To those who live amid its rolling hills, fishing ports and wild moorland, it will come as little surprise: Devon has the best quality of life of anywhere in England and Wales, according to a major new study.

The largely rural county, which includes the university city of Exeter and the eco-hub of Totnes, provides more of the conditions necessary for wellbeing than any other authority in the country, the research finds.

Wellbeing charity Happy City says its analysis of offical data has produced the most comprehensive assessment ever made of more than 60 indicators covering equality, local conditions and sustainability.

Devon outperformed 149 other local authorities on three broad measures: high levels of physical activity, volunteering and good air quality, but researchers also pointed out that the council had lower levels of inequality than comparable authorities.

“It appears it is better to be poor in Devon than in other relatively wealthy areas. Less-well-off residents have better access to the things that help them to live happy, fulfilling lives than their peers elsewhere,” said Liz Zeidler, chief executive of Happy City.

Exeter MP Ben Bradshaw said Devon was blessed with fantastic countryside coupled with a successful economy. “If you live here you can be on a beautiful beach in 20 minutes and you can be hiking on Dartmoor in 20 minutes,” he said.

Using GDP as a proxy for progress is bonkers – it is entirely uninterested in human happiness Liz Zeidler, Happy City

He added that the area’s ranking showed there was more to life than high salaries in the south-east. “Exeter and Devon don’t have the average levels of income that London and the stockbroker belt around London has but in the round a lot of people would rather live here on slightly less money where they can get this amazing quality of life,” he said.

Four other councils also performed well in all three categories, Bath and North East Somerset and Dorset in the West Country, alongside Kingston upon Thames and Bexley in London.

Zeidler said wellbeing should be a priority for decision-makers, not ever-increasing consumption and economic growth. “Using GDP as a proxy for progress is bonkers. It just measures how much stuff we produce and use – it is entirely uninterested in human happiness. It goes up when we have an oil spill because vast amounts go into cleaning it up,” she said.

The charity’s Thriving Places Index, which will be released in full this week, shows Derby comes bottom overall, with the deprived Midlands city performing worse on a bundle of indicators measuring inequalities in health, income and employment than all other councils in England and Wales. Hull also did badly, having particularly poor teenage health rates and fewer local businesses than other councils.

The report, which is in its third year, found that Sheffield fared better than any other major city outside London. More than 60% of the borough is covered in green spaces and it has relatively low pollution levels. The Yorkshirecity, which extends into the Peak District national park, also has lower levels of gender and income inequalities.

Sheffield’s first Green mayor, Magid Magid, said the city had a great community spirit: “Not only have we got lots of amazing open spaces but there is a real culture of people supporting each other. It’s the people that make Sheffield. We are rich in amazing volunteers – people give their time for others. There is something magical about Sheffield.”

Derby council said: “We acknowledge that there are areas of difficulty and … we’re working hard to combat these.”