As the new decade kicks off, what cities excel when it comes to being affordable, having great hiring potential, and having workers who are very satisfied in their jobs? Slough, Cambridge, and Gloucester are the best cities and towns in the UK to consider for jobs in 2020, each with over 15,000 open jobs on Glassdoor. This list was created with the moving job seeker in mind and was compiled by equally weighing these three factors:
- Hiring Opportunity
- Cost of Living
- Job Satisfaction
The full list of the 25 Best UK Towns & Cities to Work in 2020 can be found here. Below is a list of the top 10 towns and cities to work in.
Top 10 UK Best Towns & Cities to Work In 2020
| Rank |
City |
Job Satisfaction |
Job Openings |
Median Base Salary |
| 1 |
Slough |
3.4 |
23,387 |
£30,139 |
| 2 |
Cambridge |
3.7 |
18,514 |
£31,941 |
| 3 |
Gloucester |
3.5 |
15,287 |
£25,116 |
| 4 |
Guildford |
3.6 |
23,609 |
£29,917 |
| 5 |
Reading |
3.6 |
20,823 |
£32,939 |
| 6 |
Stoke-on-Trent |
3.5 |
14,667 |
£23,934 |
| 7 |
Manchester |
3.6 |
33,973 |
£24,384 |
| 8 |
Blackpool |
3.4 |
2,335 |
£20,617 |
| 9 |
Chelmsford |
3.4 |
21,622 |
£22,020 |
| 10 |
Oxford |
3.6 |
16,624 |
£29,430 |
Source: Glassdoor Economic Research (Glassdoor.com/research)
Here are our key takeaways from this year’s full list:
- Slough stands out against other towns and cities because of its reasonable cost of living paired with great hiring opportunity; this has helped it retain its #1 position three times running. A key hub in the M4 Corridor, sometimes described as England’s “Silicon Valley”, retail and transportation are some of the industries - in addition to multinational tech companies - contributing to the over 23,000 open jobs in Slough.
- Cambridge claims the #2 spot due to its excellent job satisfaction and strong hiring opportunities. Cambridge is home to several biotech companies including Abcam and AstraZeneca. In addition, Cambridge University helps to fuel the local talent pool.
- The best towns and cities for jobs are spread across the UK, with the most in the North West area. One Scottish city makes the list - Dundee (#14), which boasts very high job satisfaction and an affordable cost of living. And one Northern Irish city, Belfast (#13), makes the list.
How to Explore: This data visualisation shows the 25 Best UK Towns & Cities to Work In for 2020. Click on a given metro area to see its rank, median base salary, and job satisfaction.
UK Best Towns & Cities to Work In 2020
Source: Glassdoor Economic Research
How We Determine the Best UK Towns & Cities to Work In 2020
This report identifies UK locations with the highest overall Glassdoor Town & City Score, based on a comparison of 50 of the most populated UK Towns & Cities with populations above 100,000. Each region’s Glassdoor Town & City Score, based on a 5-point scale (5.0=best city for a job, 1.0=worst city for a job), is determined by weighing three factors equally: hiring opportunity, cost of living and job satisfaction.
Hiring opportunity is determined by the ratio of active job openings to population. (Job openings per Town & City represent active job listings on Glassdoor as of 15/01/20. Population data is according to the Mid-2018 ‘Estimates of the population for the UK, England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland’ published by the ONS on 26 June 2019.
Cost of living is determined by the ratio of median annual base salary to average area home value. (Median annual base salary per town and city based on at least 200 salary reports shared by local employees on Glassdoor over the past year (01/01/19-31/12/19). Average home value is according to the Zoopla House Value Index, as of January 2020).
Job satisfaction ratings per location is based on at least 80 company reviews shared by local employees on Glassdoor over the past year (01/01/19-31/12/19; Ratings based on a 5-point scale: 1.0=very dissatisfied, 3.0=OK, 5.0=very satisfied).