Worthing ranked among best places to live and work in South East

Property expert Kevin Brown – marketing director of The Heritage Window Company – has offered his insight into the best towns in the South East for people to set up their careers.

Worthing came in seventh place on the list, with a job vacancy rate of 0.87 per cent; a salary-to-population ratio of 29.24 per cent; a property affordability index of 8.68 per cent; an overall opportunity score of 30.11 and, finally, a total career & affordability score of 38.79.

In response, Worthing town centre manager Hannah Manzaroli said: “Most people that live in Worthing really are proud of the town they're from.

"They love living here. We're [the Worthing Business Improvement District] is always the biggest cheerleader for Worthing.

“We know that we've got so much to offer that other towns don't have. It's beautiful. The quality of life is better here.

"We've got an amazing selection of restaurants as well, which most towns don't have. We've got every kind of food offering that you can imagine in this town.

"So many people are moving here from other places, like London. We have a huge amount of people that have moved from London and Brighton.

"We're really proud of the town that we're from. And when we actually go out into the community and we do things like town clean-ups, there are so many people that work voluntarily that are really passionate about Worthing and really love it.

"Sometimes it's easy to just hear the negative voices because they're the ones that shout the loudest. But actually, the majority, I think, love living in Worthing and that's why they live here.

"So, we're not surprised to hear that [it’s one of the best places to live and work]. It'd be nice to see more people coming to Worthing.”

Here is the full list of the top 10 towns, based on the total career & affordability score, which factors in job vacancy rates, salary-to-population ratios, and property affordability:

1. Bracknell
2. Guildford
3. Eastleigh
4. Woking
5. Basingstoke
6. Crawley
7. Worthing
8. Hastings
9. Maidstone
10. Eastbourne
11. Slough
12. Oxford
13. Milton Keynes
14. Reading
15. London

According to the researchers, the UK job market is ‘incredibly competitive’ – and it is ‘expected to get worse before it gets better’.

They added: “It was revealed in January 2025 that permanent job vacancies have declined at their fastest pace for four years, amid febrile markets and a lack of confidence in the economy. What’s more, house prices have risen monthly for the past five months, and real-term wages continue to look grim, with stagnating wages set to continue.

“So, where does that leave young families and the career-driven in 2025? As it turns out, relocating to a new location could put you ahead of the pack.”

The data was collected through a range of sources, with the average salary-to-population ratio being calculated using the latest salary data and population data from the ONS, job vacancies calculated by collating the total jobs advertised online within five miles of each town, and property prices totalled using the latest end-of-year reports from Rightmove.

Property expert Kevin Brown said: “We always knew that the South East was a fantastic place to live and work – that’s why we have continued to install aluminium windows here for over 30 years.

“The quality of traditional housing here is fantastic, as well as newer properties, built with heritage stylings in ways that are in keeping with the South East’s rich history.

“We are sure the people of Bracknell are especially chuffed to hear how fortunate they are to live in the town brimming with the most opportunity in the South East – as well as the people of Guildford and Eastleigh who were both narrowly in competition for second place.

“Going into 2025 and beyond, we hope more people continue to visit and make a life for themselves in this beautiful part of the country!”