Photo: Les Hull · CC BY-SA 2.0How Dumfries and Galloway stacks up
Only one area grew more slowly since 2011 than Dumfries and Galloway: the population has fallen 3.6% since 2011. It struggles most with real flood risk and health that trails most areas. 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
59th of 90C+35/100 Results slightly under the middle for Scotland. Dumfries and Galloway’s school leavers rank 14th lowest of 32 Scottish council areas: 64% have five or more awards at National 5 level. Town by town it lands near the middle, with Dalbeattie its best at #483 of 2,331.
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. 10 Dumfries and Galloway towns.
Cost of living
10th of 98A91/100 Affordable with few exceptions. No area puts more of its town residents in the most affordable quarter of towns (100%). Registers of Scotland sales put the typical home at £163,700, or 3.9 years of average household income, against 4.4 across Scotland. Typical prices are up 19% on five years ago.
Typical sale price: £163,700 (2,559 sales, 10th lowest).
Private rent £558 a month (the lowest); Band D council tax £1,579 (6th 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. 10 Dumfries and Galloway towns.
Health
73rd of 98C25/100 Health trails most areas. People here can expect 59.0 years in good health, against 59.2 across Scotland (16th shortest of 32 Scottish council areas). No town here reaches the top quarter for the UK; its best is Gretna, #1,216.
Life expectancy at birth: 79.2 years, 16th 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. 10 Dumfries and Galloway towns.
Jobs & income
70th of 98C29/100 Lower incomes than most areas. Households take in £42,100 a year on average (8th lowest), and 2.9% of working-age adults claim out-of-work benefits. Its claimant rate, 2.9%, ranks 38th lowest, while household income ranks 8th lowest.
Out-of-work claimants in August 2026: 2.9% of working-age adults (38th lowest), 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.
Dumfries and Galloway 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
63rd of 98C+36/100 A little more car-bound than average. 19% of commuters walk, cycle or take the bus or train to work, against 25% across Scotland (45th lowest of 98 areas). Only Castle Douglas (#186 of 2,515) stands out; no other town comes close.
Worked mainly from home at the 2022 Census: 29% 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. 10 Dumfries and Galloway towns.
Flood risk
70th of 87C−20/100 More flood risk than most areas. SEPA puts 1,360 homes in its towns at high or medium flood risk, 3.4% of them. Lockerbie leads its towns at #462 of 2,452; 17% of town residents live in top-quarter towns.
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. 10 Dumfries and Galloway towns.
Growth
97th of 98D−1/100 Barely growing. NRS estimates put 145,930 people here in 2024, -3.6% on 2011 (2nd slowest). Every neighbour scores higher, South Ayrshire, East Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire among them.
Since the 2021 Census: -0.2%, 4th slowest.
Source: National Records of Scotland mid-year population estimates, 2011 and 2024.
Dumfries and Galloway 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 Dumfries and Galloway compares to its neighbours
Against South Ayrshire, East Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, Scottish Borders and Cumbria, Dumfries and Galloway trails on growth.
| Dumfries and Galloway | South Ayrshire | East Ayrshire | South Lanarkshire | Scottish Borders | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | No overall grade | No overall grade | No overall grade | No overall grade | No overall grade |
| Safety | Not graded | Not graded | Not graded | Not graded | Not graded |
| Schools | C+ 3519th official · 5% in top towns | C 3014th official · 0% in top towns | D− 429th official · 0% in top towns | A− 799th official · 30% in top towns | B 6315th official · 20% in top towns |
| Cost of living | A 9114th official · 100% in top towns | A− 8222nd official · 100% in top towns | A+ 1002nd official · 100% in top towns | A− 7926th official · 100% in top towns | A− 7832nd official · 100% in top towns |
| Health | C 2517th official · 0% in top towns | C− 1623rd official · 0% in top towns | D 528th official · 0% in top towns | C 3022nd official · 6% in top towns | B+ 709th official · 15% in top towns |
| Jobs & income | C 2991st official | C 3369th official | D 685th official | B 5558th official | C+ 4373rd official |
| Getting about | C+ 3654th official · 0% in top towns | C 3159th official · 0% in top towns | C− 2175th official · 0% in top towns | C 2863rd official · 0% in top towns | B− 4643rd official · 0% in top towns |
| Flood risk | C− 2027th official · 17% in top towns | C− 1623rd official · 8% in top towns | B− 4718th official · 21% in top towns | A− 846th official · 51% in top towns | C− 2132nd official · 22% in top towns |
| Growth | D− 197th official | D 1088th official | D 890th official | B− 5255th official | C 3072nd 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.