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2026-08-04 12:17:38

Ranked: The Income Needed to Be Happy in 23 UK Cities

Money can buy happiness—up to a point.

However, that point varies across Britain because the cost of reaching a comfortable standard of living differs from one city to the next.

This graphic ranks 23 major UK cities by the annual income at which self-reported life evaluation stops improving, using data from Remitly.

Remitly adapted Purdue University‘s income satiation research, adjusted it for purchasing power and inflation, and then scaled the UK’s national figure to each city using Numbeo‘s cost-of-living index. Figures are in pounds and current as of March 2026.

Happiness Is Much More Expensive in London

At £116,097 ($155,187) a year, London is the only UK city where the satiation point exceeds £110,000. It stands 14.8% above second-place Oxford (£101,104), while Guildford (£100,043) is the only other city to exceed £100,000.

The gap between London and Oxford is by far the largest in the ranking. No other pair of consecutive cities differs by more than 4%.

The table below shows the price of happiness in each of the 23 cities, along with how much more it would cost to live in London:

Southern England dominates the expensive end of the list. The five priciest cities, London, Oxford, Guildford, Brighton, and Cambridge, are all in the South or Southeast. Reading (£94,603) and Southampton (£93,409) also place in the top 10.

Edinburgh ranks sixth at £96,858, making it the most expensive city outside southern England. The Scottish capital also edges out London in the Institute for Quality of Life’s ranking of the world’s happiest cities in 2026.

Bristol (£94,337) and Manchester (£92,878) round out the top 10.

Where Happiness Costs the Least in the UK

At the other end of the ranking, Sheffield has the lowest price of happiness at £83,723, or a 38.7% difference with London. Coventry (£85,978), Nottingham (£86,774), Belfast (£87,438), and Liverpool (£87,703) sit just above it.

Outside London, the spread is relatively narrow. From Oxford in second place (£101,104) to Sheffield in 23rd, the difference is £17,381.

It is important to note what these figures do and do not measure. They represent the income level at which life evaluation scores stop rising, not a cost-of-living estimate or recommended salary. A higher figure means a city is more expensive, not necessarily happier.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

If you enjoyed today’s post, check out Money Can Buy Happiness After All on Voronoi.

2026-08-04 02:49:55

Ranked: America’s Most AI-Resistant Jobs

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

As artificial intelligence transforms the workplace, one question is becoming increasingly important: which jobs are the hardest to automate?

Occupations that depend on human interaction, physical adaptability, and real-world judgment tend to be more resilient than those centered on routine information processing.

This visualization, created by Julie R. Peasley, ranks 20 of America’s largest in-demand occupations by their AI resilience using data from JobZone Risk alongside employment outlook information from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which In-Demand U.S. Jobs Are Most Resistant to AI?

The ranking combines labor demand with AI resilience to highlight occupations that may be better positioned as AI capabilities continue to improve.

Explore the complete ranking below.

The results show a clear divide. Healthcare occupations dominate the top of the ranking, while several management, transportation, logistics, and sales roles score much lower.

Healthcare Leads the Rankings

Registered nurses earn the highest AI resilience score at 82.2, followed by home health aides at 72.7 and nursing assistants/CNAs at 67.4. These occupations depend on hands-on patient care, emotional intelligence, clinical judgment, and adaptability, all of which remain difficult for AI systems to replicate consistently.

The BLS projects continued strong demand for many healthcare occupations as the U.S. population ages and healthcare needs grow. At the same time, AI is increasingly being used to support clinicians by automating administrative tasks rather than replacing patient-facing care.

Teaching and Skilled Trades Also Score Well

Education also performs well, with elementary school teachers scoring 70.0 and teaching assistants scoring 51.2. Effective teaching extends far beyond delivering information and includes classroom management, mentoring, creativity, and responding to students’ individual needs.

Skilled trades also remain relatively resilient because physical work in unpredictable environments is difficult to automate. General maintenance and repair workers score 53.9, while construction laborers follow closely at 53.2.

