
Elsewhere, the city ranked low among the top cities in the environment category, but among the highest in terms of economy and citizen happiness.
Despite this, the city is known for the serious crime that erupted after the murder of George Floyd in May 2020.
Violent crime was already on an upward trend in the first half of 2020, but only really increased after the killing of Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.
In 2020, 5,426 violent crimes were registered in the city, of which 83 were murders.
This figure rose to 97 murders in 2021, which was the same as a record figure in 1995, when the city was labeled ‘Murderapolis’ by the national media.
In 2022, the number of homicides began to decline slightly throughout the year, reaching 80, before reaching 72 last year.
So far this year, 4,101 crimes have been committed in the city – which appears to be on track to beat last year’s figure of 4,154 offences.
Two weeks ago, a police officer and two people were killed in a horrific mass shooting in the city
Violent crime was already on an upward trend in the first half of 2020, but really increased after the killing of Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, seen here
Overall, crime in the city is down, but still remains above levels following the spike that followed Floyd’s death.
Last December, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said, “The trend is moving in the right direction. But it is nowhere near as far as it was before 2020.”
Chief O’Hara said while seeing a decrease was encouraging, it was hard work for his department due to staffing shortages.
He said last December that 40 percent of the department would leave between 2020 and 2023.
In March of this year, Chief O’Hara said Harper’s Magazine that his department is so short-staffed that it may have to stop investigating property crimes.
Two weeks ago, a police officer and two people were killed in a horrific mass shooting in the city.
Police identified the deceased officer as Jamal Mitchell, 28. Another officer was hospitalized and several others were injured.
Although the city was the only one to earn gold status, several other U.S. cities were named to the Silver and Bronze lists, including another location in the Midwest.
These include Boston, Baltimore, Washington, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Madison, Pittsburgh, Rochester and Portland.
The place overall was taken by Aarhus in Denmark, followed by Zurich, Switzerland and Berlin, Germany.