Happiest places in Scotland revealed (and the most miserable)

The Western Isles has been identified as the happiest place to live in Scotland, while Inverclyde has been deemed the least happy.
Stornoway, Isle of Lewis. Picture: HebDroneStornoway, Isle of Lewis. Picture: HebDrone
Stornoway, Isle of Lewis. Picture: HebDrone

Scores were produced for council area by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) based on four measures of personal well-being - life satisfaction, feeling that the things done in life are worthwhile, happiness and anxiety.

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Scotland the only part of the UK feeling happier

The report covers the whole of the UK - but here is a list of the top and bottom scores for Scotland;

Happiest Places in Scotland

Western Isles : 8.08/10

Highlands: 8/10


Orkney: 8/10


Midlothian: 7.85/10


Dumfries and Galloway: 7.8/10

Least Happy Places in Scotland

Inverclyde: 7.18/10

Glasgow: 7.24 /10


N. Lanarkshire: 7.28 /10

East Lothian: 7.3 /10


South Lanarkshire: 7.36 /10

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The full report, entitled Personal well-being in the UK: April 2017 to March 2018, can be found here along with an interactive map.

Researchers warn that conclusions from the data should be “made with caution” though, because discrepancies such as different sample sizes in different areas may have skewed some results.

A note provided along with the bulletin says that comparisons between individual local authorities will be more meaningful by comparing like with like, such as between several large urban areas or between rural communities in different parts of the UK. Another option is to present changes in personal well-being over time within the same local authority area, identifying significant changes.

Wider findings

The report found that the happiest place to live in the UK is apparently an area of north-east Hampshire called Rushmoor, which scored 8.35 out of 10. The UK average was 7.7.

In Scotland, average ratings increased compared to the rest of the UK for 'feeling the things done in life are worthwhile.' This was driven by a higher percentage of people reporting very high levels for this measure.

Commenting on the figures, Silvia Manclossi, head of the ONS Quality of Life Team, said: "An important part of our work is looking beyond the economic health of the country to how its people are faring and inequalities in society.

"Today, for the first time, we have identified how factors such as health, access to services, and crime levels may affect how people rate their well-being in different parts of the UK. This can help local authorities and other organisations to better understand where services could be targeted to help improve the well-being of people in their area.”

The aerial picture on this article is courtesy of HebDrone.

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