Research on AI resilience increasingly emphasizes diversity of skills and adaptability as important characteristics for organizations and workers navigating rapid technological change.

Demand Doesn’t Always Mean AI Resistance

Some occupations that employ millions of Americans receive much lower resilience scores. General and operations managers score 37.5, long-haul truck drivers score 36.0, laborers and freight movers score 29.9, and wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives rank last at 26.1.

Many of these jobs include information-processing tasks that generative AI can increasingly support. However, few occupations are expected to disappear entirely. AI is more likely to automate specific tasks and reshape how people work.

For workers, resilience increasingly comes from combining technical expertise with human skills that remain difficult to automate, including empathy, leadership, creativity, and problem-solving.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

Want to see how AI disruption compares with compensation across occupations? Check out Ranked: The 30 Highest-Paying Jobs in America on the Voronoi app for another data-driven look at today’s labor market.

2026-08-04 00:45:16

Americans Use Less Energy Than 50 Years Ago

U.S. oil and natural gas production have reached record highs. Yet the average American is using less energy than they did 50 years ago.

The data for this visualization comes from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. It tracks annual U.S. energy consumption by end-use sector from 1950 through 2025, measured in millions of Btu per person.

Per-Capita Energy Use Peaked in the Late 1970s

The table below shows U.S. per-capita energy consumption by sector at 15-year intervals from 1950 to 2025.

Energy use per person peaked in the late 1970s and has never returned to that level. Although consumption rose during parts of the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s, the long-term trend has been downward.

The shift reflects efficiency gains rather than austerity. The oil crises of the 1970s helped spur fuel economy standards, appliance and building efficiency codes, and a move away from energy-intensive manufacturing. Real U.S. GDP per person has more than doubled since 1975 even as energy use per person declined.

Industrial Consumption Drove Most of the Decline

Industry was responsible for most of the overall decrease in per-capita energy use. Its share of the total has fallen steadily as factories became more efficient, manufacturing moved offshore, and the U.S. economy shifted further toward services.

The table below shows each sector’s share of total per-capita energy consumption at the same 15-year intervals:

Residential energy use also declined despite larger homes and more household devices. Transportation remained comparatively stable, while commercial energy use increased as offices, stores, and data centers consumed more power.

The sector mix has changed significantly. Industry accounted for nearly half of U.S. per-capita energy use in 1950, but less than one-third in 2025. Commercial buildings and transportation now make up a much larger share of the total.

Per-capita trends can differ sharply from national totals. A separate Visual Capitalist ranking of the world’s biggest electricity consumers compares absolute electricity demand rather than energy consumption per resident.

Energy Use Remains Below Earlier Highs

Per-capita consumption fell sharply in 2020 and has since rebounded, but it remains well below the highs reached more than four decades ago.

The full dataset below shows U.S. per-capita energy consumption by sector for every year from 1950 to 2025:

That is the broader counterpoint to America’s current energy story: the country is producing record amounts of energy, while the average American is using less of it.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

If you enjoyed today’s post, check out Energy Consumption Per Capita by Country on Voronoi.

2026-08-03 22:06:36

Ranked: America’s Highest-Paid Mayors

Running a city can mean managing billions of dollars in budgets, overseeing essential services, and responding to residents’ day-to-day concerns. Yet mayoral pay varies widely, from a few thousand dollars in some smaller municipalities to six-figure salaries in the cities featured here.

This visualization ranks the 10 highest reported annual mayoral salaries in the U.S., ranging from $250,000 to $393,097. The data comes from Business Insider, using the latest available reported figures from 2023–2026.

Compensation can be shaped by factors including city size, cost of living, local budgets, government structure, and the scope of a mayor’s responsibilities.

America’s Three Highest-Paid Mayors Are in California

California holds the top three positions in the ranking. These cities are also the only ones listed that pay their mayors more than $300,000 annually.

