You need $163,000 a year to feel happy in NYC: WSJ study

[Andy Nguyen]

Interesting study by WSJ that shows adjusting to cost of living, residents of NYC need to make that much to feel happy. Next time you are out and about, tell people who look depressed about the study. And tell them people in NJ only need to make $75,000 to change their mood.
What Salary Buys Happiness in Your City? - Real Time Economics - WSJ

 

[PierreXu]

The finding of this report is quite laughable. The original paper this report is based on actually says nothing about how much money you need to feel happy. It merely states that on average, people stop gaining happiness from additional income once their income level reaches $75,000, possibly because of negative effects resulting from the additional working time and/or other sacrifices they have to make.

What this report does is to use the number $75,000*2.18(=the cost of living index of NY) and claims that this is what you need in NY to feel happy, which makes absolutely no sense at all, as the original paper doesn't say that on average you need $75,000$ to feel happy.