The 18 happiest West Midlands towns and cities to live in 2024 revealed

The online property portal has issued its latest Happy at Home study with the help of 35,000 respondents from across the country, all chirping in with how they feel about where they live - and whether they would rather live elsewhere.

The study, now in its 13th year, asked residents how they feel about a number of factors in their area - and two Shropshire towns have ranked highly.

In the study, residents expressed opinions on topics such as how proud they feeI about where they live, their sense of belonging, community spirit, whether they can be themselves, whether they can earn enough to live comfortably in their area, public transport, sports and recreation, green spaces and artistic and cultural activities.

Shropshire's biggest town, Telford, came sixth in the West Midlands and 72nd nationwide.

Shrewsbury ranked just outside the national top 100, coming 103rd in the UK and ninth in the West Midlands.

Stratford-on-Avon came top in the West Midlands and 13th in the nation as a whole.

Rightmove has explained how it pulled the study together, saying: “The results of this year’s study showed that the most important contributors to happiness were feeling a sense of pride, belonging and community.

“Access to green space and nature is also important to residents, with those living in a rural area near a national park, or an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, more likely to feel happy where they live.”

Location trends

This year, residents of areas in Scotland, Wales and the South West said they were happiest with where they live overall, while those in the East and West Midlands said they were the least happy.

Just over a third (34 per cent) of people said they thought they’d be happier living somewhere else. These residents were most likely to live in the West Midlands, and they were most likely to want to move to the South West.

Gen Z (18-24 year olds) were the most likely to say that they thought they’d be happier living in a different area, while those aged 55+ were the least likely, suggesting we become more content with our surroundings as we get older or secure our forever home.

For anyone looking to be happier where they live, the type of environment that made residents the happiest was a rural location by a woodland or forest, and also near a National Park or National Landscape, formerly known as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Here are the West Midlands top 18, then where the area scored nationally:

Stratford-on-Avon, 13

Leamington Spa, 21

Lichfield, 27

Sutton Coldfield, 36

Worcester, 58

Telford, 72

Hereford, 86

Stourbridge, 93

Shrewsbury, 103

Stafford, 118

Tamworth, 122

Solihull, 138

Coventry, 189

Wolverhampton, 192

Stoke-on-Trent, 202

Birmingham, 211 

Walsall, 215

Dudley, 217