Photo: Bill Harrison · CC BY-SA 2.0How Aberdeen City stacks up
Only two areas have homes that cost less against local incomes: in Aberdeen City, a typical home costs 3.2 times the average household’s income. Alongside easy getting about (30% of commuters on foot, bike, bus or train), it has lower incomes (£42,500 a household) and real flood risk. It has no overall grade yet: Police Scotland publishes no street-level crime we can reuse, so there is no Safety grade to weigh.
Each subject puts the official figure for the whole council area beside a measure built from our town grades. How this works
Safety
Not gradedNot graded yet: no street-level crime for Scotland. Police Scotland publishes no street-level crime that we can reuse, so Scottish council areas, like Scottish towns, have no Safety grade yet, and without one no overall grade. The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, due at the end of 2026, should bring newer crime figures by small area; we plan to grade Scottish safety on them.
Schools
46th of 90B−49/100 Average schools. Its towns mostly sit mid-table; Milltimber ranks highest, at #25. Among Scotland’s council areas it ranks 13th highest for school leavers’ results: 67% leave with five or more National 5 awards or better.
Source: Scottish Government school leaver attainment, 2022/23 to 2024/25: leavers with five or more awards at SCQF level 5 (National 5) or better, every state secondary in the council area. Ranked among Scotland’s council areas.
Measure: our Schools grade: primary and secondary results of the schools in and around each town. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,331 graded towns. 6 Aberdeen City towns.
Cost of living
12th of 98A89/100 Affordable nearly everywhere. Homes cost 3.2 times what the average household takes in a year, 29% below the figure for Scotland: a typical sale of £134,100 against income of £42,500. Almost no one here lives in a bottom-quarter town; Aberdeen and Peterculter are typical. Typical prices are down 17% on five years ago.
Typical sale price: £134,100 (5,194 sales, 2nd lowest).
Private rent £845 a month (35th lowest); Band D council tax £1,748 (28th lowest), before water and sewerage charges. Shown for context.
Source: Registers of Scotland sales September 2025 to August 2026 (median estimated from monthly figures); household income estimated from ONS household income (GDHI) per head and household size; private rents for the wider Scottish broad rental area; council Band D 2026/27.
Measure: our Cost of living grade: prices and rents against local income, plus council tax. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,515 graded towns. 6 Aberdeen City towns.
Health
64th of 98C+35/100 Slightly worse health than average. Of a life expectancy of 79.3 years, 58.9 are expected in good health (13th shortest among the Scottish council areas). Town by town it lands near the middle, with Milltimber its best at #494 of 2,515.
Total life expectancy is 79.3 years (16th longest).
Source: National Records of Scotland healthy life expectancy and life expectancy by council area, 2022 to 2024, men and women averaged. A survey-based figure, so ranked among Scotland’s council areas only.
Measure: our Health grade: ONS life and healthy life expectancy, Census health, and OHID indicators in England. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,515 graded towns. 6 Aberdeen City towns.
Jobs & income
94th of 98D−4/100 Among the lowest incomes anywhere. At £42,500 a year, household incomes here are the 11th lowest of 98 areas.
Out-of-work claimants in August 2026: 3.8% of working-age adults (19th highest), weighed with income in the grade.
Source: Household income estimated from ONS household income (GDHI) per head, 2022, and household size (Scotland has no small-area income figures); DWP claimant count (August 2026) by council.
Aberdeen City has no graded towns of 2,500 or more with this measure, too few to compare town by town (we need 5); its grade rests on the official figure.
Getting about
5th of 98A+96/100 Among the easiest places to get about without a car. Only London puts more town residents in the most walkable quarter of towns. Aberdeen City ranks 6th highest for getting to work without a car: 30% of commuters walk, cycle or ride. Aberdeen leads its towns at #99 of 2,515; 88% of town residents live in top-quarter towns.
Worked mainly from home at the 2022 Census: 28% of workers (context; they are left out of the commuting share).
Source: Scotland’s Census 2022, method of travel to work by council area; people working mainly from home left out.
Measure: our Walkability grade: how many everyday places are within reach on foot. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,515 graded towns. 6 Aberdeen City towns.
