New research has confirmed that money can buy happiness, and St Albans is one of the happiest – and wealthiest – places in the UK.

The Cathedral city came fifth in Raisin UK’s ‘Does money buy happiness?’ countdown, behind Winchester, Lichfield, Chichester and Cambridge.

The savings platform analysed data from the Office for National Statistics, personal wellbeing reports and the Happy Planet Index to give 54 UK cities a happiness index score. Each place was also rated according to its average salary, creating a final ‘Does money buy happiness?’ ranking based on the sum of the two scores.

Overall chart topper Winchester achieved a score of 104, 10 points ahead of St Albans.

The average ‘happiness score’ of the 10 happiest places was 23.6, compared to 23.2 in St Albans, while the average life expectancy was 82.2 years, a little lower than the Cathedral city’s 83.7 years.

St Albans was streets ahead on the financial front, however: the average salary within the top 10 was £33,864, way behind the St Albans average of £47,507.

Kevin Mountford, co-founder of Raisin UK, said: “While our research suggests money can help ease the stresses of daily life, leading to a longer life expectancy and subsequently allowing you to buy happiness, it’s not always the case in real life.

“Our research can help you decide which city across the UK to live in to maximise your chances of being the happiest you possibly can, but it’s up to you to make your own happiness.”