The US fell to its lowest happiness ranking ever, partly due to a rise in the number of Americans eating their meals alone, an annual UN-sponsored report said.

Overall, researchers said that global evidence on the perceived and actual return of lost wallets shows that people are much too pessimistic about the kindness of their communities compared to reality—actual rates of wallet return are around twice as high as people expect.

The US fell to 24th in the 2025 World Happiness Report, which highlighted issues like Americans eating alone and rising 'deaths of despair.'