One-third of New Yorkers are less satisfied with their lives: poll

New Yorkers can’t get no satisfaction, according to a new poll.

Empire State residents are more dissatisfied with their lives than they were 15 years ago, says the Siena College study released Wednesday — citing the COVID-19 pandemic, political turmoil and inflation as possible culprits.

Only 27% of New Yorkers were more content with their lives than they were a year ago, down from 44% in 2008, the survey said. Some 33%, meanwhile, said they were less satisfied than a year ago, while 39% didn’t report a change


Pedestrians in the SoHo district of Manhattan
The survey notes COVID-19 as one of the potential factors impacting these numbers.
An Rong Xu /The Washington Post via Getty Images

“In 2018 we noted a decline in New Yorkers’ life satisfaction from 2008 when we first asked these questions, but after COVID, political turmoil and now inflation, we see a significant drop among state residents in every category of life satisfaction,” said Siena College Research Institute Director Don Levy in a statement.

“It has been a trying time for many New Yorkers. When considering all residents we see the largest drops in satisfaction with family relationships, where they live, their finances, what they do for work and their health.”

Some 46% of residents said they were either not very satisfied or not at all satisfied with their financial situation. Only 12% said they were content when it came to their finances.

New Yorkers seemed most at ease with their family relationships, with 83% saying they were satisfied in that regard, while 79% were happy with where they live, and 72% with their health.

A whopping 75%of respondents said they were either “not very” or “not at all” satisfied with the world as a whole — including political, economic, social, and environmental issues and trends — and the direction it’s going, the poll found.

Women were less satisfied with their lives than men, a change from 2018, the survey found. They also expressed less satisfaction than men with their financial condition, their work, their health, their relationship with a life partner and the direction of the world.


People spend the day in a park
75% of respondents said they were either “not very” or “not at all” satisfied with the world as a whole.
John Smith/Corbis via Getty Images

“Among women, no area measured increased satisfaction over the four years with the largest decline in family relationships perhaps due to COVID keeping people apart,” said Levy.