New research has ranked Gloucester in the top five places to earn a living.

The research considers median monthly take-home salary, average monthly mortgage repayment, cost of living, unemployment levels, and job growth to rank 59 locations in order, from best place to earn a living to worst.

South East England towns Crawley, Southampton, Reading, Oxford, and Slough take five spots in the top 10 — first, third, seventh, ninth, and tenth respectively.

But it is Gloucester which took fifth place with the nearest other South West city featured being Swindon, which came in at eighth.

TotallyMoney, the credit scoring business which conducted the research,  summed up the Gloucester as follows.

"Remember the corridor scene in 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'? Well, it was filmed in Gloucester Cathedral, along with scenes from 'The Chamber of Secrets' and 'The Half Blood Prince'.

"Nearby, the wizards are forgotten in favour of spectacle-wearing mice at The Tailor of Gloucester House which is dedicated to the author Beatrix Potter. As for its economy?

"The city is dominated by the service industry, with the financial and business sectors pulling most weight."

Overall Ranking 5/59

Median monthly take-home salary £526

Average monthly mortgage repayment £981

Cost of living rank 39/59

Employment rate 80 per cent

Business closures (per 10,000 population) 35.41 per cent

Employment and business rank 58/59

East Midlands town Derby takes second position — the only East Midlands town to feature in the top 10.

While London takes the top spot for take-home salary, more expensive house prices and a higher cost of living means it only ranks 39th among the locations overall.

The Full List of Towns and Cities.

1 Crawley

2 Derby

3 Southampton

4 Edinburgh

5 Gloucester

6 Milton Keynes

7 Reading

8 Swindon

9 Oxford

10 Slough

11 Leeds

12 York

13 Bristol

14 Luton

15 Wakefield

16 Warrington

17 Burnley

18 Glasgow

19 Telford

20 Preston

21 Newport

22 Blackpool

23 Mansfield

24 Kingston upon Hull

25 Dundee

26 Portsmouth

27 Peterborough

28 Stoke

29 Bournemouth

30 Newcastle

31 Cardiff

32 Aldershot

33 Northampton

34 Sunderland

35 Ipswich

The research, however, shows Brighton as the worst place to make a living in the south east of England. This is largely due to low-level earnings and high mortgage payments.

South East Scores

Position Town

1 Crawley

3 Southampton

7 Reading

9 Oxford

10 Slough

26 Portsmouth

33 Aldershot

40 Worthing

41 Chatham

58 Brighton

Worst performing locations

The east of England is shown to be one of the worst locations to make a living, with three towns ranking in the bottom 10.

Position Town

36 Sheffield

37 Middlesbrough

38 London

39 Worthing

40 Chatham

41 Liverpool

42 Manchester

43 Coventry

44 Aberdeen

45 Birmingham

46 Nottingham

47 Bradford

48 Wigan

49 Cambridge

50 Norwich

51 Exeter

52 Leicester

53 Doncaster

54 Basildon

55 Huddersfield

56 Birkenhead

57 Brighton

58 Southend

59 Swansea

If your heart is really set on the east of England, Milton Keynes and Luton could be better options if you want to make your pockets bulge, with the towns scoring 6th and 14th respectively.

East England Scores

Position Town

6 Milton Keynes

14 Luton

27 Peterborough

36 Ipswich

50 Cambridge

51 Norwich

55 Basildon

59 Southend