The best place to live in the UK, based on our data, is Rugby. That's the top of our LiveWhere Score, a data-driven ranking of 348 local authorities across affordability, weather, earnings and value for money. Personal preferences matter enormously, so treat this as one lens on the question, not a definitive answer.
How we scored every area in the UK
Every area is scored out of 100 across four dimensions. The final LiveWhere Score is a weighted average of the four:
- Affordability (40%): rent as a percentage of local earnings. Lower is better.
- Weather (20%): combined sunshine, warmth and dryness rank (see our weather guide).
- Earnings (20%): average earnings for the area. Higher is better.
- Value (20%): earnings-to-cost ratio. Higher is better.
The weights are a starting point, not the last word. Someone chasing outdoor time would rate weather higher; someone commuting into a city would rate proximity higher. The important thing is that every input is transparent and comes from official data.
What's missing: crime data and school ratings. We'll add these when they're available at the right resolution across the whole country. In the meantime, our safest places ranking covers the crime side separately.
The 20 best places to live in the UK, based on the data
These rankings are based purely on the data. They don't account for personal preferences like nightlife, cultural amenities, or proximity to family. Those things matter but can't be measured from government statistics.
| # | Area | Score | Monthly cost | Earnings | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rugby West Midlands | 84.1 | £1,404 | £41,814 | #170 |
| 2 | Forest of Dean South West | 84.0 | £1,259 | £36,589 | #176 |
| 3 | Rutland East Midlands | 82.4 | £1,341 | £39,559 | #180 |
| 4 | South Derbyshire East Midlands | 76.6 | £1,251 | £35,452 | #206 |
| 5 | Doncaster Yorkshire and The Humber | 76.2 | £1,126 | £31,119 | #151 |
| 6 | Fylde North West | 75.4 | £1,262 | £36,020 | #267 |
| 7 | Shetland Islands Scotland | 74.9 | £1,115 | £35,716 | #342 |
| 8 | Fareham South East | 74.8 | £1,478 | £38,851 | #86 |
| 9 | North Ayrshire Scotland | 74.5 | £1,050 | £34,689 | #339 |
| 10 | East Riding of Yorkshire Yorkshire and The Humber | 74.0 | £1,154 | £31,881 | #198 |
| 11 | Uttlesford East of England | 73.7 | £1,552 | £41,006 | #94 |
| 12 | Cumberland North West | 73.6 | £1,161 | £33,840 | #315 |
| 13 | South Ayrshire Scotland | 73.5 | £1,051 | £33,986 | #337 |
| 14 | North Lanarkshire Scotland | 73.5 | £1,086 | £34,105 | #324 |
| 15 | Rushcliffe East Midlands | 72.6 | £1,383 | £36,705 | #137 |
| 16 | North Lincolnshire Yorkshire and The Humber | 71.6 | £1,116 | £30,012 | #161 |
| 17 | Aberdeenshire Scotland | 71.5 | £1,191 | £33,799 | #313 |
| 18 | East Ayrshire Scotland | 71.2 | £1,052 | £33,117 | #344 |
| 19 | South Cambridgeshire East of England | 70.9 | £1,670 | £42,690 | #67 |
| 20 | South Lanarkshire Scotland | 70.4 | £1,131 | £34,293 | #343 |
Scottish rents are published for 18 rental market areas, not for each council, so neighbouring councils can share a rent figure.
1. Rugby - LiveWhere Score 84.1. A single-person monthly cost of £1,404 sits alongside average earnings of £41,814 per year. The area ranks #170 on weather, meaning the weather is in line with the UK average.
2. Forest of Dean - LiveWhere Score 84.0. A single-person monthly cost of £1,259 sits alongside average earnings of £36,589 per year. The area ranks #176 on weather, meaning the weather is in line with the UK average.
3. Rutland - LiveWhere Score 82.4. A single-person monthly cost of £1,341 sits alongside average earnings of £39,559 per year. The area ranks #180 on weather, meaning the weather is in line with the UK average.
4. South Derbyshire - LiveWhere Score 76.6. A single-person monthly cost of £1,251 sits alongside average earnings of £35,452 per year. The area ranks #206 on weather, meaning the weather is in line with the UK average.
5. Doncaster - LiveWhere Score 76.2. A single-person monthly cost of £1,126 sits alongside average earnings of £31,119 per year. The area ranks #151 on weather, meaning the weather is in line with the UK average.
Best places to live in the UK on a budget
These are the highest LiveWhere Score areas from the cheapest quartile of UK single-person monthly costs (at or below £1,234). Good affordability plus a decent scorecard on weather, earnings and value.
| # | Area | Monthly cost | Earnings | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Doncaster Yorkshire and The Humber | £1,126 | £31,119 | #151 |
| 2 | Shetland Islands Scotland | £1,115 | £35,716 | #342 |
| 3 | North Ayrshire Scotland | £1,050 | £34,689 | #339 |
| 4 | East Riding of Yorkshire Yorkshire and The Humber | £1,154 | £31,881 | #198 |
| 5 | Cumberland North West | £1,161 | £33,840 | #315 |
| 6 | South Ayrshire Scotland | £1,051 | £33,986 | #337 |
| 7 | North Lanarkshire Scotland | £1,086 | £34,105 | #324 |
| 8 | North Lincolnshire Yorkshire and The Humber | £1,116 | £30,012 | #161 |
| 9 | Aberdeenshire Scotland | £1,191 | £33,799 | #313 |
| 10 | East Ayrshire Scotland | £1,052 | £33,117 | #344 |
Scottish rents are published for 18 rental market areas, not for each council, so neighbouring councils can share a rent figure.
