Synopsis/quote:
"It may seem contradictory that greater happiness is correlated with both lower population density (implying fewer interpersonal interactions) and a greater sense of "belonging" in one's community (implying stronger social connections). But a significant body of research shows that having a strong social network is key to well-being. Some studies indicate that small towns and rural areas are more conducive than cities to forming strong social bonds, which would explain some of the greater sense of belonging observed in the happiest Canadian communities.
Perhaps even more surprising are the factors that don't appear to play a major role in community-level differences in happiness: average income levels and rates of unemployment and education. People may move to cities for good-paying jobs, but the Canadian study strongly suggests it's not making them any happier.
These findings comport with similar studies done in the United States, which have revealed a "rural-urban happiness gradient:" The farther away from cities people live, the happier they tend to be.
One important caveat in the Canadian study is that the authors aren't making any strong statements about causality: There's a clear association between low population density and reported happiness, but that doesn't mean that low population density causes happiness. A miserable city dweller who moves to the country might simply become a miserable country dweller, in other words.
However, it's clear that there's something about small towns and rural life that's associated with greater levels of self-reported happiness among people who live in those places. The strength of the Canadian study is that it parses out these distinctions at an uncommonly fine level of geographic detail."