Wolverhampton 'officially' the most miserable place in the UK ... Again

Being branded as miserable is nothing new to Wulfrunians and this perhaps explains why the city was shown to be neither happy nor anxious by today's figures.

The data, from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), is based on a three-year study of more than 300,000 respondents, compiled between March 2012 and March 2015.

It is the latest in a string of reports that have suggested Wolverhampton to be a miserable, uncultured and dissatisfied place lacking in prospects.

Wolverhampton makes notable national appearances in all four of the categories measured by the ONS: happiness, satisfaction, feeling worthwhile and anxiety.

In the happiness category, Wolverhampton is dead last, with just 21.8 per cent of respondents rating their personal happiness as nine or 10 out of 10.

Wolverhampton (21.8 per cent)

Harrow (24.1 per cent)

Westminster (25.1 per cent)

Camden (25.3 per cent)

Islington (25.4 per cent)

Mid Sussex (39.3 per cent)

West Lindsey (38.9 per cent)

New Forest (38.8 per cent)

Hambleton (38.5 per cent)

Great Yarmouth (38.1 per cent)

The other unhappy chappies in the national bottom five were all boroughs of London.

The place in the UK with the most happy people is Mid Sussex, with 39.3 per cent of respondents claiming a nine or 10 out of ten score.

The study also considered which places in the UK can't get no satisfaction, and again Wolverhampton scored very low in the rankings.

Just 16.9 per cent of people in the city scored themselves as nine or 10 out of 10 for satisfaction.

Interestingly, once again, the other members of the bottom five were all London boroughs, with Camden being the only area to score lower than Wolverhampton, with just 16.7 per cent.

• READ: 10 things which make Wolverhampton a great city

Camden (16.7 per cent)

Wolverhampton (16.9 per cent)

Wandsworth (18.8 per cent)

Hackney (19.6 per cent)

Lambeth (19.8 per cent)

Cornwall (33.3 per cent)

Cumbria (33.2 per cent)

Mansfield (32.3 per cent)

Dorset (31.9 per cent)

Redcar and Cleveland (31.3 per cent)

In anxiety terms, at least, Wolverhampton had something to be less miserable about, scoring the highest in the country for low anxiety.

Nearly one in six Wulfrunians who responded – 58.5 per cent – scored their anxiety rating as zero or one out of 10.

Wolverhampton (58.5 per cent)

South Holland (53.5 per cent)

Wychavon (50.5 per cent)

Bassetlaw (50.2 per cent)

Redditch (50 per cent)

The wider Midlands made two other appearances in the top 10, with Redditch scoring an even 50 per cent in fifth place, and Stafford in tenth with 43.5 per cent.

There was one other category in which data was gathered, that of feeling worthwhile, and it was straight back down for Wolverhampton, whose citizens were the eighth least worthwhile-feeling in the UK.

Apparently the best place to feel worthwhile is way down south – the top four scorers were Cornwall, Dorset, Devon and the Isle of Wight.

The report also found that married couples were happier than those who were living together, widowed, divorced or single.

People with jobs were also happier than unemployed people, with part-time workers the happiest.

Hindus were the happiest people who followed a religion, followed by Christians and Sikhs. And when it came to the sexes, women were more anxious that men but were more likely to feel what they did was worthwhile.

With age comes happiness?

When it comes to age, middle-aged people are the least happy according to the ONS, with many struggling with the "double responsibility" of caring for children and elderly parents.

Even pensioners aged over 90 report better life satisfaction and happiness than those aged 40 to 59, according to today's figures.

People aged 70 to 74 had the highest level of life satisfaction, followed closely by those aged 65 to 69 and teenagers aged 16 to 19.

People aged 75 to 79 also reported high levels of satisfaction with life, although this declined as they got older.

Meanwhile, those aged 50 to 54 had the lowest levels of life satisfaction, while those aged 40 to 59 were generally the least satisfied among the age groups.

Happiness followed a similar pattern, with people aged 65 to 74 the happiest and teenagers aged 16 to 19 also reporting good levels of happiness.

Those aged 50 to 54 were the least happy while those aged 40 to 59 generally reported low levels of happiness.

Over the age of 75, happiness levels declined, although even those aged over 90 were still happier than people in middle-age.

When it came to feelings of what you do being worthwhile, older people over 85 had the lowest scores while those aged 60 to 75 had the highest - and significantly higher than those in middle-age.

People aged 40 to 59 were also considerably more anxious than other groups (with those aged 50 to 54 the most anxious group), while those over 90 were the least anxious.

*By percentage of people who rated their happiness at nine or 10 out of 10

** By percentage of people who rated their satisfaction as nine or 10 out of 10

*** By percentage of people who rated their anxiety zero to one out of 10