However, according to a new study, Millennials are happiest in cities. That’s a key finding of a recent paper published in the journal Regional Studies. Authors Adam Okulicz-Kozaryn, of Rutgers University, and Rubia Valente, of Baruch College, take a close look at the happiness of recent generations and at the kinds of places where they live or lived. They use detailed data from the General Social Survey (GSS), which has collected information for nearly a century on the happiness, or subjective well-being (“SWB”), of five separate generations: the Lost Generation (born between 1883 and 1924); the Silent Generation (1925–1942); Baby Boomers (1943–1960); Generation X (1961–1981); and Millennials (1992–2004). [...]
When it comes to place, Millennials are different from the generations that came before them. Unlike older Americans, they tend to be happier in larger, more urban environments. As the charts below show, for most of the period since 1970, people have been much happier in smaller, less urban places. But that started to change recently—around the year 2010—as the back-to-the-city movement accelerated. Millennials are the only generation that is happier in places with a population of more than 250,000. [...]
The paper also takes into account an important caveat. It may be that Millennials are happier in cities simply because they are younger—the oldest Millennial in their sample was 34—and younger people enjoy cities and what they have to offer more than older people do. As the authors put it, “Millennials could appear happier in cities simply because they are young and not because they are Millennials.” To get at this, they ran additional regressions, which included only people under 35 across the generations—and the results were similar.
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