The happiest people in Finland live in South Ostrobothnia, while Satakunta recorded the lowest average life satisfaction, according to a new survey commissioned by Finnish municipal finance company MuniFin (Kuntarahoitus). At city level, Espoo ranked highest and Pori lowest, although researchers stress that the differences between areas are small and the regional results should be treated as indicative.
South Ostrobothnia recorded Finland’s highest score
The survey asked respondents to rate their satisfaction with their own lives on a scale from one to ten, following the basic question used in the international World Happiness Report.
According to the results published by MuniFin, the national average was 7.51 out of 10, with almost two thirds of respondents giving their lives a score between eight and ten.
South Ostrobothnia (Etelä-Pohjanmaa) had the highest regional average at 7.67, followed by North Savo (Pohjois-Savo) at 7.63 and Pirkanmaa at 7.60. At the other end of the table, Satakunta scored 6.94, followed by Kanta-Häme at 7.34 and North Ostrobothnia (Pohjois-Pohjanmaa) at 7.35.
The survey involved 2,038 people from all 18 regions of mainland Finland and was conducted by Norstat Finland in July and August 2026.
Espoo was the happiest city, Pori the least satisfied
Differences were more visible in the city comparison. Espoo recorded the highest average score, 7.81, followed by Kuopio at 7.76 and Kauniainen at 7.60.
Pori was at the bottom with an average of 6.43, behind Kajaani at 7.05 and Rovaniemi at 7.17.
However, both Yle and MuniFin underline that the rankings should not be interpreted as showing large differences in wellbeing between parts of the country.
The margin of error for the entire survey is approximately ±2.2 percentage points, while individual regional samples are smaller and therefore less statistically robust. MuniFin consequently describes several regional and city-level results as indicative rather than conclusive.
Finland’s happiness is relatively evenly distributed
For Mari Tyster, director at MuniFin, the more significant finding is not which region appears at the top or bottom, but how limited the differences are across Finland.
“Regardless of where in Finland people come from, they experienced a similar, positive Finnish happiness.”
Tyster said the results suggest that Finland is not strongly divided geographically when it comes to perceived wellbeing.
Respondents were also asked which factors they considered most important for their happiness. Freedom to make personal choices, health and a sense of security emerged as the three most important factors. Nature also played a major role, with 93% of respondents saying it was very or fairly important to their happiness.
The happiest people in Finland and the global ranking
The survey is the first commissioned by MuniFin to examine Finnish happiness at regional level. Its question on life satisfaction was designed to resemble the methodology used in the World Happiness Report.
Finland ranked first in the 2026 World Happiness Report for the ninth consecutive year, with an average life evaluation of 7.764 out of ten. The report places Iceland and Denmark immediately behind Finland among the highest-scoring countries, continuing the strong performance of Nordic countries in international measures of life satisfaction.
The new Finnish survey suggests that this relatively high level of wellbeing is not concentrated in only a few parts of the country. While South Ostrobothnia and Espoo recorded the highest averages and Satakunta and Pori the lowest, the researchers say the limited sample sizes mean the results are more useful as a broad picture of regional wellbeing than as a definitive ranking.
