These are the happiest places to live in the UK

Lara Billington
Content Marketing Executive

The happiest (and unhappiest) places to live in the UK have been revealed. 

The Office for National Statistics has released a report on personal well-being in the UK between April 2018 and March 2019. The report includes a ranking of the areas of the country that are the most and least happy. 

The ranking was determined based on the results gathered by government surveyors, who asked residents of each area how happy they felt on a scale from one to ten. The happiest place in the UK, with a score of 8.3, is Ribble Valley in Lancashire; this is compared with the average score across the whole of the UK, which was 7.5. 

Rural Ribble Valley, which is largely taken up by the Forest of Bowland, is a popular region of Lancashire for visitors; it pulled in over 4 million people last year thanks to its offering of countryside walks, picturesque views and cosy pubs. 

Check out the five happiest and unhappiest places to live in the UK below, and you can find the full Office of National Statistics report here. 

 

Happiest places to live

 

1. Ribble Valley - Lancashire 

Happiness score: 8.30

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Rachel Gee (@rachelemilygee) on

 

 

2. Orkney Islands 

Happiness score: 8.29 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Orkney Islands (@visitorkney) on

 

 

3. Chichester - West Sussex 

Happiness score: 8.29 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Polly Maltby (@pollymaltby) on

 

 

4. Hambleton - North Yorkshire 

Happiness score: 8.19

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Sam Taylor (@samjctaylor) on

 

 

5. Fylde - Lancashire

Happiness score: 8.18 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Peter Harris (@harrisphelan) on

 

 

Least happy places to live

 

1. Surrey Heath - Surrey 

Happiness score: 6.71 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Naomi Austin (@itsnaomiaustin) on

 

 

2. South Ribble - Lancashire 

Happiness score: 7.02

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Ben Berry (@adventurer_bb) on

 

 

3. Lincoln - East Midlands 

Happiness score: 7.09

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by elspeth velten (@elspethvelten) on

 

 

4. Worcester - West Midlands 

Happiness score: 7.14 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Roxy Trow (@roxytrow) on

 

 

5. Norwich - Norfolk

Happiness score: 7.15 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Norwich Evening News (@norwicheveningnews) on