When it comes to quality of life, rural Aberdeenshire is officially the best place to live in Scotland.

That's according to the results of a new survey by the Bank of Scotland. 

The study ranked the performance of one hundred and fourteen rural local authorities across the UK - ten in Scotland.

It concludes that people in the north east live longer, earn more money and perform better in school than the average Scot in other rural areas.

The employment rate in Aberdeenshire is the highest in Scotland - as is the average weekly wage of six hundred and twenty one pounds.

Life expectancy is also higher than anywhere else north of the border.  The average is seventy seven years.

Martin Ellis, a Bank of Scotland economist, said: "Residents of Aberdeenshire have the best quality of life amongst rural areas in Scotland. They tend to be healthy, have a long life expectancy and live in an area with low crime levels.

"Aberdeenshire also has the highest gross earnings of any rural area in Scotland, a high employment rate and good school results.

However, the Rural Quality of Life Survey also found that the good life comes at a price.

The average house costs forty three thousand pounds more than the national Scottish average - which now stands at over one hundred and sixty two thousand.

Other rural location to come out well are East Lothian, which has the second best quality of life, followed by the Scottish Borders.

But it's bad news for East Ayrshire.  It ranks at the bottom of this poll.