What are the best places to live and work in the UK?
Find the best cities to live, work and raise a family in the UK
We ranked Britain’s towns and cities with over 200,000 residents on a range of factors including average salary, rent, property prices, commuting costs and quality of life.
Click on the map pins below to find out more about the UK's best places to live, according to our liveability index.
Location Rank
Sunderland 1
Leeds 2
Aberdeen 3
Milton Keynes 4
Liverpool 5
Derby 6
Swindon 7
Leicester 8
York 9
Nottingham 10
Sheffield 11
Portsmouth 12
Stoke-on-Trent 13
Glasgow 14
Coventry 15
Dudley 16
Reading 17
Edinburgh 18
Southampton 19
Wolverhampton 20
Birmingham 21
Luton 22
London 23
Brighton 24
Bradford 25
Bristol 26
Manchester 27
Newcastle 28
Salford 29
Swansea 30
Northampton 31
Plymouth 32
Cardiff 33
Hull 34
Warrington 35
What are the best cities in the UK?
According to our research the best places for under 30s to live and work are:
- Sunderland
- Leeds
- Aberdeen
- Milton Keynes
- Liverpool
- Derby
- Swindon
- Leicester
- York
- Nottingham
The top ten is dominated by northern cities Sunderland, Leeds, Liverpool, Derby, Leicester, York and Nottingham. Aberdeen, Milton Keynes and Swindon were the only cities outside of northern England to make the list.
Sunderland was our overall winner.
What are the safest places to live in the UK?
According to a survey conducted by OnePoll Newcastle is the safest UK city with a population of greater than 200,000.
- Newcastle
- Aberdeen
- Plymouth
- York
- Swansea
- Southampton
- Edinburgh
- Cardiff
- Brighton and Hove
- Glasgow
What I would advise my younger self
Managing money is a way to help ensure that your money serves you in the best way possible. Decisions that you make on how to manage your money at 18 can dramatically shape your future financial outlook.
Looking back on my teens, I would tell my 18 year old self to:
- start paying closer attention to the numbers in my bank account
- to save some money to ensure that I was looking after my future self
- to use budgeting techniques that allow you to spend less on the things you don't love and more on the things you do.
Hopefully, you’ll also be able to manage your bank account in a way that means there’s also some money left over to go into a savings account.

Lifetime ISA
Use a Lifetime ISA to save for your first home. You can invest up to £4,000 per year and receive a 25% government bonus on top - that's up to £1,000 every year.
DO NOT DELETE

Liked this article? You may also be interested in...
How to get on the property ladder
Your first home may feel like it will take a long time to save for. But there are ways to get there a little bit sooner.
Help to Buy vs Lifetime ISA
There are two ISAs that can help you save for your first home; the Help to Buy ISA and the Lifetime ISA - but which one is right for you?
Should you charge your kids rent?
Children are living at home for longer, some well into adulthood. It can help them avoid spending money on rent and save for a deposit. But isn’t it only fair that they contribute?