Lancaster named second best UK city for remote workers, according to new study

To get to the bottom of which cities truly work for remote workers, researchers at  RemotePeople, an international remote recruitment agency, crunched the numbers for 60 UK cities. The team examined nine critical factors, including internet speeds (both upload and download), coworking space availability, remote job listings, cost of living, safety, and access to parks and play areas. They even looked at average data usage and how many residents are already working from home.

Each city was scored out of 100 for each factor, weighted according to importance (with internet speeds taking top priority), to form an overall ‘remote work friendliness’ score. The data was sourced from OFCOM, ONS, LinkedIn, Coworker, and Numbeo.

Small but mighty, Lancaster takes the second spot with a surprising blend of affordability and job opportunities. With 7,206 remote-friendly job listings per 100K residents, it punches well above its weight in the job market. And at just £703 for the cost of living, it’s one of the cheapest places in the top 10, which will be music to the ears of digital nomads who don't fancy splashing out on city rents.

The internet here isn’t lightning-fast, but it's no slouch either. Download speeds average 190.6 Mbps (10th overall) and upload speeds hit 99.9 Mbps – the second-best in the country. The downside? Coworking options are slim, with only 1.41 spaces per 100K residents, placing it among the lowest. Still, for those who prefer working from their cosy flat over a hot desk, Lancaster’s got serious appeal.

Southampton leads in 1st place, offering the best internet speeds of any city, both download (279.3 Mbps) and upload (174.9 Mbps). Exeter ranks 3rd and shines for its remote job market (7,914 listings per 100K) and coworking density. Stoke-on-Trent, in 4th, boasts the highest proportion of recent remote workers (37%) and the 4th fastest upload speeds.

Preston ranks 5th, leading in homeworking with 46% of its population having recently worked from home. St Albans is 6th, topping the table for remote job listings and ranking among the safest cities. Lincoln, in 7th, combines solid job listings with a strong safety score. Nottingham is in 8th with the highest coworking availability, while Norwich, in 9th, excels in safety and greenery. Oxford rounds out the top ten list, with high coworking numbers and strong access to parkland.

While these 10 cities lead the pack, not all came out looking rosy. London surprisingly ranked bottom overall – perhaps a reminder that sky-high rents and packed Tube stations don’t pair well with remote working dreams. Bradford, Chichester, Brighton and Hove, and Sheffield also found themselves at the lower end.

Elsewhere, some major players fell just short of the top 10. Manchester landed in 13th place, Bristol 16th, Leeds 17th, Liverpool 22nd, Cambridge 24th, Edinburgh 25th – and Birmingham lagged behind in 43rd.

It seems the best city for working from home isn’t always the one with the biggest skyline. Sometimes, it’s about balance – and a good internet connection, of course.

The top 10 list of the best UK cities for remote workers in the  study: