Photo: Peter Moore · CC BY-SA 2.0How Clackmannanshire stacks up
No Scottish council area gets fewer of its school leavers to five or more National 5 awards: in Clackmannanshire, 58% of school leavers have five or more awards at National 5 level or better. It struggles most with slow growth (+0.9% since 2011) and a reliance on the car (only 15% of commuters walk, cycle or ride). 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
89th of 90D−1/100 Schools are a real weak spot. Even its best town, Dollar, ranks #1,831 of 2,331. No Scottish council area gets fewer of its school leavers to five or more National 5 awards than Clackmannanshire: 58% of school leavers have five or more awards at National 5 level or better. Stirling, Perth and Kinross and Fife all do better on schools.
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. 8 Clackmannanshire towns.
Cost of living
32nd of 98B+68/100 Somewhat affordable. Homes cost 4.0 times what the average household takes in a year, 9% below the figure for Scotland: a typical sale of £176,000 against income of £43,900. Almost no one here lives in a bottom-quarter town; Alva and Clackmannan are typical. Every neighbour scores higher, Stirling, Perth and Kinross and Fife among them.
Typical sale price: £176,000 (914 sales, 12th lowest).
Private rent £892 a month (41st lowest); Band D council tax £1,684 (17th 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. 8 Clackmannanshire towns.
Health
77th of 98C−22/100 Less healthy than most areas. Alloa and Tullibody weigh on the town measure; 78% of town residents live in bottom-quarter places. People here can expect 54.8 years in good health, against 59.2 across Scotland (6th shortest of 32 Scottish council areas). Every neighbour scores higher, Stirling, Perth and Kinross and Fife among them.
Life expectancy at birth: 78.1 years, 8th shortest.
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. 8 Clackmannanshire towns.
Jobs & income
63rd of 98C+36/100 Incomes a notch below average. Clackmannanshire ranks 20th lowest for household income, at £43,900 a year before tax. Incomes and work tell different stories: 20th lowest household income, but the 43rd lowest share claiming out-of-work benefits (3.0%).
Claimant rate: 3.0% of 16 to 64-year-olds claim out-of-work benefits (August 2026), 43rd lowest. Counted half 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.
Clackmannanshire 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
80th of 98C−19/100 Hard going without a car. No town here reaches the top quarter for the UK; its best is Alloa, #835. At the 2022 Census, 15% of people travelling to work went on foot, by bike or by public transport, 10 points below the figure for Scotland. Stirling, Perth and Kinross and Fife all do better on walkability.
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. 8 Clackmannanshire towns.
Flood risk
33rd of 87B63/100 A bit less exposed than most. 2.4% of homes in its towns are at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea, against 2.0% across Scotland (12th highest). 44% of town residents live in a top-quarter town; Sauchie ranks highest, at #31.
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. 8 Clackmannanshire towns.
Growth
84th of 98D14/100 Slow growth. Clackmannanshire grew 0.9% from 2011 to 2024, against 4.6% for Scotland. Every neighbour scores higher, Stirling, Perth and Kinross and Fife among them.
From 2021 to 2024 alone, +0.7% (25th slowest).
Source: National Records of Scotland mid-year population estimates, 2011 and 2024.
Clackmannanshire 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 Clackmannanshire compares to its neighbours
Against Stirling, Perth and Kinross and Fife, Clackmannanshire trails on schools, cost of living and health.
| Clackmannanshire | Stirling | Perth and Kinross | Fife | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | No overall grade | No overall grade | No overall grade | No overall grade |
| Safety | Not graded | Not graded | Not graded | Not graded |
| Schools | D− 132nd official · 0% in top towns | A− 836th official · 25% in top towns | B+ 7011th official · 18% in top towns | D 930th official · 2% in top towns |
| Cost of living | B+ 6824th official · 88% in top towns | B+ 7141st official · 100% in top towns | B+ 6944th official · 100% in top towns | B+ 7028th official · 92% in top towns |
| Health | C− 2227th official · 6% in top towns | B 6315th official · 20% in top towns | A− 764th official · 17% in top towns | C+ 3617th official · 5% in top towns |
| Jobs & income | C+ 3679th official | A 8533rd official | B+ 6852nd official | C− 2174th official |
| Getting about | C− 1977th official · 0% in top towns | C+ 4247th official · 0% in top towns | B+ 7130th official · 3% in top towns | B+ 6556th official · 6% in top towns |
| Flood risk | B 6321st official · 44% in top towns | D 1430th official · 18% in top towns | B 5610th official · 18% in top towns | A 857th official · 66% in top towns |
| Growth | D 1486th official | C+ 4062nd official | B− 4660th official | C 2575th 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.