New report reveals the happiest place to live in Northamptonshire

The happiness of people in Northamptonshire is below the national average, according to official Government figures.
Northamptonshire has been found to have a below-average happiness rating according to a yearly government report.Northamptonshire has been found to have a below-average happiness rating according to a yearly government report.
Northamptonshire has been found to have a below-average happiness rating according to a yearly government report.

The Personal Wellbeing in the UK report released every year by the Office for National Statistics ranks local authorities in terms of the life satisfaction of its residents.

The survey is carried out by asking a sample survey of people from each district authority area four questions about their personal wellbeing such as: “Overall, how happy did you feel yesterday?” And: “How satisfied are you with your life nowadays?”

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People are asked to respond on a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is “not at all” and 10 is “completely”.

Across the UK the average wellbeing score for 2018/19 was 7.71 out of ten, taking a mean score from all the answers.

However, Northamptonshire fell below that at 7.67 out of ten – with one startling result.

Corby, the northernmost district in the county, returned a score of 7.2 out of ten – ranking it as the unhappiest place to live in the UK out of all 394 local authorities.

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The survey shows a marked slump for the town famed for its steel production in the space of a year. If it had returned the same result as last year – 8 out of ten – it would have ranked 26th overall.

In the county, Daventry was found to be the happiest place – returning an overall wellbeing score of eight out of 10.

The district in the west of the county was followed by Kettering, East Northamptonshire, Northampton, Wellingborough, South Northamptonshire and then Corby in terms of happiness.

Yet the place in the county most prone to anxiety was found to be South Northamptonshire, despite it being by far the most affluent area.

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When people in the district were asked “Overall how anxious did you feel yesterday”, they returned an average score of 3.05 out of 10 – compared the 2 out of 10 figure seen in Wellingborough.

This year’s report marked a general slump for South Northamptonshire, comprised of picturesque towns such as Brackley and Towcester.

In 2013 it was considered among the top ten rural places to live in the UK, but the figures for 2018/19 show it ranking 304th overall.