Looking for the good life? Bristol boasts the best quality of life in the UK

Think of ideal city living - beautiful architecture, bustling bars and restaurants and a vibrant arts scene on your doorstep. Throw in a healthy jobs market, a good level of disposable income, and there you have... Bristol.

According to MoneySuperMarket's Quality of Life index, the city offers the best quality of life out of the UK's 12 largest cities.

The Quality of Life index assesses the cities based on rents, average salaries, disposable income and other factors such as unemployment rates.

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And here's where Bristol comes out on top. The UK average salary is £21,473 - Bristol's is £22,293 and the third highest out of the UK's 12 largest cities. Combine this with high disposable income and low unemployment rates and life in Bristol looks pretty good.

Jostling close behind is Edinburgh, which also fared well in the research, thanks to the second highest average salary at £24,628 - and the low cost of living at an average of £372.10 a week (compared to the UK average of £401.10).

However, things are not quite so harmonious elsewhere in the country. Spare a thought for the residents of Bradford, where low salaries, poor disposable income growth and higher than average unemployment all result in the lowest quality of life the UK.

'The UK's quality of living has suffered in recent years and, as a result, many households are struggling to make ends meet each month,' says Clare Francis, editor-in-chief at MoneySupermarket.

'In many ways this is understandable given that salary increases haven't kept up with rising living costs.'

The Quality of Living Index looked at the 12 largest cities across the UK, which included Bristol, Edinburgh and Cardiff, in the top three for quality of life and Birmingham, Sheffield and Bradford with the lowest score.

So if you're thinking about moving, you could do worse than go west!

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