No. 1/2021: For whom are cities good places to live?

Abstract

In this paper, we use survey data to examine heterogeneity in the urban gradient of subjective well-being. Are some sociodemographic groups more satisfied in cities than others? We find that young, single and childless persons with high income and education generally report higher levels of satisfaction in Norway’s largest city, Oslo, compared to the rest of the country. These results may shed light on why the received literature has produced mixed results, as the sociodemographic composition of city populations, as well as the surveys used to estimate urban gradients in subjective well-being, may vary.