See also: Cheapest places to live in the UK.
Best places to live in the UK for families
The family score gives extra weight to three-bed housing affordability and to weather (outdoor time matters more when there are kids at home). Earnings still count, but the affordability lens shifts from one-bed to three-bed rents.
We'll add school ratings (Ofsted) and crime data to this ranking in a future update.
| # | Area | Family score | 3-bed rent + bills | Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Doncaster Yorkshire and The Humber | 77.0 | £1,135 | £31,119 |
| 2 | North East Lincolnshire Yorkshire and The Humber | 75.1 | £1,082 | £28,898 |
| 3 | North Lincolnshire Yorkshire and The Humber | 73.0 | £1,144 | £30,012 |
| 4 | Hartlepool North East | 71.8 | £1,015 | £28,830 |
| 5 | East Riding of Yorkshire Yorkshire and The Humber | 71.3 | £1,202 | £31,881 |
| 6 | West Lindsey East Midlands | 70.3 | £1,213 | £30,741 |
| 7 | North Ayrshire Scotland | 70.2 | £1,117 | £34,689 |
| 8 | South Ayrshire Scotland | 69.5 | £1,117 | £33,986 |
| 9 | Hull Yorkshire and The Humber | 69.2 | £1,132 | £27,309 |
| 10 | Rotherham Yorkshire and The Humber | 69.1 | £1,139 | £29,664 |
Scottish rents are published for 18 rental market areas, not for each council, so neighbouring councils can share a rent figure.
Best coastal places to live in the UK
Filtered from our list of coastal local authorities and ranked by LiveWhere Score. Coastal areas often combine strong weather scores with tighter housing supply, so affordability varies more than inland areas.
| # | Area | Score | Monthly cost | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 75.4 | £1,262 | #267 | |
| 2 | 74.9 | £1,115 | #342 | |
| 3 | 74.8 | £1,478 | #86 | |
| 4 | 74.5 | £1,050 | #339 | |
| 5 | 74.0 | £1,154 | #198 | |
| 6 | 73.6 | £1,161 | #315 | |
| 7 | 73.5 | £1,051 | #337 | |
| 8 | 71.5 | £1,191 | #313 | |
| 9 | 69.6 | £1,141 | #285 | |
| 10 | 67.4 | £1,126 | #335 |
Scottish rents are published for 18 rental market areas, not for each council, so neighbouring councils can share a rent figure.
Best places to live by region
Top 3 areas from each part of the country on our LiveWhere Score (LWS).
Best places to live in South East England
- 1. Fareham LWS 74.8, £1,478/month
- 2. Wokingham LWS 68.7, £1,714/month
- 3. East Hampshire LWS 66.9, £1,552/month
Best places to live in South West England
- 1. Forest of Dean LWS 84.0, £1,259/month
- 2. Mid Devon LWS 54.7, £1,319/month
- 3. Stroud LWS 53.9, £1,412/month
Best places to live in East of England
- 1. Uttlesford LWS 73.7, £1,552/month
- 2. South Cambridgeshire LWS 70.9, £1,670/month
- 3. Rochford LWS 68.9, £1,539/month
Best places to live in the Midlands
- 1. Rugby LWS 84.1, £1,404/month
- 2. Rutland LWS 82.4, £1,341/month
- 3. South Derbyshire LWS 76.6, £1,251/month
Best places to live in North West England
- 1. Fylde LWS 75.4, £1,262/month
- 2. Cumberland LWS 73.6, £1,161/month
- 3. Ribble Valley LWS 69.4, £1,253/month
Best places to live in North East England
- 1. Hartlepool LWS 68.7, £1,055/month
- 2. Middlesbrough LWS 65.4, £1,152/month
- 3. Darlington LWS 65.0, £1,146/month
Best places to live in Yorkshire and the Humber
- 1. Doncaster LWS 76.2, £1,126/month
- 2. East Riding of Yorkshire LWS 74.0, £1,154/month
- 3. North Lincolnshire LWS 71.6, £1,116/month
Best places to live in Wales
- 1. Torfaen LWS 66.3, £1,247/month
- 2. Flintshire LWS 65.9, £1,238/month
- 3. Carmarthenshire LWS 65.7, £1,143/month
Best places to live in Scotland
- 1. Shetland Islands LWS 74.9, £1,115/month
- 2. North Ayrshire LWS 74.5, £1,050/month
- 3. South Ayrshire LWS 73.5, £1,051/month
Best places to live in the UK for weather
Weather is only 20% of the LiveWhere Score, but it's the metric people ask about most. These are the areas that score in the top 10 on weather AND above average on our overall LiveWhere Score - great weather that comes without an impossibly high price of admission.
For the complete weather analysis, see our guide: Where in the UK has the best weather?
How we built this guide
Sources, scoring and limitations
Data sources: ONS Price Index of Private Rents (rent), MHCLG / Scottish Government / Welsh Government (council tax), ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (earnings), Ofgem energy price cap (energy), Water UK (water bills), and the Met Office HadUK-Grid dataset (weather). Monthly costs for a single person cover rent, council tax, energy, water, groceries and transport; groceries and transport are standard allowances.
Scoring: each area is ranked against every other on four metrics, converted to a 0-100 score based on rank position, then weighted 40 / 20 / 20 / 20 across affordability, weather, earnings and value. This is deliberately simple. A more sophisticated model (z-scores, non-linear weighting, priors) wouldn't change the ranking much and would make the methodology harder to explain.
Limitations: we don't yet include crime data, school ratings, or broadband quality in the score. We'll add these as they become available at the right resolution. This guide is updated when new data lands.