Portland, Maine, Among America’s Happiest Cities in 2025 Report

Portland, Maine, is renowned for its many incredible qualities.

Situated along the stunning coastline, it boasts an exceptional food scene, vibrant nightlife, and charming neighborhoods that are rich in culture.

And now, it can add being one of the happiest cities in America to its long and impressive resume.

Portland, Maine, is One of the Happiest Cities in the Nation

WalletHub, a personal finance website, recently published its annual report on the happiest cities in America. Maine's largest city ranked quite high on the list.

Portland came in as the 24th happiest city in America, one of the four New England cities to crack the Top 25. There's clearly something good in the water up here.

The study included the two largest cities from each state, as well as the top 150 cities in the nation. Portland's actual happiness score was 61.22. The scoring was based on a 100-point system.

Three major categories were used: Emotional and Physical Well-Being, Income and Employment, and Community and Environment. These categories were broken down into 30 subcategories, making the analysis as detailed as possible. You can read about the methodology here.

Here's What Makes Portland, Maine, One of the Happiest Cities in the Nation

Two of Portland's rankings were in the top 50. Portland really shined in Income & Employment, where Maine's largest city was ranked 6th overall. This category included metrics like job security, job satisfaction, and commute time.

It's no surprise to see Portland finish so highly. However, it wasn't the highest-ranked Maine city. That honor went to Lewiston, which finished as the number two city in America in this category, though sadly ranked just 137th overall when combining all the metrics.

Portland's second-best score was in Emotional and Physical Well-Being, where the city finished with a ranking of 30th. This is a solid score, especially considering the weight this category carries when it comes to happiness.

Portland's lowest score came in the Community & Environment category. The city nearly found itself outside of the Top 100, finishing with a rank of 94th. The brutal weather and low leisure time rate certainly don’t help the ranking. However, I'm surprised Portland's vast green spaces didn’t help improve the score.

READ MORE: Popular Portland Neighborhood Named Best in Maine for Foodies

Obviously, it's great to see Portland finish so strongly in this poll, but it shouldn't be a shock to any of us here. As mentioned above, Portland is a wonderful city, full of life, culture, delicious food, and entertainment. It's easily walkable, bike-friendly, and has virtually no traffic. Small cities just know how to do it better.

The Happiest Cities in New England

So, how did the rest of New England score? Here are the results.

South Burlington, VT - 19
Nashua, NH - 21
Burlington, VT - 23
Boston, MA - 45
Manchester, NH - 47
Warwick, RI - 62
Worcester, MA - 84
Providence, RI - 90
Bridgeport, CT - 91
New Haven, CT - 97
Lewiston, ME - 137

WalletHub's happiest city was Fremont, followed by San Jose and Irvine. All three are located in California.

The most miserable city on the list was the fine hamlet of Cleveland. Hey, at least they have the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame! You can check out the entire list here.