When you are thinking about quality of life, the place you choose to live in is one of the things that can have the biggest impact.
If you are currently in the process of choosing a new location in the UK, information about how different places compare for quality of life, like Uswitch's Best Places to Live in The UK Quality of Life Index can be a big help.
We have recently published our latest version of Uswitch's Best Places to Live in The UK Quality of Life Index for 2015, which shows how all 138 statistical regions of the United Kingdom currently compare.
We've also looked at where cities and regions have improved or lost places on the table since we last did this analysis, giving a clear idea of which places are 'up and coming' and which may be in decline for quality of life overall.
Torbay in the South West of England is a place whose statistics have improved since the last Uswitch study of quality of life which we published in 2013 – but only by a small margin - rising up the table four places from 123rd to 119th in 2015.
Here are just some of the statistics for Torbay that were used in the most recent version of our quality of life index:
Employment
The employment rates in Torbay are fairly average, with 71% of the population in employment and 36% working what are regarded as normal full time hours of 35 to 45 hours.
In addition to that 36%, another 23% work for over 45 hours a week on a regular basis in Torbay, which is less than the average amount of people who are considered as overworking.
Income
Incomes are statistically pretty low in Torbay, with the average gross weekly income for a person living here in 2015 at £421.90.
House Prices
The price of buying a house in Torbay is moderate by overall UK standards, and relatively low for the South West of England at £169,250k. Rent, on the other hand, is high compared with UK averages at £78 per week.
Life Expectancy
In Torbay, life expectancy from birth is close to UK averages and also similar to the average life expectancy for England with a four year gap between genders, at 79 for men and 83 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
The cost of food is surprisingly high for a place outside of the especially expensive South East region at £60 for a weekly household grocery shop in Torbay – the same price as in places accepted as expensive like inner London, Surrey and Buckinghamshire. Petrol is also priced slightly above average in Torbay at 118p.
Other Important Factors
Torbay has fairly good mobile phone network coverage, particularly for the South West, at 98%. Torbay's broadband speeds are unfortunately quite mediocre however at 21.1Mbps on average in 2015.
Use our broadband postcode checker to see which deals and what speeds are on offer in your area.
Torbay has a few positives like relatively good employment, but due to things like its poor incomes and high cost of living it still finds itself in the bottom 20 of the table of Uswitch's best places to live in the UK for 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.
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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 .