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A new report ranking cities across the UK on how happy the population is has been released. Taking into consideration life satisfaction, anxiety, life expectancy, salary, happiness, and the feeling of worth.
As 2026 begins, many professionals are reflecting on their career satisfaction and happiness in their current roles. For countless workers, the new year symbolises a fresh start and an opportunity for change, offering a chance to embark on the next chapter of their career.
The 2026 UK City Workplace Happiness & Satisfaction Report by OddsMonkey ranks UK cities according to workplace satisfaction levels, identifying where residents are most and least content with their current employment situations.
St Albans ranked as the UK’s happiest city to work in, scoring 79.88/100 overall. The city performed best for life satisfaction, ranked 3rd for average life expectancy (83.75), and 3rd for sense of worthwhileness, while also scoring strongly across all other wellbeing factors.
Oxford ranked second overall with a workplace happiness score of 76.65/100. The city placed 3rd for life satisfaction and 2nd for sense of worthwhileness, while ranking within the top 10 across all other wellbeing factors included in the study.
Chelmsford ranked third overall with a workplace happiness score of 69.28/100. This Essex city ranked 1st for happiness and 2nd-lowest for anxiety, indicating strong day-to-day well-being and a positive work–life balance for those working in the city.
Winchester ranked fourth overall with a score of 67.28/100. The city placed 1st for average life expectancy at 84.35 years. While ranking well across most measures, it falls into the bottom half for both happiness and anxiety compared to other UK cities.
Colchester completed the top five with an overall score of 62.7/100. Another Essex city, this ranked 2nd for life satisfaction and performed relatively strongly across the remaining wellbeing factors, placing it among the UK’s highest-rated cities for workplace happiness.
Lincoln ranked as the UK’s lowest city for worker happiness in 2026, scoring just 21.16/100 overall. The city recorded the worst scores for happiness and sense of worthwhileness, while also ranking 2nd lowest for life satisfaction among all cities analysed.
Manchester ranked second-lowest for worker happiness, with a score of 25.83/100. The city placed 3rd worst for life satisfaction, 2nd lowest for both happiness and sense of worthwhileness, and 3rd lowest for average life expectancy at 77.85 years, despite ranking 5th lowest for anxiety.
Nottingham ranked third-lowest for worker happiness, with a score of 34.96/100. The city recorded the 4th lowest median weekly earnings in the study and generally placed towards the lower end across the remaining wellbeing measures analysed.
Norwich ranked fourth-lowest for worker happiness, with an overall score of 35.1/100. The city recorded the worst anxiety score in the study, while also placing towards the lower end across most other well-being measures included in the analysis.
Glasgow completed the bottom five with a worker happiness score of 36.64/100. The city recorded the lowest average life expectancy in the study at 76.5 years. While ranking 8th for median weekly earnings, it placed poorly across most other well-being factors.
| City | Life Satisfaction | Anxiety | Average Life Expectancy | Salary | Worthwhile | Happiness | Overall Score /100 |
| St Albans | 8 | 3 | 83.75 | 717 | 8 | 7.6 | 79.88 |
| Oxford | 7.8 | 3 | 82.4 | 755 | 8 | 7.6 | 76.65 |
| Chelmsford | 7.5 | 2.8 | 82.8 | 678 | 7.7 | 7.8 | 69.28 |
| Winchester | 7.7 | 3.4 | 84.35 | 683 | 8 | 7.2 | 67.28 |
| Colchester | 7.8 | 3.2 | 82 | 635 | 7.7 | 7.6 | 62.7 |
| Wells | 7.7 | 3.1 | 83.1 | 684 | 7.6 | 7.4 | 62.54 |
| Hereford | 7.6 | 2.9 | 81.9 | 586 | 7.8 | 7.6 | 62.22 |
| Perth | 7.6 | 3 | 80.95 | 672 | 7.9 | 7.3 | 61.26 |
| Stirling | 7.6 | 3.2 | 80.35 | 668 | 7.8 | 7.6 | 60.44 |
| Edinburgh | 7.7 | 3.5 | 80.25 | 746 | 7.9 | 7.3 | 60.34 |
| Chichester | 7.2 | 3.1 | 82.4 | 606 | 7.9 | 7.6 | 60.01 |
| Exeter | 7.4 | 3.3 | 81.1 | 647 | 8.1 | 7.3 | 59.34 |
| Lichfield | 7.5 | 2.8 | 82.7 | 624 | 7.6 | 7.4 | 59.02 |
| Plymouth | 7.5 | 3.2 | 80.6 | 657 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 58.86 |
| Aberdeen | 7.3 | 3.4 | 80.4 | 780 | 7.7 | 7.5 | 57.78 |
| Milton Keynes | 7.5 | 3.8 | 81.6 | 779 | 7.7 | 7.4 | 57.77 |
| Lancaster | 7.6 | 3.6 | 79.75 | 650 | 7.8 | 7.8 | 57.73 |
| York | 7.6 | 3.5 | 81.7 | 669 | 7.7 | 7.5 | 57.6 |
