Happiness is the final goal targeted by every nation, community, and individual. It is the new pattern of economic development. However, happiness is a fuzzy concept, and much contextually depends. This study was conducted to rank the criteria of lecturers’ happiness index in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Based on the data from the in-depth interviews with 20 experts, Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was applied. The research results show that the lecturer’s happiness measurement model consists of three levels. Level 2 includes five criteria with the priority orders as follows: 1) physical and spiritual health (50.9%), 2) employment and income (25.5%), 3) self-actualization (13.9%), 4) social networks (6.2%) and 5) family happiness (3.5%). Further ranking findings at level 3 confirm the highest share of non-material components in each factor. These findings are important for planning the key strategy to promote lecturers’ happiness to reach the goal of “happy school” in Vietnam.