Brent is among the happiest places in north London while Islington is one of the unhappiest nationwide, according to new data.
The happiest – and unhappiest – places to live in north London have been revealed by the Office for National Statistics based on a personal wellbeing survey.
The study asked people how happy they felt the previous day, how satisfied they are with their life and to what extent they feel the things they do in their life are worthwhile.
People aged 16 and older were asked to rate each question out of 10, where zero is “not at all” and 10 is “completely”.
The latest results reveal the average ratings in every local authority across the UK over the 12 months to March 2021.
We took a look at the data for the boroughs of Barnet, Brent, Camden, Islington, Haringey and Westminster to see how they compared.
Here are the findings by borough, ranked from least to most happy:
6. Islington
Islington was ranked in the UK's bottom 10 for all three categories.
As well as the eighth lowest happiness rating, it was in the bottom 10 for life satisfaction and ninth worst for feeling that the things done in life are worthwhile.
Happiness: 6.84 (-)
Life satisfaction: 6.99 (-)
Worthwhile: 7.32 (-)
Note: “+” indicates an increased rating from the year before; “-” indicates a decrease.
5. Camden
Not only one of the unhappiest places in north London, Camden ranks second worst out of 381 local authorities across the UK for life satisfaction.
Camden also had the sixth lowest score nationally for feeling that the things done in life are worthwhile.
Happiness: 6.93 (-)
Life satisfaction: 6.78 (-)
Worthwhile: 7.27 (-)
4. Haringey
Happiness: 7.09 (-)
Life satisfaction: 7.17 (-)
Worthwhile: 7.17 (-)
3. Barnet
Happiness: 7.23 (-)
Life satisfaction: 7.30 (-)
Worthwhile: 7.58 (-)
2. Westminster
Happiness: 7.27 (=)
Life satisfaction: 7.21 (-)
Worthwhile: 7.58 (+)
1. Brent
Brent was the happiest of the places we looked at, despite its score falling for the second year in a row.
The latest happiness rating was actually Brent's lowest since 2012/13, yet still eclipsed the other boroughs.
Happiness: 7.28 (-)
Life satisfaction: 6.99 (-)
Worthwhile: 7.32 (-)
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here