San Francisco’s mayoral salary ranks first at $393,097. However, Mayor Daniel Lurie, a philanthropist and heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, chose to accept just $1 from the city, making him a notable outlier.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass ranks second at $328,395, though her salary was reportedly reduced to $301,000 in 2025 amid city budget cuts. Oxnard Mayor Luis A. McArthur places third at $323,282.

Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani Ranks Seventh

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani ranks seventh with an annual salary of $258,750. His position among America’s highest-paid mayors creates a notable contrast with his national profile as an outspoken democratic socialist.

Mamdani took office in 2026 as New York City’s first Muslim and first South Asian mayor. His salary is about $100,000 higher than the estimated salary needed to live comfortably in New York.

However, Mamdani rejected a City Council-proposed increase that would have raised his salary to $305,800 in July 2026. He said the pay increase would not improve the lives of New Yorkers.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, another prominent progressive, ranks ninth with an annual salary of $250,000.

Seven of the 10 Highest-Paid Mayors Are Democrats

Seven mayors in the ranking are Democrats, two are nonpartisan, and one is a Republican.

The only Republican is Bradley Stephens, mayor of Rosemont, Illinois. Rosemont is also the smallest municipality in the ranking, with 3,815 residents. Stephens’ reported salary of $260,000 reflects a position that combines his mayoral duties with other responsibilities, including serving as village manager and economic development director for the town’s large commercial hub.

The comparison shows that population alone does not determine mayoral compensation. New York is the largest city represented, with 8.6 million residents, but ranks seventh for salary. Florida City, meanwhile, ranks eighth at $250,328 despite having just 13,576 residents.

The top seven salaries in the ranking are also higher than the salary of any U.S. state governor. As of 2026, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro is the country’s highest-paid governor, earning $253,870 annually.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

If you enjoyed today’s post, check out this graphic on the average salary by U.S. state.

2026-08-03 20:06:33

Ranked: The World’s Largest Agricultural Economies

Global agriculture generated $5.2 trillion in production value in 2024, making it one of the world’s largest industries.

This graphic ranks the world’s largest agricultural economies by production value, based on data from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

China Outproduces the Next Three Combined

China generated $1.9 trillion in agricultural production in 2024, accounting for 36% of the global total. To put that in perspective, China’s agricultural economy is larger than those of India, the U.S., and Brazil combined, the next three largest producers in the world.

Rank	Country	Agricultural Production Value 2024	Global Share
1	China	$1.9T	35.6%
2	India	$573B	10.9%
3	U.S.	$451B	8.6%
4	Brazil	$204B	3.9%
5	Indonesia	$145B	2.8%
6	Türkiye	$92B	1.8%
7	Russia	$87B	1.7%
8	Japan	$86B	1.7%
9	France	$82B	1.6%
10	Mexico	$77B	1.5%
11	Pakistan	$75B	1.4%
12	Spain	$64B	1.2%
13	Germany	$60B	1.2%
14	Canada	$58B	1.1%
15	Italy	$56B	1.1%
16	Vietnam	$56B	1.1%
17	Australia	$56B	1.1%
18	Colombia	$53B	1.0%
19	Thailand	$48B	0.9%
20	South Korea	$41B	0.8%
21	Egypt	$39B	0.8%
22	UK	$35B	0.7%
23	Philippines	$35B	0.7%
24	Bangladesh	$34B	0.6%
25	Poland	$34B	0.6%
26	Algeria	$31B	0.6%
27	Iran	$31B	0.6%
28	Ukraine	$29B	0.6%
29	Malaysia	$29B	0.5%
30	South Africa	$26B	0.5%
31	Netherlands	$22B	0.4%
32	Saudi Arabia	$22B	0.4%
33	Kenya	$22B	0.4%
34	Peru	$22B	0.4%
35	Greece	$19B	0.4%
36	Côte d'Ivoire	$19B	0.4%
37	Uzbekistan	$18B	0.4%
38	New Zealand	$17B	0.3%
39	Morocco	$17B	0.3%
40	Cambodia	$17B	0.3%
--	Global Total	$5.2T	100%

While more than 190 countries produce agricultural goods, China, India, the U.S., and Brazil generate nearly 60% of the world’s agricultural production value.

