Edinburgh has been named the best place to live in the UK, according to a new report by MoneySuperMarket.
The report revealed that out of the UK’s 12 largest cities, Edinburgh has the highest quality of life based on a range of indicators, including house prices, rents, unemployment, income and cost of living.
Edinburgh scored above average almost across the board when compared to Belfast, Cardiff, Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford, Bristol, Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool, London, and Birmingham.
Outside of London, Edinburgh had the highest annual salary of £25,543.
House price affordability was also the cheapest, working out at 5.5 times the average salary for a property, compared to 8.8 times for the UK as a whole.
The average asking price of rent in Edinburgh (£1,099) takes up just over half of the annual salary (52%), far less than London where rent is a whopping 93% of the average salary in the capital.
Also in Edinburgh’s favour was the low unemployment rate at 5.5%, nearly three percentage points (8.3%) below the average for the 12 cities.
Belfast came in second place, with Cardiff not far behind. The Northern Irish capital had the second lowest unemployment rate at 6.5% as well as the highest life satisfaction score (7.65) of all the 12 cities, up from 7.28 in 2014.
The Welsh capital has a low cost of living with an average weekly household expenditure of £384.60 against an average of £426.30, as well as an above average amount of disposable income – £16,520 per head, up 3% from £15,999 in 2014.
Taking the bottom spot was Birmingham, which was below average for five out of seven indicators. Birmingham also has the lowest disposable income of £13,575 a year per person against a UK average of £17,559.
Kevin Pratt, consumer finance expert at MoneySuperMarket, said: “Overall, the UK’s largest cities perform well in the Quality of Living index. While in some cases, salaries have fallen slightly and the cost of living has risen, hitting some cities hard, life satisfaction scores are generally higher across the board compared to last year.
“What’s more, these cities have benefited from falling unemployment, a decrease in rent and a rise in disposable income over the last year. Added to this, property prices are on the rise again, so many home owners are seeing their properties increase in value. So there are many reasons for British city-dwellers to be happy, not just those living in Edinburgh.”
How the UK’s top 12 cities compare
| Rent prices as a share of salary | House price affordability (house price / salary) | Salary | Unemploy-ment rate | Cost of living (weekly exp.) | Life satisfaction | |
| UK average | 54% | 8.8 | £22,044 | 6.0% | £426.30 | 7.61 |
| Average of 12 cities | 45% | 7.5 | £22,858 | 8.3% | £402.95 | 7.48 |
| Belfast | 41% | 6.7 | £18,764 | 6.5% | £429.10 | 7.65 |
| Birmingham | 39% | 7.7 | £21,558 | 10.3% | £396.20 | 7.43 |
| Bradford | 29% | 7.4 | £19,801 | 9.2% | £377.60 | 7.61 |
| Bristol | 49% | 9.2 | £23,468 | 6.8% | £445.50 | 7.43 |
| Cardiff | 51% | 6.6 | £22,000 | 8.4% | £384.60 | 7.53 |
| Edinburgh | 52% | 5.5 | £25,543 | 5.5% | £386.50 | 7.59 |
| Glasgow | 35% | 6.2 | £22,638 | 10.0% | £386.50 | 7.46 |
| Leeds | 52% | 6.6 | £22,419 | 8.0% | £377.60 | 7.51 |
| Liverpool | 30% | 6.4 | £23,025 | 10.6% | £396.80 | 7.25 |
| London | 93% | 14.2 | £30,338 | 6.7% | £480.60 | 7.50 |
| Manchester | 38% | 6.0 | £24,354 | 9.0% | £396.80 | 7.35 |
| Sheffield | 37% | 7.2 | £20,382 | 8.0% | £377.60 | 7.40 |
