Best places for · Remote workers
Best UK cities for remote workers
Cities where rent arbitrage is real, gigabit broadband is universal, greenspace replaces the commute, and a rail link remains for the days that need it.
Section 1 / 3
Top 25 cities for remote workers
Score is 0–100, computed by min-max normalising each weighted metric across UK cities. Larger cities (50k+ residents) only — keeps the ranking representative.
- 1.CopelandNorth West94.8 / 100
- 100% gigabit
- Rent £659/mo
- Rail 1765 m
- 2.Stoke-on-TrentWest Midlands94.0 / 100
- 100% gigabit
- Rent £708/mo
- Rail 2246 m
- 3.CarlisleNorth West93.8 / 100
- 100% gigabit
- Rent £659/mo
- Rail 2352 m
- 4.BurnleyNorth West92.7 / 100
- 100% gigabit
- Rent £624/mo
- Rail 1363 m
- 5.Barrow-in-FurnessNorth West92.5 / 100
- 100% gigabit
- Rent £797/mo
- Rail 1022 m
- 6.BolsoverEast Midlands91.4 / 100
- 100% gigabit
- Rent £692/mo
- Rail 2846 m
- 7.Redcar and ClevelandNorth East91.3 / 100
- 100% gigabit
- Rent £640/mo
- Rail 1967 m
- 8.HyndburnNorth West91.3 / 100
- 100% gigabit
- Rent £638/mo
- Rail 1185 m
- 9.Telford and WrekinWest Midlands90.8 / 100
- 100% gigabit
- Rent £850/mo
- Rail 2484 m
- 10.LancasterNorth West90.8 / 100
- 100% gigabit
- Rent £802/mo
- Rail 1437 m
- 11.GatesheadNorth East90.6 / 100
- 100% gigabit
- Rent £785/mo
- Rail 2048 m
- 12.WarringtonNorth West90.0 / 100
- 100% gigabit
- Rent £880/mo
- Rail 1517 m
- 13.St. HelensNorth West89.8 / 100
- 100% gigabit
- Rent £774/mo
- Rail 1284 m
- 14.WrexhamWales89.5 / 100
- 100% gigabit
- Rent £759/mo
- Rail 2197 m
- 15.AllerdaleNorth West89.3 / 100
- 100% gigabit
- Rent £659/mo
- Rail 2995 m
- 16.KnowsleyNorth West89.3 / 100
- 100% gigabit
- Rent £805/mo
- Rail 1000 m
- 17.Newcastle-under-LymeWest Midlands89.2 / 100
- 100% gigabit
- Rent £824/mo
- Rail 2449 m
- 18.CaerphillyWales89.0 / 100
- 100% gigabit
- Rent £736/mo
- Rail 1350 m
- 19.EdenNorth West88.7 / 100
- 96% gigabit
- Rent £797/mo
- Rail 3774 m
- 20.KirkleesYorkshire and The Humber88.6 / 100
- 100% gigabit
- Rent £759/mo
- Rail 1975 m
- 21.North TynesideNorth East87.4 / 100
- 100% gigabit
- Rent £830/mo
- Rail 3931 m
- 22.Neath Port TalbotWales87.3 / 100
- 100% gigabit
- Rent £668/mo
- Rail 1917 m
- 23.WiganNorth West87.2 / 100
- 100% gigabit
- Rent £732/mo
- Rail 1914 m
- 24.South TynesideNorth East87.2 / 100
- 100% gigabit
- Rent £720/mo
- Rail 2609 m
- 25.TorbaySouth West86.9 / 100
- 100% gigabit
- Rent £899/mo
- Rail 1757 m
Section 2 / 3
How the ranking works
Each metric is min-max normalised across the peer set, then combined with the weights below. Lower-is-better metrics (rent, crime, distance to GP) are inverted before combining.
- 1.Rent (convex penalty)
- 2.Gigabit broadband
- 3.Greenspace
- 4.Air quality
- 5.Rail access
- 6.Salary/rent efficiency
Source data: ONS PIPR (rent), ONS ASHE (salary), data.police.uk (crime), Ofsted (schools), DfT/NaPTAN (rail), NHS ODS (GP), DEFRA (PM2.5), Ofcom (broadband), ONS access-to-greenspace 2020.
Section 3 / 3
Different life stage?
The ranking changes when the priorities change.