China and India rely on vast domestic food systems to feed nearly three billion people. The U.S. combines advanced technology with some of the world’s highest crop yields, while Brazil has built its agricultural strength around export competitiveness, making it one of the world’s most efficient agribusiness sectors.

Europe’s Agricultural Heavyweights

Outside Asia and the Americas, agricultural production is spread across several major European economies rather than dominated by a single country.

Russia leads the region, driven by its grain sector. It is the world’s largest wheat exporter and a major supplier of barley and sunflower oil, while France, Germany, Italy, and Spain specialize in higher-value agricultural products such as wine, dairy, and olive oil.

While the world’s largest producers compete on scale, Europe has carved out a niche in higher-value agriculture alongside its leading position in processed food and beverage exports.

The Scale of Global Agriculture

Global agricultural production reached $5.2 trillion in 2024, making it one of the world’s largest industries.

Spanning roughly 50% of the world’s habitable land, agriculture underpins global food supply chains, international trade, and rural economies. As one of the world’s largest employers, its importance extends far beyond the farm gate.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

To learn more about this topic, check out this graphic on the number of farms in each state.

2026-08-03 02:55:06

Ranked: The Income Needed to Be Happy in 19 Canadian Cities

Researchers call it the satiation point: the income level beyond which additional earnings no longer improve a person’s overall life evaluation. The threshold varies by location and, among the Canadian cities analyzed, is highest in Victoria.

This graphic ranks 19 major Canadian cities by their estimated income satiation point using data from Remitly.

Remitly adapted Purdue University research on income satiation, adjusting for purchasing power and inflation before scaling Canada’s national figure to each city using Numbeo’s cost-of-living index. Figures are in Canadian dollars and current as of March 2026.

Victoria Edges Out Vancouver and Toronto

Victoria’s threshold of $169,951 CAD ($124,047 USD) is less than 2% higher than the $166,982 CAD ($121,881 USD) shared by Vancouver and Toronto, making the top three effectively a three-way tie.

The table below shows the estimated income needed for happiness in each city and how much higher Victoria’s threshold is by comparison.

Victoria’s top ranking reflects its high everyday costs. Living Wage BC puts the city’s 2025 living wage at $27.40 per hour, $9.55 above the provincial minimum wage, with housing, food, and child care among the fastest-growing expenses.

British Columbia is the only province with two cities in the top three. Kelowna gives the province a third entry in the top 10, ranking ninth at $156,098.

For context, Remitly estimates Canada’s national happiness threshold at $113,755 USD. Victoria sits about 9% above that figure, while the U.S. national threshold of $134,827 USD is nearly one-fifth higher.

Prairie cities also place near the top. Saskatoon ranks fourth at $159,808, while Calgary ranks fifth at $159,561. Both finish ahead of Ottawa in 13th at $152,634 and Montreal in 15th at $148,181. Montreal’s lower threshold reflects its comparatively affordable housing costs, an advantage that also appears in rankings of the world’s most and least livable cities in 2026.

A Much Narrower Spread Than the U.S.

At the other end of the ranking, Kingston has the lowest happiness threshold at $140,513 CAD ($102,560 USD). Ontario is the most represented province, with eight of the 19 cities spanning nearly the full ranking, from Toronto in second place to Kingston in last.

The gap between the highest and lowest thresholds is just 21%. By comparison, the same Remitly analysis found New York’s threshold to be 60% higher than Cincinnati’s in the United States, while London’s is 38.7% higher than Sheffield’s in the United Kingdom.

The figures do not represent recommended salaries, direct measures of happiness, or conventional cost-of-living estimates. Instead, they estimate the income level at which additional earnings stop improving overall life evaluation. A higher threshold generally signals a more expensive city, not a happier one.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

If you enjoyed today’s post, check out Money Can Buy Happiness After All on Voronoi.