Surrey now scores well below neighbours including Hampshire, Kent and West Sussex
Surrey has dropped three place since The Telegraph’s rankings began in 2022(Image: Getty)
Surrey’s reputation continues to decline on a national scale in 2026, well at least, if The Telegraph’s 2026 rankings of all 48 English counties is anything to go by.
The Telegraph’s bi-annual rankings of all counties across England aims to provide a definitive ranking of the nation’s 48 counties. The data-driven study scores counties across 50 categories to offer an insight into which places are the best England has to offer.
While Surrey is, and has long-been, synonymous with wealth, excellent schools and facilities and expansive landscapes, its ranking continues to decline each time The Telegraph publishes its findings
In 2022’s rendition; Surrey made 14th place but by 2024, the county had dropped to 17th. This year, the decline has continued with Surrey now ranked as the 18th best county in England.
This year, Surrey was among the counties to see the largest drop in the rankings after losing three places since 2022 gave it the third highest decline of all English counties.
Getting into the top twenty is still an achievement, but Surrey now ranks lower than many of its neighbours with The Telegraph analysts now considering Hampshire (9th) and West Sussex (11th) superior, as well as fellow home counties like Kent (8th) and Oxfordshire (17th).
Views of Guildford Cathedral(Image: SurreyLive – Grahame Larter)
Despite this, Surrey did perform well in a number of metrics. As it often is, the county was credited as having the most amount of wooded areas in England, Beating out neighbours in West Sussex and Hampshire in second and third.
The Telegraph actually considers Surrey a county which is “punching above its weight”. Being England’s 35th largest county in terms of land mass, but ranking 18th place overall.
The same plaudits went to East and West Sussex, which are of a similar size to Surrey; but performed better in the rankings.
Another point of praise for Surrey was its number of Michelin-starred restaurants. Starling in Esher, The Latymer at Pennyhill Park and The Tudor Pass in Egham are just a few of Surrey’s five restaurants to hold the accolade. This put Surrey in the top five English counties, though first place Greater London had a staggering 86.
So, what happened?
It can be hard to pinpoint exactly why The Telegraph considers Surrey inferior to many of its neighbours. Our county has dropped three places since the rankings began in 2022, and considering Surrey’s abundance of green spaces, low crime rates and general wealth; its continued decline may puzzle some.
In many ways, you could chop this up as other counties just being better at the things Surrey is considered good at.
The Magna Carta memorial in the Runnymede Meadow, Egham(Image: Surrey Advertiser / Grahame Larter)
Despite being known for iconic viewpoints in Box Hill and the rolling landscapes of the Surrey Hills AONB, Surrey scored relatively poorly in the ‘Natural Wonders’ category, with a score of 235.
This is, by some margin, lower than Kent, Essex and Hampshire and less than half the score received by Devon, Cumbria and North Yorkshire.
Another metric Surrey scored particularly low in was ‘History and Culture’. Some may be particularly surprised by this, considering Surrey has a number of historic sites and landmarks. It is even arguably the birthplace of human rights, being the county in which the Magna Carta was sealed in 1215.
According to The Telegraph, its methodology for this metric was the number of World Heritage Sites, museums and galleries, National Trust listings, English Heritage properties, Church of England cathedrals among more attractions. Something which many would consider Surrey to have many of.
However, Surrey’s score of just 110 placed it in 41st place for this metric. Losing out again to its neighbours, alongside much of England.
This suggests that, while residents may consider Surrey a county with historical and cultural substance; The Telegraph believes everywhere else in the South East is doing it better.
An important aspect of this metric to consider is that The Telegraph states counties will get ‘bonus points’ if they host top-flight football, rugby and cricket. Of which Surrey cannot compete as even the counties cricket team actually plays its games in London.
Taking the top place in The Telegraph’s English county rankings was, again, Devon. In fact, the top three has not changed since 2022; with Cumbria taking second and North Yorkshire in third.