Santa Barbara, California, is the city with the highest cost of happiness in the US. Residents there need a salary of $162,721 to feel satisfied, a survey shows.
Happiness is most affordable in Knoxville, Tennessee, where people claim to need an income of just $88,032 – about 85 percent lower.
Investigation of foreign exchange provider S Money claims to have found the optimal amount of money that citizens in America – and in 173 countries worldwide – need each year to be happy.
It found that Iran is the most expensive country to be happy – with residents needing a salary of $239,700 – while those living in Sierra Leone only need an income of $8,658 to feel content.
According to the study, the US as a whole has a lucky price tag of $105,000, which ranks tenth in the world.
Santa Barbara, California, is the city with the highest cost of happiness in the US, with residents needing a salary of $162,721 to feel content, a study shows
The cost of living in Santa Barbara (pictured) is 57 percent above the national average, raising the price tag for achieving happiness
Happiness in the US is most affordable in Knoxville, Tennessee, where people claim to need an income of just $88,032
According to the Economic Research Institute, the cost of living in Santa Barbara is 57 percent above the national average, making the cost of happiness much higher in the California coastal city.
The second most expensive city in the US to be merry is Honolulu, Hawaii, where residents require a salary of $148,943.
New York City comes in third with $145,028, San Francisco comes in fourth with $144,448, and Seattle, Washington, comes in fifth where residents need $134,731 to be happy.
Meanwhile, Cincinnati, Ohio follows Knoxville, Texas, as the second cheapest place in the US to be satisfied. The residents there need an income of $93,398 to be happy.
Memphis, Tennessee comes in fourth – where locals need $94,413 to be happy – followed closely by Salt Lake City, Utah, with $95,428.
Globally, Yemen follows Iran with the second highest price for happiness – at $172,140 – followed by Australia in third place at $121,191.
They say money doesn’t make you happy, but a fascinating new study from foreign exchange provider S Money suggests this isn’t the case
Researchers calculated the findings by a Purdue University study who analyzed the relationship between happiness and income.
In this study, the so-called ‘saturation point for life evaluation (LE)’ was established.
S Money said: ‘Life evaluation is a yardstick that measures how good a person thinks their life is.
‘The saturation point of LE refers to the income point at which a further increase in income has no effect on an individual’s happiness.’
The findings come after annual inflation in the US rose to 3.7 percent as experts blamed rising gas prices for the rebound. It is still well below last June’s peak of 9.1 percent, but remains above the Federal Reserve’s target of 2 percent.
America has done better than most countries in its struggle to curb rising prices. By comparison, inflation is now 6.4 percent in Britain and 6 percent in Australia.