How happy are we with life? Well fair to middling across Greater Manchester if the figures from the Office for National Statistics are to be believed.

For the first time, they have published interactive tools with estimates of personal well-being for UK local authorities from the financial year ending 2012 to financial year ending 2016 which allow you to explore how personal well-being has changed in your area over the 5 year period, to compare multiple areas at once and to compare your local area to the UK overall.

In Manchester we score 7.36 out of 10 just below the UK average, 7.42 in Salford, 7.76 in Trafford and 7.69 in Stockport, 7.52 in Tameside, 7.38 in Oldham and 7.52 in Rochdale. 

Top of the poll is the Outer Hebrides which scores 8.24 while if you live in East Northamptonshire, Fenland, Corby, Liverpool or Wolverhampton, then it might be advisable to move.

Since 2011 the ONS has been asking people aged 16 and over four questions about their assessment of their lives.Overall, how satisfied are you with your life nowadays, Overall, to what extent do you feel the things you do in your life are worthwhile, Overall, how happy did you feel yesterday and Overall, how anxious did you feel yesterday?

People responded on a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is ‘not at all’ and 10 is ‘completely’.The researchers have then produced breakdowns of the answers by local authority.

Previous research has shown health, relationships and employment are all factors that matter to personal well-being, however it is also important to consider each area’s local circumstances, when looking at the well-being of local authorities.

We have seen personal well-being improving on a UK-wide basis over the past five years,’ Dawn Snape, from the Quality of Life department at the ONS, said.

‘But today’s data paints a richer picture, enabling people to explore what’s been happenign in their local area.

‘This will help individuals, communities, and local authorities to look at well-being locally alongside other traditional measures of progress.’

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