Blackburn’s story
1 listed building
Historic Environment Scotland lists them inside Blackburn’s locality.
Explore the history →
BlackburnAberdeenshire
Population 2,985: a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
7 places within 12 milesMap →
Photo: Steven Brown · CC BY-SA 2.0
Population
2,985
Census 2022 · Aberdeenshire council
Median home
£241K
95 sales in 3 years
Median age
39.9
12% are 65+ · Aberdeenshire 21%
Degree level
36%
of residents 16+ · Scotland 32%
Walk, cycle, bus
8%
of commuters · Scotland 27%
Is Blackburn a good place to live?
Buying a home costs less than in most towns: the median home sold for £241,300, 4.6 years of area income. The weak point is walkability — on the way to work, 8% walk, cycle or take a bus or train. Natural hazards weigh more here: 1.6% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. Council tax at Band D comes to £1,686.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · commuting, Census 2022 · flood risk, SEPA. Police Scotland publishes no street-level crime, which leaves Blackburn without a Safety Grade or an overall grade. The other subjects are graded below.
How Blackburn grades
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within Scotland), ordered by how far Blackburn is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Police Scotland publishes no street-level crime, which leaves Blackburn without a Safety Grade or an overall grade. The other subjects are graded below.
Cost of livingRent £869 a monthA+Open →SchoolsSchools rank among the strongest comparedA+Open →HealthAmong the best of the towns comparedAOpen →WalkabilityBased on walking, cycling and transit to everyday placesDOpen →Hazard riskMore exposed to natural hazards than mostC+Open →
SafetyNo street-level crime data–
Jobs & incomeNo small-area income data in Scotland–
How TownRatings grades towns →
What makes Blackburn stand out
The 3 things Blackburn does most differently from other towns.
Walk, cycle or public transport
Getting around
8% leave the car
of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport (Scotland’s towns 27%)
Band D council tax
Council tax
£1,686 Band D
32% below the typical town in England and Wales’s £2,472, 2026–27
The council’s Band D; water and sewerage are billed on top. Scottish Government.
Secondary results, Scottish towns
Schools
Secondary results beat 96%
of Scottish towns, on school leavers’ results (5+ awards at National 5 or better)
Scottish Government, secondaries in or within 3 km.
The data
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Blackburn.
SchoolsA+
On exam results, Blackburn’s schools beat 96% of Scottish towns
A+School Grade
The one school in town appears below. The town’s primary school has 336 pupils.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kinellar SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 336 | – |
Scottish Government · school statistics and leavers’ results · The grade uses the secondaries its children go to; Scotland publishes no primary results by school.The Schools page →
HousingCost of living grade A+
Most households in Blackburn own their home: 81%, more than in Aberdeenshire’s towns or across Scotland’s towns
£241Kmedian sale
Private renters make up 8% of households, near Aberdeenshire’s towns (8%) and lower than Scotland’s towns (13%). The social rented sector houses 9% of households. 95 sales in Blackburn’s data zones from 2023 to 2025 make up the median of £241,300.
Median sale price · 2023 to 2025, at early-2025 prices
Blackburn£241K
Typical UK town£277K
81%
of households own their home · Scotland 60%
8%
rent privately · Scotland 13%
£869
average private rent a month, Aberdeen and Shire council area
£1,686
council tax, Band D, 2026–27
Registers of Scotland data-zone sale prices · Scottish Government council tax · Scotland’s Census 2022 tenure · OGL · The Scottish median is our estimate from data-zone sales, brought to early-2025 prices.
Health
Disability is less common in Blackburn, 12% of residents, than in Aberdeenshire’s towns and Scotland’s towns
90%good or very good healthAHealth Grade
Asked at the census, 90% of residents of Blackburn said they were in good or very good health. At the census, 2.7% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, below Aberdeenshire’s towns (4.5%) and Scotland’s towns (7.2%) alike.
General health, self-reported
Good or very good 90%Fair 8%Bad or very bad 3%
| Census 2022 | Blackburn | Aberdeenshire | Scotland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 90% | 83% | 78% |
| Bad or very bad health | 2.7% | 4.5% | 7.2% |
| Activities limited (health or disability) | 12% | 20% | 24% |
Scotland’s Census 2022, general health and disability · Public Health Scotland life expectancy by intermediate zone, 2020–24 · OGL · Census health answers are raw, so younger towns score better on them; for the Health Grade we use age-adjusted figures like life expectancy.
Work & commute
Work tends to be further away for Blackburn: 13% commute under 5 km, below Aberdeenshire’s towns and Scotland’s towns
8%walk, cycle or ride
Scotland’s Census was taken on 20 March 2022, a year after England and Wales’s lockdown census; 31% of workers were mainly at home, and shares here are of those who travelled.
By car: that was how 86% of commuters travelled at the census. Unemployment benefit claims came to 1.1% of 16 to 64s in 2026, below Aberdeenshire’s towns (2.1%) and Scotland’s towns (2.8%) alike. For every resident in work, Blackburn has 0.6 jobs. Of the commuters living in the town, 4% work in the town itself.
