California couple moved to Spain and say they're happier in every way - with one big exception

Citizens of the United States aren’t very happy. That’s not just a mood, it’s data. According to the World Happiness Report, a report that polls residents of over 140 countries with questions regarding their quality of life, the United States ranked 24th, the lowest in its 13-year history. This is an especially growing issue with Americans under the age of 30. With this in mind, in 2022, Dr. Colleen Crowley and her family decided to relocate from their comfortable home in Santa Barbara, California to San Sebastián, Spain to try living abroad. The result? Everyone in her family is happier.

“It sounds so trite, but I think everyone is much happier here,” Dr. Crowley told CNN. The move has especially been a positive change for her children, who were 16, 13, and eight when they relocated to Spain.

“All three of them say, ‘‘We wish we had done it sooner.’ Which is really kind of amazing to see.”

Crowley says that that move has been transformative. While she and her family enjoyed the natural wonders around California, they were significantly closer to equally beautiful landscapes of the Spanish countryside. The kids were learning the native languages and everyone was acclimating to the new surroundings, new culture, and new norms around them. Crowley even wrote a book about her experience to encourage others to consider moving abroad.

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But there is an odd discrepancy. The World Happiness Report did rank the U.S. in 24th place in happiness, but ranked Spain 38th overall in the world.

Why are these Americans happier in Spain than native Spaniards?

There could be multiple reasons and factors at play. First, Crowley mentioned that she and her family were able to relocate into a much larger living space, moving into a house rather than an apartment like many locals.

“Because we work from home and have a big dog, apartment living was a stretch for us,” Crowley said. “There are not many homes like this in the area so we were lucky to find it.”

So in this case, it’s likely that his happiness factor is more in the “house versus apartment” comparison rather than “U.S. versus Spain.” Especially since both residents in the U.S. and in Spain are dealing with housing issues. Many Spaniards have blamed their housing problem on foreign homebuyers like the Crowley family.

Crowley mentioned to CNN that a big boost in their happiness was the ability to ride a bike or walk to most of their day-to-day errands. “In the United States, you have two cars. You’re always driving, and it’s horrible. So that’s been amazing,” she said.

A 2019 study found that Americans spend collectively 18 days of time driving their cars each year, with another study showing that extended periods of driving causes stress. There are experts who argue that the United States’ dependence on automobiles to get to where we need to go is a big factor in our collective unhappiness. Considering Spain’s cities are more condensed with places that are easier to travel to via bike or walking along with more investment in public transportation, this makes their commutes possibly longer at some points but overall less stressful and expensive compared to buying a car with insurance, maintenance, and fuel costs.

Crowley also cites the public healthcare of Spain being one of the perks since moving there. “The level of care… the responsiveness has been amazing,” she said.

This can be a major factor, as 70% of Spanish healthcare is covered through taxes with citizens being given the option to purchase supplemental insurance. To put it in numbers, 2025 data shows that Spain’s healthcare system costs $3,282.41 per person per year while in 2023 the American healthcare cost $14,570 per person, and the average American spent $1,450 out-of-pocket on healthcare in 2022. Knowing that you’re freely able to visit a doctor and get your health needs addressed without worrying about a huge bill can obviously impact a person’s happiness, as U.S. citizens’ satisfaction with their healthcare is at an all-time low while Spain has statistically the best healthcare system in Europe. It might even make you live longer as data shows the average lifespan of a Spanish citizen is 84 years and the average American lives to age 79.

Want better collective happiness? Slow down.

Crowley said that the biggest adjustment to her and her family is just how slow moving the country is, both in terms of government bureaucracy and overall culture. She had to visit multiple buildings and resubmit various applications to get certain things moving. On top of that, she and her husband frequently forget that many businesses and buildings can be closed during the middle of the day and on Sundays, to either give employees longer lunches, coffee breaks, or do a traditional siesta nap.

“Man, siesta gets me every time,” says Crowley. “I work in the morning, I get all my paperwork done. So then I’m ready to run errands at 1:30 p.m. And I get there, and of course, they’re closed.

That said, she still thinks those small frustrations are worthwhile in the big picture.

“[It’s] part of the ethos of Spain, which is nice. There’s just more balance and less panic,” she says.

The work/life balance of each nation is a major difference between the U.S. and Spain, which creates an impact on overall happiness. The United States has one of the worst work/life balances in the entire world. While the average Spanish worker works 40 hours per week like an American full-time employee, it’s typically spread out throughout the week from Monday through Saturday. However, the biggest difference is that Spanish citizens are granted at least 30 days of paid vacation per year whereas the average American isn’t guaranteed any paid time off by law but usually gets two weeks of paid vacation through their employer.

Other challenges

Crowley mentions how in the region of Spain she and her family moved into, it hasn’t been easy making close relationships. While no one has been hostile toward them, many of the locals socialize in cuadrillas — close-knit groups of friends that are usually formed early in youth. “We will never be in a cuadrilla, but you find some special relationships and that sustains you,” she said.

It can be difficult to develop close friendships, especially in such a culture, so it’s understandable that Crowley is concerned. Having close relationships and connections with friends and family members is a major factor in happiness and in overall health. It can be difficult to maintain strong connections when living halfway across the world in a different time zone, even with Zoom, Discord, online gaming, and other methods that help keep in touch. However, Crowley did mention how everyone is still giving it time and making an effort to be more social to help establish strong connections in the country.

That said, loneliness is indeed a factor in overall happiness, and a 2023 poll showed that one in three Americans felt lonely every week. While loneliness is considered a worldwide problem, Spain included, current culture in the United States possibly makes people feel lonelier and more isolated. For example, the World Happiness Report mentioned that 2023 data showed roughly one in four Americans ate alone the previous day, and countries that had more of a meal-sharing culture tended to have higher levels of social support and lower levels of loneliness. Living in the United States or not, it appears that loneliness could still be an issue regardless whether a person stays in their country or goes.

So is it actually better to live in Spain than it is to live in the United States?

There are several factors involved. The people of Spain are used to the amenities and benefits of their country, so they may be overlooking the benefits that many Americans would dream to have and Americans could be overlooking the positives of living in the U.S. as many legitimate problems continue to grow. Spain isn’t a magical place, and living there has its own pros and cons like anywhere else.

It should be noted that Crowley and her family had the finances to make the move abroad, and even get a house, which is something many Americans cannot afford. In fact, Spain is imposing more taxes on foreigners that plan on moving into the country and is overall making it more expensive to move there in general. There are also protests against the giant swath of tourists-turned-residents that have turned Spain from a vacation destination into their permanent home in recent years. It’s speculation, but that could be in part why Spain reported less happiness in the World Happiness Report.

The answer to whether it’s happier to live in Spain than it is in the United States is a personal one. While there is data that makes living in Spain more appealing, the costs to uproot to a new country might not make it as worthwhile as it did with the Crowleys. It depends on your circumstances, health, and where you currently are financially. If your finances are good and you have close connections, you may not be happy but you could be happier than you would be if you chose to move out. It’s all about choice and opportunity. If you have those, you are already a step ahead than many.