Where is the happiest place to live?
Each year Right Move ask thousands of people across Great Britain how they feel about where they live, and who are the happiest residents?
If we look at Britain as a whole, Skipton in North Yorkshire has been crowned the happiest place to live in 2025 by those that live there.
And what about Scotland? Well, it appears that Stirling tops the rankings in Scotland for 2025 and is also the 8th happiest place to live in Britain.
For those of us living in the Highlands, we don’t have to move out of the area to find a happy place to live as Inverness makes 4th place in Scotland, although we would surely have thought it would place higher than 75 in Britain!
The full top 10 rankings in Scotland via Right Move are:
| Location | Regional rank | National rank |
| Stirling | 1 | 8 |
| Kirkcaldy | 2 | 56 |
| Edinburgh | 3 | 69 |
| Inverness | 4 | 75 |
| Perth | 5 | 80 |
| Paisley | 6 | 86 |
| Dumfries | 7 | 94 |
| Kilmarnock | 8 | 95 |
| Dundee | 9 | 102 |
| Glasgow | 10 | 112 |
So – what makes somewhere a happy place to live? Feeling happy at home isn’t just about the property. It’s also about the wider area, the community, and how close you are to the things which matter most.
- A sense of belonging and wellbeing – feeling part of a community is among the strongest drivers of happiness.
- Safety – plays an important role
- Access to essential services such as schools, hospitals and employment opportunities.
- Physical environment – can have a major bearing on happiness. Green spaces were shown to be one of the most valued features.
The Right Move survey showed that those who lived in a rural location were more likely to say they felt happy where they lived than urban residents. However, at the same time, walkability and vibrant high streets also matter to people – being able to walk to local shops adds convenience to everyday life.
It is perhaps no surprise that there are many factors which can influence what makes someone feel happy in their area, but did you realise that our happiness with where we live often grows with age? Residents aged 18-24 were the least likely to say they felt happy where they live, and happiness then increases through the age brackets, with those aged 65 and over being the most likely to feel happy with where they live!
Irrespective of your age, see if we have a new happy home for you with our full property listings here.