We love the UK. It’s full of gorgeous scenery, brilliant cities, and near endless pubs, but let’s be honest: it’s not all Cornish beaches and nights out in Manchester. Some places are a little bit rubbish, as described by their own residents.
A while back, it was revealed that Slough was the UK’s most depressing place in 2024, according to the people who live there. Now, the Daily Mail has done some number crunching with available data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) to find out which regions in England have the most unhappy people, and the results might not be what you might predict.
But first, where do these numbers come from? Every year, the ONS conducts huge polls of tens of thousands of people across the country and asks them about their general levels of satisfaction as well as how anxious they are and their sense of self worth on a scale of 1-10. With all of this info, averages can be calculated and regions can be compared.
So that’s how the Mail calculated the happiest, saddest, and most anxious places in England. But what are the results?
The most miserable region in England
It turns out that the nation’s most miserable region is… a three way tie! The North East, North West and West Midlands all had an average happiness score of 7.3 out of 10. Considering that the region that tops the ranking, the South West, had a score of 7.6, that’s not too bad at all. Maybe we’re a cheerier country than we think.
England’s most miserable, and happiest, regions
Based on most metrics, all of England’s regions are quite similar in happiness, life satisfaction, and anxiety levels, but each region has its pros and its pitfalls. For instance London and the East Midlands were joint in having the highest anxiety scores, but the latter had the second highest score in life satisfaction.
Based solely on happiness, here is every region in England ranked from lowest to highest:
- North East: 7.3
- North West: 7.3
- West Midlands: 7.3
- East Midlands: 7.4
- London: 7.4
- East of England: 7.5
- South East: 7.5
- Yorkshire and the Humber: 7.5
- South West: 7.6
What are the happiest places to live in the UK
The South West scored the highest in happiness ratings, and also led the pack in life satisfaction, albeit joint with Yorkshire, and the East. This contrasts with previous research done by the Guardian, which claimed that Berwick-upon-Tweed, as far north as you can go before you reach Scotland, was the happiest town in the country. It also goes against findings from Rightmove, who declared Woodbridge in the eastern county of Suffolk the best place to live in the UK.
Basically, the happiest place in the country differs depending on who you ask. However, only the ONS has access to such large-scale surveys, which could make their findings more reliable for some.
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