How is the Young professionals Persona Fit score weighted?

For young professionals the six sub-scores are weighted: Affordability (rent) 25%, Connectivity (broadband) 25%, Living cost (council tax) 20%, Safety (low crime) 15%, Health (life expectancy) 10%, Schools (Ofsted Good+) 5%. Each sub-score is a min-max-normalised 0–100 value over real government data; the weighted average is the Gera Persona Fit. Full method at /methodology/gera-persona-fit.

Which area is best for young professionals right now?

Bracknell Forest (South East) ranks #1 with 72.3/100, followed by Southend-on-Sea (71.9) and Peterborough (70.9). Recomputed quarterly from the source datasets.

Best places to live in England for young professionals

Persona weighting: Affordability (rent) 25%, Connectivity (broadband) 25%, Living cost (council tax) 20%, Safety (low crime) 15%, Health (life expectancy) 10%, Schools (Ofsted Good+) 5%.

Updated quarterly · last recomputed 2026-06-19 from the latest government data releases.

What is the best place to live in England for young professionals?

As of 2026-06-19, the best England local authority for young professionals is Bracknell Forest, scoring 72.3/100 on the Gera Persona Fit index — a persona-weighted composite of rent, crime, Ofsted schools, broadband, life expectancy and council tax across 286 English local authorities, joined from seven government open datasets. GeraRent recomputes it quarterly.

Gera Persona Fit: Bracknell Forest 72.3/100How this is computed

Top 50 areas for young professionals

#	Area	Region	Persona Fit	GLS
1	Bracknell Forest	South East	72.3	76.0
2	Southend-on-Sea	East of England	71.9	69.7
3	Peterborough	East of England	70.9	67.4
4	Ipswich	East of England	70.8	68.5
5	Milton Keynes	South East	69.6	70.1
6	Erewash	East Midlands	69.3	66.2
7	Braintree	East of England	69.2	68.0
8	Derby	East Midlands	68.5	64.3
9	Luton	East of England	68.4	66.5
10	Fareham	South East	68.2	69.5
11	Gosport	South East	68.2	66.6
12	Oadby and Wigston	East Midlands	68.0	66.2
13	Worthing	South East	68.0	66.3
14	Rushmoor	South East	67.8	67.4
15	Swindon	South West	67.7	64.6
16	Maldon	East of England	67.6	67.7
17	East Cambridgeshire	East of England	66.9	67.8
18	Epsom and Ewell	South East	66.8	69.3
19	Southampton	South East	66.6	62.9
20	West Oxfordshire	South East	66.4	67.5
21	Thurrock	East of England	66.1	62.8
22	Slough	South East	66.0	66.8
23	Stoke-on-Trent	West Midlands	65.9	60.1
24	Chesterfield	East Midlands	65.7	62.3
25	Torbay	South West	65.7	64.8
26	Broxtowe	East Midlands	65.5	63.5
27	Amber Valley	East Midlands	65.4	63.7
28	Fenland	East of England	65.4	63.7
29	Portsmouth	South East	65.3	64.5
30	Brentwood	East of England	65.2	67.0
31	Norwich	East of England	65.2	64.0
32	Cannock Chase	West Midlands	65.1	60.9
33	Dudley	West Midlands	65.1	60.7
34	Huntingdonshire	East of England	65.1	66.2
35	East Suffolk	East of England	65.0	65.8
36	Uttlesford	East of England	65.0	68.2
37	Leicester	East Midlands	64.9	60.3
38	Cambridge	East of England	64.8	65.8
39	Cheltenham	South West	64.8	63.3
40	Adur	South East	64.7	65.4
41	South Kesteven	East Midlands	64.6	64.4
42	West Berkshire	South East	64.6	67.5
43	Medway	South East	64.5	65.2
44	North East Derbyshire	East Midlands	64.5	62.5
45	Reading	South East	64.5	65.0
46	Windsor and Maidenhead	South East	64.5	66.0
47	Rochford	East of England	64.3	66.1
48	South Derbyshire	East Midlands	64.3	62.9
49	Worcester	West Midlands	64.3	60.8
50	Solihull	West Midlands	64.1	63.7

By region

Young professionals in East Midlands Young professionals in East of England Young professionals in London Young professionals in North East Young professionals in North West Young professionals in South East Young professionals in South West Young professionals in West Midlands Young professionals in Yorkshire and The Humber

Adjust the weights to your own priorities

Set how much each factor matters to you (0 = ignore, 10 = top priority). The ranking updates instantly against your weights.

Affordability (rent)5Safety (low crime)3Schools (Ofsted Good+)1Connectivity (broadband)5Health (life expectancy)2Living cost (council tax)4Limit to region (optional)

Your top areas in England

1Bracknell ForestSouth East72.3
2Southend-on-SeaEast of England71.9
3PeterboroughEast of England70.9
4IpswichEast of England70.8
5Milton KeynesSouth East69.6
6ErewashEast Midlands69.3
7BraintreeEast of England69.2
8DerbyEast Midlands68.5
9LutonEast of England68.4
10FarehamSouth East68.2
11GosportSouth East68.2
12Oadby and WigstonEast Midlands68.0
13WorthingSouth East68.0
14RushmoorSouth East67.8
15SwindonSouth West67.7
16MaldonEast of England67.6
17East CambridgeshireEast of England66.9
18Epsom and EwellSouth East66.8
19SouthamptonSouth East66.6
20West OxfordshireSouth East66.4
21ThurrockEast of England66.1
22SloughSouth East66.0
23Stoke-on-TrentWest Midlands65.9
24ChesterfieldEast Midlands65.7
25TorbaySouth West65.7

Score = your weights applied to each area’s real, normalised sub-scores. The underlying figures come from seven UK government open datasets — see the methodology.

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Sources (all Open Government Licence v3.0):

ONS — Price Index of Private Rents — as of May 2026.
HM Land Registry — UK House Price Index — as of April 2026.
MHCLG — Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England — as of 2026-27.
Ofcom — Connected Nations (Gera Broadband Index) — as of July 2024.
ONS — Life expectancy by local authority — as of 2017-19.
Ofsted — State-funded school inspection outcomes — as of 31 May 2026.
Home Office — Police recorded crime (PFA) + ONS population — as of Year ending December 2025.

Licence: Open Government Licence v3.0 © Crown copyright. Recorded-crime figures are neutral official statistics shown as context only and must not be used to characterise an area or its residents.