BackgroundOur goal was to examine the proportion of transgender people satisfied with their lives (i.e., cognitive evaluation of life as a whole) and the determinants of life satisfaction level among transgender individuals.MethodsData were taken from the HH-TPCHIGV study. Included were 104 transgender people who had joined self-help groups to get and share information about the gender-affirming surgeries performed at the Division of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf. The established Satisfaction with Life Scale was used to quantify life satisfaction. Sociodemographic-, lifestyle-related and health-related determinants were included in multiple linear regressions. In regression analysis, life satisfaction served as outcome measure and in a robustness check ordered probit regressions were used.ResultsAmong transgender people, 12.9% can be classified as “extremely dissatisfied”, 18.3% can be classified as “dissatisfied”, 12.9% can be classified as “slightly dissatisfied”, 7.5% as “neutral”, 30.1% as “slightly satisfied”, 17.2% as “satisfied” and 1.1% as “extremely satisfied”. Higher levels of life satisfaction were associated with higher age (β = .15,p< .05), higher school education (β = 5.54,p< .001), and favorable self-rated health (β = 2.20,p< .001).ConclusionsNearly half of the transgender people were at least “satisfied” with their lives. Knowledge about the correlates of life satisfaction may assist in addressing unsatisfied individuals.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-023-15831-4.