Jersey-City-skyline.JPG

A view of the Jersey City skyline in 2011.

(Frances Micklow/The Star-Ledger)

Jersey City is one of the unhappiest cities in the United States, according to a study released Monday by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

The "Unhappy Cities" report was co-authored by Joshua Gottlieb of the University of British Columbia's Vancouver School of Economics and Harvard University's Edward Glaeser and Oren Ziv.

The research paper found that Jersey City was the fifth least happy region in the United States. Pennsylvania had three cities on the list: Scranton (1), Johnstown (6) and Erie (3).



It also noted, however, that Middlesex, Somerset and Hunterdon counties are the 10th happiest metropolitan areas in the country with a population greater than 1 million, as of 2010.

Rankings for the study were based on a survey that asked respondents about their satisfaction with life. The authors found that, in general, respondents are willing to move to less happier areas in exchange for higher incomes or lower housing costs.

"Our research indicates that people care about more than happiness alone, so other factors may encourage them to stay in a city despite their unhappiness," Gottlieb said in a news release. "This means that researchers and policy-makers should not consider an increase in reported happiness as an overriding objective."

The researchers also found that there is little difference in happiness among new residents and resident who've lived in an area for an extended period of time.