Good quality of life is something we all want, and where we choose to live is one of the most important factors contributing to it.
To try and understand where the best and worst quality of life can be found in the UK at the moment, uSwitch has analysed a large amount of data for all of the UK's tier 3 statistical regions and come up with uSwitch's Best Places to Live in The UK Quality of Life Index – a system of ranking the cities and regions of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in order of general quality of life.
As well as coming up with updated rankings for 2015, we have also compared these results to a similar study we performed back in 2013, to see how quality of life in the UK's regions had changed.
East Derbyshire is a statistical region that has shown some improvement in uSwitch's Best Places to Live in The UK Quality of Life Index since 2013, rising up the table by 17 places from being in 97th place, to 80th place in 2015. This is still in the bottom half of the table, however it is still encouraging.
Here are some of the statistics that define quality of life in the NUTS 3 statistical region of East Derbyshire in 2015:
Employment
Employment overall is reasonable in East Derbyshire, with 73% of the people who live there employed.
46% of people are in full time employment, working standard hours of 35-45 hours per week, and another 21% are full time employed however can be considered to be 'overworking', working for more than 45 hours a week on a regular basis (which is seen as a negative for good quality of life).
Income
Incomes are quite low by UK standards, with the average person in East Derbyshire in 2015 having a gross weekly income of £433.80. Disposable income is also fairly low at £14,570 per East Derbyshire household, per year.
House Prices
House prices are low by UK standards in East Derbyshire with the average 2015 house sale coming to £129,316.67. Rentals however are fairly expensive compared to house prices with the average rate per person, per week at £74.
Life Expectancy
The life expectancy from birth in East Derbyshire is similar to national averages for England, at 78 for men and 84 for women.
Life expectancy is an influential factor that insurance companies use to determine life insurance premiums. You can check our advice guide on how to get a cheaper life insurance policy.
Living Costs
Living costs are fairly average for food and non-alcoholic drinks in East Derbyshire A weekly grocery shop for a household costs £55 on average. Petrol prices are about average at 120p, however – among the most expensive in the UK.
Check today to see if you could be paying less for your home and car insurance.
Other Important Factors
East Derbyshire scores quite badly for communication technology – it has very low average broadband speeds of 17Mbps, and just 87% mobile phone coverage – probably due to this region containing some rural areas.
Use our broadband postcode checker to see which deals and what speeds are on offer in your area.
With regards to the quality of life you can expect, there is certainly a huge amount of variation everywhere in England, NI, Scotland and Wales. East Derbyshire is a place with some positives in statistical terms, which has shown some improvement, however due to low incomes and things like lacklustre technology services, it still falls in the lower half of our table of the best places to live in 2015.
More to life than rankings
At uSwitch, we know that there is more to life than rankings, stats and figures, and our Qualify of Life Index merely highlights the vast differences in the experiences of people across the UK.
Whether you're living in the best city or the worst, millions of households in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland face financial struggles including rising energy bills and credit card debt. That's why it's more important than ever for households to assess their budgets, and uSwitch.com offers a great way to start.
Below you can find ways to save on everything from car insurance to mobile bills.
Compare energy
Compare broadband
Compare credit cards
Compare mortgages
Compare car insurance
Compare mobiles
Place to Live 2015 — Where did your region rank?
About the research
The uSwitch.com study assessed 138 local areas (NUTS3 regions) for 26 factors such as salaries, disposable household income, and the cost of essential goods including food bills, fuel costs and energy bills. The study also factored in lifestyle issues like hours of sunshine, working hours and life expectancy to ensure a full picture of the quality of life in each NUTS3 region.
For more about the study's methodology, read the full press release .