When we think of financial literacy in the UK, our minds typically jump to London. So, we decided to take a closer look at just how financially-savvy different cities across the country are. Using Google’s Keyword Planner data, we broke down the top ten cities by search volume.

Bristol ranks at number 1, registering a total score of 92.04 (out of 100) for savings and investment searches. This includes registering the most searches for 8 out of the 10 key categories: stocks, shares, bonds, pensions, funds, TSAs and ISAs, savings options, and property.

Findings suggest Bristolians are eager to make the most of their money, which is more important than ever in light of the pandemic. Research suggests those from higher-income households have seen their savings increase, while those from lower-income households, including those furloughed, unemployed or retired have seen their savings decrease.

For each of these groups, savings and investments are now crucial, whether to create new income streams or to get the largest return on their limited savings.

Bristol’s penchant for saving and investment search queries isn’t too surprising, given the city was found to have the highest density of online traders in the UK – with 24 in every 1,000 Bristolians an active trader. It’s clear residents of the city are regularly looking to make their money work for them.

Edinburgh’s residents are also financially-focused, finishing second overall for their volume of savings and investments searches – including topping the table for ‘commodities’ searches and posting the second-highest number of searches for ‘stocks’, ‘bonds’, ‘pensions’, ‘funds’, ‘TSAs and ISAs’ and ‘savings options’ terms.

Interestingly however, Edinburgh ranked last for Google searches around ‘property’ investments. This is surprising given the city regularly features in regional property investment tables and boasts impressive 5-year price growth figures for its properties.

Most shocking though, is London’s 9^th place finish. The city is regularly considered the ‘financial capital of the world’, however, its residents fall behind most of their compatriots when it comes to researching savings and investments. This includes posting the lowest normalised score for ‘cryptocurrency’, ‘pensions’ and ‘savings options’ searches.