Spokeo explores why happiness is declining in the U.S. and how growing divides are pushing the country down in global well-being rankings.

In 2024, for the first time, the World Happiness Report placed the United States outside the top 20. In 2025, it dropped one spot more, ranking 24th. That’s a generational decline for a country ...

The United States has been slipping down the global happiness rankings for over a decade. In 2011, the country placed 11th. By 2016, it had dropped to 14th, and it landed 19th in 2020.