New research by TotallyMoney shows South East England to be the best place in the UK to earn a living.
The research considers median monthly take-home salary, average monthly mortgage repayment, cost of living, unemployment levels, and job growth to rank 59 locations in order, from best place to earn a living to worst.
South East England towns Crawley, Southampton, Reading, Oxford, and Slough take five spots in the top 10 — first, third, seventh, ninth, and tenth respectively.
The research shows that Crawley workers’ salaries are similar to London workers. However, mortgage repayments and living expenses are much lower in Crawley, contributing heavily to its top ranking.
East Midlands town Derby takes second position — the only East Midlands town to feature in the top 10.
South West England also fares well, with Gloucester and Swindon taking fifth and eighth place.
While London takes the top spot for take-home salary, more expensive house prices and a higher cost of living means it only ranks 39th among the locations overall.
| Position | Town |
| 1 | Crawley |
| 2 | Derby |
| 3 | Southampton |
| 4 | Edinburgh |
| 5 | Gloucester |
| 6 | Milton Keynes |
| 7 | Reading |
| 8 | Swindon |
| 9 | Oxford |
| 10 | Slough |
| 11 | Leeds |
| 12 | York |
| 13 | Bristol |
| 14 | Luton |
| 15 | Wakefield |
| 16 | Warrington |
| 17 | Burnley |
| 18 | Glasgow |
| 19 | Telford |
| 20 | Preston |
| 21 | Newport |
| 22 | Blackpool |
| 23 | Mansfield |
| 24 | Kingston upon Hull |
| 25 | Dundee |
| 26 | Portsmouth |
| 27 | Peterborough |
| 28 | Stoke |
| 29 | Bournemouth |
| 30 | Newcastle |
| 31 | Cardiff |
| 32 | Aldershot |
| 33 | Northampton |
| 34 | Sunderland |
| 35 | Ipswich |
The worst place to make a living…
The east of England, on the other hand, surfaces as one of the worst places to earn a living in the UK, with three towns ranking in the bottom 10.
Norwich, Basildon, and Southend take positions 51, 55, and 59 respectively. All three towns have some of the lowest salaries, with high monthly mortgage costs doing little to balance this out.
TotallyMoney Head of Brand & Content, Joe Gardiner, said: “While many are drawn to bigger cities, such as London and Birmingham, in the hope of earning a decent living, our research shows they may not be the best overall option due to higher-than-average living costs.
“We hope our research will prompt people to consider a wider range of areas when thinking about changing careers or moving home.”
| Position | Town |
| 36 | Sheffield |
| 37 | Middlesbrough |
| 38 | London |
| 39 | Worthing |
| 40 | Chatham |
| 41 | Liverpool |
| 42 | Manchester |
| 43 | Coventry |
| 44 | Aberdeen |
| 45 | Birmingham |
| 46 | Nottingham |
| 47 | Bradford |
| 48 | Wigan |
| 49 | Cambridge |
| 50 | Norwich |
| 51 | Exeter |
| 52 | Leicester |
| 53 | Doncaster |
| 54 | Basildon |
| 55 | Huddersfield |
| 56 | Birkenhead |
| 57 | Brighton |
| 58 | Southend |
| 59 | Swansea |
About TotallyMoney
TotallyMoney provides customers with a Free Credit Report and Live Score that puts them in control of their credit data, and helps them make smarter borrowing decisions.
TotallyMoney’s unique Borrowing Power algorithm shows customers how likely they are to be offered credit by real-world lenders.
TotallyMoney was named Best Credit Report Provider at the 2018 Moneynet Personal Finance Awards.
TotallyMoney won the Innovation in Customer Contact award at the 2017 Credit Awards for their intelligent email alerts service. These personalised monthly emails tell users about products that could help them, based on their credit eligibility.
TotallyMoney is an independent credit broker, not a lender. It provides a free comparison service to customers, though they may be paid a fee by lenders. How much they get paid doesn’t influence how the service works or the ranking of any credit products presented to customers.