How commuters got to work · March 2022
Driving86%
On foot4%
Bus3%
Bicycle1%
13%
of commuters travel under 5 km · Scotland 44%
31%
worked mainly from home in March 2022
1.1%
of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits (2026)
D
Walkability: more walkable than 11% of UK towns
Scotland’s Census 2022 (NRS), method of travel and distance to work · DWP claimant count · OGL
History
Blackburn’s listed buildings: 1, all Category C
1listed buildings
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Inside Blackburn’s locality, Historic Environment Scotland lists 1 listed building, .
Listed buildings by grade · Historic Environment Scotland
Category A0
Category B0
Category C1
0
scheduled monuments
0
gardens and designed landscapes
3
listed buildings per 10,000 residents · typical town in England and Wales 24
Historic Environment Scotland list, October 2026 · OGL
Who lives here
A town of families: 22% of people in Blackburn are under 15, more than in Aberdeenshire’s towns or Scotland’s towns
39.9median age
Half the people of Blackburn are older than 39.9. One in ten residents are aged 15 to 24. Degrees are held by 36% of adults, above both Aberdeenshire’s towns (29%) and Scotland’s towns (32%).
BlackburnAberdeenshireScotland
Ages · share of residents
10%
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications8%
Apprenticeship10%
Highers or similar12%
Degree level36%
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About 104 men for every 100 women. Across Scotland, 51% of residents are women.
| Blackburn | Aberdeenshire | Scotland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 22% | 17% | 15% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 9.7% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 28% | 25% | 26% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 27% | 27% |
| 65+ | 12% | 21% | 19% |
| No qualifications | 7.5% | 16% | 17% |
| Apprenticeship | 9.9% | 10% | 7.5% |
| Highers or similar | 12% | 10% | 11% |
| Degree level | 36% | 29% | 32% |
Scotland’s Census 2022 · Aberdeenshire and Scotland: all residents of their towns · OGL
Keep exploring
Everything we know about Blackburn
13pages on Blackburn
The big questions
Out and about
About Blackburn
Town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Blackburn is a locality of 2,985 people, in the Aberdeenshire council area. TownRatings uses National Records of Scotland’s 2022 localities as Scotland’s towns: the physical town, as people mean the word, rather than a council area, so its figures cover the town itself. Localities split the big settlements into their towns, as ONS’s 2022 boundaries split conurbations in England and Wales.
Built from NRS geography and Census 2022
- Population
- 2,985 (Census 2022)
- Council
- Aberdeenshire
- Nation
- Scotland
- Area
- 0.4 sq mi (0.9 km²)
- NRS code
- S52000071
Blackburn’s neighbours
The nearest towns and villages, from National Records of Scotland’s 2022 localities. See them on the map →
KintoreWesthillDyceKingswellsNewmacharKemnayInverurieBlackburn
How the neighbours grade
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blackburn | 2,985 | — | — | A+ | — | A |
| Kintore | 4,545 | 3 | — | A+ | — | A |
| Westhill | 11,778 | 3.6 | — | A+ | — | A |
| Dyce | 6,998 | 3.9 | — | A− | — | C |
| Kingswells | 4,776 | 4.2 | — | C | — | B+ |
| Newmachar | 2,527 | 5.5 | — | A+ | — | B |
| Kemnay | 3,864 | 6.2 | — | A+ | — | C |
| Inverurie | 15,115 | 6.5 | — | A+ | — | C+ |
No Scottish town has a Safety Grade or an overall grade yet: Police Scotland doesn’t publish street-level crime. People: Census 2022. Miles: centre to centre.
Questions about Blackburn
Are schools in Blackburn good?
GCSE results beat 96% of towns in England (Department for Education, Attainment 8). One state school is inside the town; places are handled by the local council.
How much is council tax in Blackburn?
Band D council tax in Blackburn is £1,686 for 2026–27, less than in 91% of UK towns (council, county, police and fire). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
Does Blackburn flood?
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Sources: Scotland’s Census 2022 (National Records of Scotland), output areas summed to the NRS 2022 locality · Registers of Scotland house price statistics, medians and quartiles of residential sales by 2022 data zone, 2004 to 2025 (the 2023 to 2025 headline brought to early-2025 prices with each council’s medians) · Scottish Government, Council Tax by band 2026-27; Scottish Water charges 2026-27 · Scottish Government, Recorded Crime in Scotland (crimes, offences and clear-up rates by council area, 2016-17 to 2025-26); Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2020v2 crime domain and SIMD crime indicators (2014/15, 2017/18), 2011 data zones with Census 2022 residents · ONS gross disposable household income by council (2022), scaled to household income on England and Wales’s councils, with Scotland’s Census 2022 households · DWP / ONS Claimant Count via Nomis (2022 data zones, January to August 2026), over residents aged 16 to 64 at Scotland’s Census 2022; council series since 2015 · Scottish Government school contact list (31 July 2026) and school summary statistics (pupil census, September 2025); School Information Dashboard leavers’ attainment by school, 2022-23 to 2024-25 (data.gov.scot) · 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.