| Gloucester | 7.4 | 2.4 | 80.2 | 649 | 7.6 | 7.4 | 57.16 |
| Coventry | 7.3 | 3.3 | 79.6 | 798 | 7.6 | 7.5 | 55.94 |
| Worcester | 7.5 | 3.9 | 80.85 | 632 | 8 | 7.5 | 55.12 |
| Portsmouth | 7.4 | 3.4 | 80.35 | 727 | 7.7 | 7.4 | 54.81 |
| Leeds | 7.5 | 3.1 | 80.7 | 665 | 7.7 | 7.3 | 54.74 |
| Canterbury | 7.5 | 3.3 | 81.8 | 658 | 7.6 | 7.4 | 54.6 |
| Bath | 7.4 | 3.6 | 83.15 | 678 | 7.7 | 7.2 | 53.91 |
| Wrexham | 7.5 | 3.2 | 79.8 | 631 | 7.8 | 7.4 | 53.57 |
| Doncaster | 7.5 | 3.5 | 79.1 | 608 | 7.9 | 7.6 | 53.09 |
| Derby | 7.4 | 3.6 | 80.05 | 756 | 7.7 | 7.3 | 52.53 |
| Chester | 7.4 | 3.1 | 81.65 | 598 | 7.7 | 7.3 | 52.37 |
| Southend-on-Sea | 7.4 | 3.2 | 80.8 | 609 | 7.8 | 7.3 | 52.11 |
| City of Westminster | 7 | 3.7 | 84.15 | 906 | 7.3 | 7 | 51.72 |
| Wolverhampton | 7.3 | 3.1 | 79.15 | 641 | 7.6 | 7.5 | 49.99 |
| Durham | 7.6 | 3.1 | 79.55 | 600 | 7.6 | 7.4 | 49.77 |
| Brighton & Hove | 7.4 | 3.3 | 81.5 | 670 | 7.7 | 7 | 49.74 |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 7.5 | 3.2 | 79.7 | 640 | 7.6 | 7.3 | 48.71 |
| Wakefield | 7.4 | 3.4 | 79.55 | 657 | 7.7 | 7.2 | 46.92 |
| Sheffield | 7.3 | 3.3 | 80.25 | 638 | 7.6 | 7.3 | 46.72 |
| Preston | 7.4 | 3.2 | 79.25 | 565 | 7.4 | 7.8 | 46.21 |
| Swansea | 7.5 | 3.5 | 79.85 | 620 | 7.6 | 7.3 | 45.54 |
| Salford | 7.4 | 3.5 | 78.8 | 661 | 7.7 | 7.2 | 44.67 |
| Cambridge | 6.5 | 3 | 82.3 | 793 | 7.4 | 7 | 44.4 |
| Birmingham | 7.2 | 3.4 | 79.45 | 652 | 7.7 | 7.2 | 44.23 |
| Bristol | 7.3 | 3.4 | 80.75 | 709 | 7.3 | 7.2 | 43.49 |
| Sunderland | 7.3 | 3.4 | 79.15 | 594 | 7.7 | 7.3 | 43.26 |
| Newport | 7.3 | 3.2 | 80 | 653 | 7.5 | 7.1 | 43.13 |
| Leicester | 7.4 | 3.2 | 79.15 | 587 | 7.6 | 7.2 | 42.46 |
| Liverpool | 7.1 | 3.3 | 78.2 | 671 | 7.6 | 7.3 | 41.76 |
| Kingston upon Hull | 7.4 | 3.5 | 77.95 | 609 | 7.7 | 7.3 | 41.71 |
| Bradford | 7.2 | 3.4 | 79.35 | 621 | 7.6 | 7.2 | 40.66 |
| Stoke-on-Trent | 7.2 | 3.4 | 78.9 | 607 | 7.6 | 7.3 | 40.4 |
| Southampton | 7.2 | 3.8 | 80.3 | 704 | 7.5 | 7.1 | 40.16 |
| Peterborough | 7.3 | 3.6 | 80 | 647 | 7.5 | 7.1 | 39.51 |
| Dundee | 7.4 | 3.6 | 77.45 | 681 | 7.7 | 7 | 39.18 |
| Cardiff | 7.2 | 3.5 | 80.35 | 676 | 7.3 | 7.1 | 37.69 |
| Glasgow | 7.2 | 3.3 | 76.5 | 750 | 7.4 | 7.1 | 36.64 |
| Norwich | 7.3 | 4.4 | 80.35 | 640 | 7.6 | 7.1 | 35.1 |
| Nottingham | 7.2 | 3.5 | 78.6 | 592 | 7.5 | 7.2 | 34.96 |
| Manchester | 7 | 3.7 | 77.85 | 707 | 7.3 | 6.8 | 25.83 |
| Lincoln | 6.7 | 3.1 | 78.45 | 646 | 7.2 | 6.6 | 21.16 |
To identify the UK cities that offer the highest levels of workplace happiness and satisfaction, we compared cities across six key measures reflecting residents’ well-being, financial security, and overall quality of life. Together, these indicators capture how people feel about their lives and work environments.
Because each measure is reported on a different scale and in different units, we first standardised all data to ensure fair comparisons across cities.
For each individual measure:
Each of the six measures was weighted equally, ensuring that no single factor disproportionately influenced the final rankings.
One exception applies to anxiety: because lower anxiety reflects better well-being, cities with lower anxiety scores were awarded higher points, while those with higher anxiety scores received fewer points.
Once each city received a score for all six measures, the scores were summed to produce a final Workplace Happiness & Satisfaction Score out of 100, which was then used to rank cities.
All cities were evaluated using the following six equally weighted indicators:
Personal Well-Being Measures
Data for life satisfaction, worthwhileness, happiness, and anxiety were taken from Personal well-being in the UK: April 2022 to March 2023, published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
This dataset provides estimates of self-reported well-being across selected geographies, including local authority level.
The survey questions used were:
Life Expectancy
Average life expectancy data were sourced from Life expectancy for local areas of the UK: between 2001-2003 and 2022-2024, published by the Office for National Statistics.
To calculate a single life expectancy figure for each city, we averaged male and female life expectancy using the following calculation:
(Male Life Expectancy + Female Life Expectancy) / 2
Earnings
Salary data statistics were taken from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings published by the Office for National Statistics.
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