Residents of Scotland's most northerly islands have the best quality of life in the country, according to a new survey.
The Shetland Islands ousted Aberdeenshire from the top spot in the Bank of Scotland Quality of Life Survey, which is based on residents' health and life expectancy, employment and school performance.
The employment rate in the Shetlands is the highest in Scotland, close to 84%, and many residents enjoy high incomes with weekly average earnings of £605, above the Scottish average of £575. Residents tend to be fit and well, with 93% reporting themselves to be in good or fairly good health, while the life expectancy is just over 77 years.
The level of school qualifications is above the national average and the islands have one of the lowest crime rates in the country. Living there is also relatively affordable, with average house prices 4.2 times average gross annual local earnings - below the Scottish average of 4.7.
Nitesh Patel, economist at the Bank of Scotland, said: "The islands score highly on several indicators, such as health, life expectancy, employment, average earnings, school results and low crime rates. Even average house prices are relatively low in relation to earnings, highlighting that a high standard of living does not always come at a price."
However one drawback to life in Shetland is that residents have on average three hours less sunshine per week compared to Scotland as a whole.
Shetland is closely followed in the overall survey by Aberdeenshire, which held the top position in the 2010 study. Aberdeenshire scores well on employment rate (81%), and has weekly average earnings of £642. Residents live for 78.2 years on average and 93% of them enjoy good or fairly good health.
However, living there is relatively expensive with an average house price to earnings ratio of 5.7 - one of the highest ratios in Scotland. East Renfrewshire, Orkney Islands, Aberdeen City, East Lothian, East Dunbartonshire, Moray, the Borders and Perth and Kinross are also in the top 10.
The best paid people are in East Renfrewshire, where average weekly earnings are £729 per week, followed by Stirling (£723) and East Dunbartonshire (£675). Life expectancy is highest in East Dunbartonshire (79.4 years), followed by Perth & Kinross (79.1 years) and East Renfrewshire (78.3 years).
On the property front, the lowest house price to earnings ratio is in North Ayrshire (3.6) while Edinburgh and the Highlands have the highest ratio of 5.9 times local annual average earnings.
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