We have aimed to make identifying the best places to live easier, by creating uSwitch's Best Places to Live in The UK Quality of Life Index.
This is an analysis of a wide range of official data for the 138 statistical regions of the UK, which allows us to derive an index of overall quality of life for each place.
The data we used in this study included an array of things that are important for good quality of life, like incomes and cost of living, the availability of jobs, and some other non-financial aspects of life like how big kids' classroom sizes are and how fast the average broadband speeds in a given area are.
As well as creating a new league table of the 138 regions using data from 2015, we have also compared each region's performance to its place on our last league table from 2013, to see how quality of life has changed.
Lancashire CC in the North West of England is a place whose statistics have deteriorated significantly since the previous uSwitch study of quality of life in 2013 – by a huge 73 places – dropping from number 33 on our list to 106th in 2015. Here are some of the statistics for Lancashire CC that were used in our study:
Employment
Lancashire CC has fairly bad overall employment rates, with 69% of people living in Lancashire CC in 2015 having a job. 46% of the population of Lancashire CC in 2015 were working normal full time hours of 35-45 hours a week. 23% on top of that were considered to have a poor work life balance, working 45 or more hours per week in Lancashire CC- this is just slightly higher than average.
Income
Incomes are fairly average in Lancashire CC, with the average gross weekly income per person in 2015 at £466.85.
House Prices
House prices are fairly low in the statistical region of Lancashire CC – even compared to the North West as a whole, with the average house in 2015 costing £134,697.
Life Expectancy
In Lancashire CC, life expectancy from birth is close to UK averages and average data for England, at 78 for men and 82 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
Food prices are just below average for the UK and pretty average for North West England with the average household weekly grocery shop in 2015 costing £53. Petrol prices are, however, a couple of pence higher than average here, at 119p.
Other Important Factors
Lancashire CC has fairly good mobile phone network coverageat 96%. Its broadband speeds are quite mediocre however at 20.7Mbps on average in 2015.
Use our broadband postcode checker to see which deals and what speeds are on offer in your area.
TLike anywhere, Lancashire CC has its pros and cons. With relatively low house prices and cost of living, it is let down by comparatively low employment rates and mediocre technology infrastructure.
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.
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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 .