Flood risk
77th of 87D12/100 Rivers and the sea are a real risk. Cove Bay is among the ten best towns in the UK for flood risk (#8). 3.1% of homes in its towns are at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea, against 2.0% across Scotland (8th highest). 90% of town residents live in bottom-quarter towns, among them Aberdeen and Peterculter.
Source: SEPA flood maps (rivers and the sea, high and medium likelihood), homes in every town of the council area. SEPA’s bands differ from England’s, so ranked among Scotland’s council areas.
Measure: our Hazard risk grade: the share of homes at high or medium flood risk. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,452 graded towns. 6 Aberdeen City towns.
Growth
65th of 98C34/100 Slower than most. NRS estimates put 231,320 people here in 2024, +4.0% on 2011 (32nd slowest).
Since the 2021 Census: +4.8%, 11th fastest.
Source: National Records of Scotland mid-year population estimates, 2011 and 2024.
Aberdeen City has no graded towns of 2,500 or more with this measure, too few to compare town by town (we need 5); its grade rests on the official figure.
How Aberdeen City compares to its neighbours
Against its one neighbour, Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen City comes out ahead on cost of living and getting about and falls behind on schools, health and jobs and income.
| Aberdeen City | Aberdeenshire | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall | No overall grade | No overall grade |
| Safety | Not graded | Not graded |
| Schools | B− 4913th official · 3% in top towns | A− 7612th official · 27% in top towns |
| Cost of living | A 893rd official · 93% in top towns | A− 8222nd official · 100% in top towns |
| Health | C+ 3520th official · 7% in top towns | A 915th official · 51% in top towns |
| Jobs & income | D− 488th official | A 9031st official |
| Getting about | A+ 966th official · 88% in top towns | C+ 3786th official · 3% in top towns |
| Flood risk | D 1225th official · 7% in top towns | B+ 7020th official · 50% in top towns |
| Growth | C 3467th official | C+ 3863rd official |
Each cell: the subject’s grade and score, the county’s rank on the official figure (1st = the better end), and the share of its town residents living in a top-quarter town for the UK. Neighbour names open their report cards.
How this report card works
Two measures, side by side. The left card is an official figure for the whole county, its towns, villages and countryside together, built from the small areas and councils that make it up and ranked against the other counties. The right card is built from our town grades: of everyone living in the county’s graded towns of 2,500 or more, the share whose town is in the top quarter for the UK. Quarters are of people, not towns: the top quarter is the best-placed towns that together hold a quarter of everyone living in graded towns, so a county of big cities is not marked down just for being urban. A county can do well on one measure and not the other; that difference is often the story.
Scores and grades. Each subject’s score (0–100) is the area’s standing in one UK league of 98: the ceremonial counties of England (London counts as one), Wales’s eight preserved counties, and Scotland’s 32 and Northern Ireland’s 11 council areas, each called by its own name. The two measures’ percentiles are averaged, then ranked again, the same method as our town grades. Where a nation publishes its own kind of figure, the official figure is ranked within that nation: school results everywhere, health in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and flood risk in Scotland. Each area’s figures are set beside its own nation’s. 100 is the best county, 0 the last. Letters use the town-grade scale (A+ from 95, A from 85, A− from 75 … D below 15). The overall score weighs safety 18, cost of living 18, schools 16, health 14, jobs & income 12, getting about 8, growth 8, flood risk 6 (out of 100), over the subjects a county has. Counties with fewer than 5 graded towns (Rutland, Bristol) are graded on the official figures alone.
What it is not. A county figure averages everyone, so it cannot show whether a county is evenly good or a mix of very good and struggling places. The town measure shows the mix but leaves out villages and towns under 2,500. Neither says anything about any one street.
Gaps. Wales publishes no school results that compare with England’s, so Welsh counties have no Schools grade. Greater Manchester Police publishes no street-level crime, so Greater Manchester has no Safety grade and, as for its towns, no overall grade. Nor does Police Scotland, so Scotland’s council areas have no Safety grade or overall grade yet. Scotland and Northern Ireland have no small-area income figures, so their household income is estimated from ONS household income per head. Flood risk has no county-wide official figure; it is the share of homes in the county’s towns at high or medium risk. Sources are named under each figure. How grades work
Sources: TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.