Instagram photos study finds the happiest and saddest Australian cities

Happy people ... there's plenty of them in Wollongong a new study of Instagram photos has found. Source: News Limited

The study, by iPhone travel app Jetpac City Guides, ranked photos from around the world with a smile score that analysed the pixels to determine the average size of the smiles in photos.

"Smiles on the faces of millions of people in millions of photos are the most direct measure we have of happiness," the Jetpac study says.

"A small grin doesn't score as highly as a broad smile. Smiling for the camera is a cultural habit that tends to be the same around a country, so the relative happiness of a city rises above any posed smiles."

The study found some surprising results, including that the people who live in Canberra, the home of endless (and sometimes pointless) political debate and roundabouts, are somehow much happier than the people who live in Byron Bay, where the debate typically concerns whether to surf in the morning or the afternoon or both.

Darwin beat out the other state capitals with a smile score of 34.8.

1)

Wollongong (43.4)

2)

Townsville (40.1)

3)

Canberra (35.0)

4)

Newcastle (34.9)

5)

Darwin (34.8)

6)

Cairns (31.2)

7)

Adelaide (28.7)

8)

Gold Coast (28.4)

9)

Byron Bay (27.3)

10)

Brisbane (27.2)

11)

Perth (25.6)

12)

Fremantle (25.0)

13)

Sydney (24.9)

14)

Melbourne (22.6)

15)

Hobart (19.8)

Heat could be a factor in making Australians happy with Townsville, Cairns and Darwin all in the top six. Or perhaps it's so hot in Townsville, Cairns and Darwin that once people smile their faces get stuck that way.

Surf could be another reason that people keep grinning with Wollongong, Newcastle, Gold Coast and Byron Bay in the top 10.

When it comes to bragging rights between our two biggest cities, Sydney just edges out Melbourne.

And the sad people of Hobart, according to the smile score, are more than twice as miserable as the people of Wollongong.

If the people of Hobart feel a bit down about that, they could cheer themselves up by taking a trip to the Sunshine Coast, Australia's ninth biggest city that doesn't crack it for a grin in the top 15.