Whether you like being near the beach or prefer city life, it’s clear both have their advantages. With our new research, discover in which locations people are generally happier.
Top 3
Those living by the sea are the happiest with an average score of 110 compared to those living in city locations, which has an average score of 92. These were calculated using the average scores for all seaside and city locations, with 200 being the maximum score possible.
Cardiff is the happiest place to live followed by Edinburgh and Morecambe. Cardiff is the best of both worlds, a city by the sea and has a high happiness score of 172. All top three locations, two of which are by the sea, have happiness scores of over 130.
To determine the happiest locations, we took the most populated 20 cities and 20 locations by the sea and compared factors including average house price, crime rate and number of parks in the area.
We then rated each factor in every location from 1-40 (worst to best) and added these scores up to create a happiness score for every location.
Full Results
- Key:
- SEA
![#]()
- CITY
![#]()
(Avg)
(Monthly Net)
(per 1,000 people)