Whether you are looking to move or are just interested in how the UK shapes up for quality of life, uSwitch's Best Places to Live in The UK Quality of Life Index is a study you may find interesting.
Using data for various aspects of quality of life from 2015, we have calculated where each of the 138 statistical regions of the UK sits comparatively in a league table of the best places to live. We've also looked at how this data differs from our last study in 2013, to see where some places have improved and others have slipped down the table.
Nottingham in the East Midlands is a place whose statistics have improved since the previous uSwitch study of quality of life in 2013, though not dramatically, rising up from position 110 on our list to 102nd in 2015. Here are some of the statistics for Nottingham that were used in our 2015 study of quality of life in the UK:
Employment
When it comes to general employment rates, Nottingham's statistics are on the poor side of average with a very low 63% of the population in employment. This is better than in the UK's lowest employment region of Liverpool which has 59% employment, but significantly worse than the rest of the East Midlands and England as a whole.
Income
Incomes in Nottingham are fairly good with the average gross weekly income for Nottingham individuals in 2015 at £471.10. Household annual disposable income in Nottingham is exceptionally low, however, at £11,757.
House Prices
House prices are very low in the statistical region of Nottingham, with the average house in 2015 costing £110k. Rent, however, is comparatively high at £73 per week.
Life Expectancy
The life expectancy from birth in Nottingham is well below average for the UK as a whole, especially for men at 82 for women and 77 for men.
There is a five year gap here between men and women, where in the vast majority of places in our study it is four years.
Living Costs
The cost of living in Nottingham is roughly average for the UK with a weekly food shop for a Nottingham household costing £55. Petrol is, however, among the most expensive in the UK at 120p.
Other Important Factors
Nottingham has especially good mobile phone signal, with 99% of the region getting signal – this is fairly normal in statistical regions that comprise just one fairly big city. The average 2015 broadband speeds in Nottingham are very good too, at 31.4Mbps.
Use our broadband postcode checker to see which deals and what speeds are on offer in your area.
There are pros and cons to every place in the United Kingdom, however Nottingham ranks in the bottom portion of our table for quality of life in 2015 due to things like low disposable income and poor employment figures.
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 .