Though the happiest cities are a perception, according to a survey of 10,000 people across 20 countries, these are the 5 happiest cities. Listed on the x axis are the cities, while their average incomes are shown in the graph. While cities in the US, like NYC or LA have higher incomes, they aren't even on the top 10 list of happiest cities. Based on this data, it may be true that money cannot buy happiness.