The happiest places to live in 2025 have been revealed and Surrey has barely got a look in. Towns and villages in Surrey which have previously ranked as some of the happiest places to live in the UK have seemingly seen drastic declines in happiness.
The county's towns received their lowest rankings for some time in Rightmove's Happy at Home Index. Surrey received no entries in the top 20, with our highest entry being Farnham; which sits at the 42nd in the national rankings, with Guildford close behind in 44th place.
The study ranks towns and cities across the country based on how proud people feel 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 (this could be one area where Surrey falls down), public transport, sports and recreation, green spaces and artistic and cultural activities.
But, we are SurreyLive are finding it hard to believe, as there is so much going for our county and lots to make us smile. So we want to ask you - where is the happiest place to live in Surrey?
According to Rightmove, people in Guildford are seemingly getting drastically unhappier each year, with the town receiving a top 20 listing in the happiest places to live in the 2021. This then dropped to 27th in 2022, and now all the way down to 44th place in 2024. While lots of our town's didn't even make Rightmove's top places to live in the South East.
Surrey's happiest places to live
(according to Rightmove)
Happiest places to live near Surrey
Surrey's performance is particularly poor when you consider that nearly all our neighbouring counties had towns listed in the top 20. Not only this, but no Surrey towns were ranked in the top 10 happiest places in the South East, with Farnham just missing out on the top 10, ranking 11th.
While Surrey's residents seemingly get unhappier, those living in neighbouring counties are getting happier each year. People living just over the border in Richmond are among the happiest in the country, with the riverside town coming second to Woodbridge in Suffolk. We looked at what makes this swanky London suburb so happy here.
While the happiest place in the South East is Sevenoaks, which also ranked 7th in the UK. The charming Kent town has population size similar to Guildford and is surrounding by countryside and packed with great schools.
It jumped an astonishing 57 spots on the national ranking since 2023, meaning it has gone from the 12th to the number one happiest place to live in the space of a year. Coming a close second was Wokingham, which ranked 10th happiest town in the UK. The market town in Berkshire has recently undergone regeneration with new shops and businesses, a swimming pool and library while retaining its historical charm.
And to rub salt in Surrey's wounds, the nearby towns of Horsham(4), Windsor (7), and Fleet (10) all made the South East top 10 happiest places to live.
