Cowdenbeath and Lumphinnans’s story
2 listed buildings
Historic Environment Scotland lists them inside Cowdenbeath and Lumphinnans’ locality.
Explore the history →
Cowdenbeath and LumphinnansFife
A Band D home pays £1,574 in council tax. 11,979 residents make their home in this town in Fife, Scotland.
7 places within 12 milesMap →
Photo: Paul McIlroy · CC BY-SA 2.0
Population
11,979
Census 2022 · Fife council
Median home
£132K
529 sales in 3 years
Median age
43.3
20% are 65+ · Fife 20%
Degree level
16%
of residents 16+ · Scotland 32%
Walk, cycle, bus
18%
of commuters · Scotland 27%
Is Cowdenbeath and Lumphinnans a good place to live?
Cowdenbeath and Lumphinnans’s best grade is for cost of living — homes sell for a median £131,600, about 3 times local household income. Getting around on foot or by bus is easy: on the way to work, 18% walk, cycle or take a bus or train. Where it falls short is health: men here can expect to live to 74.5, women to 78.5. It also trails on schools — school leavers’ results beat 6% of Scottish towns.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · commuting, Census 2022 · life expectancy, ONS. Without street-level crime figures from Police Scotland, Cowdenbeath and Lumphinnans has no Safety Grade, and so no overall grade. Its other subjects are graded below.
How Cowdenbeath and Lumphinnans grades
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within Scotland), ordered by how far Cowdenbeath and Lumphinnans is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Without street-level crime figures from Police Scotland, Cowdenbeath and Lumphinnans has no Safety Grade, and so no overall grade. Its other subjects are graded below.
HealthGraded on how healthy residents areD−Open →SchoolsSchools are among the weakest comparedDOpen →Cost of livingIn the top fifth of the towns comparedAOpen →WalkabilityGraded on how easily people get around without a carB+Open →Hazard risk1.1% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the seaC+Open →
SafetyNo street-level crime data–
Jobs & incomeNo small-area income data in Scotland–
How TownRatings grades towns →
What makes Cowdenbeath and Lumphinnans stand out
The 3 things Cowdenbeath and Lumphinnans does most differently from other towns.
Median sale, £ thousands
Housing
52% below the typical town in England and Wales’s £277K
Data-zone medians, 2023 to 2025, at early-2025 prices.
Band D council tax
Council tax
£1,574 Band D
36% 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.
Degree level, 16+
Education
Degree-level qualifications, residents 16+ (Scotland’s towns 32%)
Fife 27%.
The data
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Cowdenbeath and Lumphinnans.
Who lives here
Fewer people in Cowdenbeath and Lumphinnans hold a degree than in Fife’s towns or Scotland’s towns: 16%
43.3median age
17% of residents are children under 15. The 15-to-24 age group: 10%, lower than both Fife’s towns (13%) and Scotland’s towns (12%). The median resident of Cowdenbeath and Lumphinnans is 43.3 years old.
Cowdenbeath and LumphinnansFifeScotland
Ages · share of residents
20%
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications24%
Apprenticeship10%
Highers or similar10%
Degree level16%
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across Scotland, 51% of residents are women.
| Cowdenbeath and Lumphinnans | Fife | Scotland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 16% | 15% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 26% | 24% | 26% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 27% | 27% |
| 65+ | 20% | 20% | 19% |
| No qualifications | 24% | 17% | 17% |
| Apprenticeship | 9.9% | 8.2% | 7.5% |
| Highers or similar | 9.6% | 12% | 11% |
| Degree level | 16% | 27% | 32% |
Scotland’s Census 2022 · Fife and Scotland: all residents of their towns · OGL
SchoolsD
On exam results, Cowdenbeath and Lumphinnans’s schools trail 94% of Scottish towns
DSchool Grade
Two of its 6 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. Some 2,269 pupils attend Cowdenbeath and Lumphinnans’s five primaries and one secondary.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foulford Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 343 | – |
| Beath High SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,316 | C− |
Scottish Government · school statistics and leavers’ results · The grade uses the secondaries its children go to; Scotland publishes no primary results by school.See all 6 schools →
Health
Cowdenbeath and Lumphinnans’s life expectancy trails 98% of UK towns
74%good or very good healthD−Health Grade
29% of residents in Cowdenbeath and Lumphinnans live with a disability. Asked at the census, 74% of residents of Cowdenbeath and Lumphinnans said they were in good or very good health.
General health, self-reported
Good or very good 74%Fair 17%Bad or very bad 9%
| Census 2022 | Cowdenbeath and Lumphinnans | Fife | Scotland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 74% | 77% | 78% |
| Bad or very bad health | 9.2% | 7.2% | 7.2% |
| Activities limited (health or disability) | 29% | 26% | 24% |
74.5
life expectancy at birth, men (2020–24)
78.5
life expectancy at birth, women
Scotland’s Census 2022, general health and disability · Public Health Scotland life expectancy by intermediate zone, 2020–24 · OGL · A young population flatters these answers, which are not age-adjusted; the Health Grade instead uses measures that allow for age, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
HousingCost of living grade A
Few households rent privately in Cowdenbeath and Lumphinnans: 8%, fewer than in both Fife’s towns and Scotland’s towns
£132Kmedian sale
Social housing holds nearly a third of households, above both Fife’s towns (24%) and Scotland’s towns (24%). Private rents average £868 a month across the Fife council area. Owners make up 59% of households.
Median sale price · 2023 to 2025, at early-2025 prices
Cowdenbeath and Lumphinnans£132K
Typical UK town£277K
59%
of households own their home · Scotland 60%
8%
rent privately · Scotland 13%
£868
average private rent a month, Fife council area
£1,574
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.
Work & commute
Only 24% of Cowdenbeath and Lumphinnans’ commuters work within 5 km, fewer than in both Fife’s towns and Scotland’s towns
18%walk, cycle or ride
Scotland’s Census was taken on 20 March 2022, a year after England and Wales’s lockdown census; 27% of workers were mainly at home, and shares here are of those who travelled.
The car took four in five commuters, above both Fife’s towns (78%) and Scotland’s towns (70%). Among 16 to 64s, 4% claimed unemployment benefits in 2026. 14% of commuters who live in Cowdenbeath and Lumphinnans also work there. The town counts 0.7 jobs per working resident.
How commuters got to work · March 2022
Driving80%
Bus9%
On foot6%
Train2%
Bicycle1%
24%
of commuters travel under 5 km · Scotland 44%
27%
worked mainly from home in March 2022
4%
of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits (2026)
B+
Walkability: more walkable than 72% of UK towns
Scotland’s Census 2022 (NRS), method of travel and distance to work · DWP claimant count · OGL
History
All 2 of Cowdenbeath and Lumphinnans’s listed buildings are Category C
2listed buildings
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Cowdenbeath and Lumphinnans has 2 listed buildings inside its locality on Historic Environment Scotland’s list, all Category C.
Listed buildings by grade · Historic Environment Scotland
Category A0
Category B0
Category C2
0
scheduled monuments
0
gardens and designed landscapes
2
listed buildings per 10,000 residents · typical town in England and Wales 24
Historic Environment Scotland list, October 2026 · OGL
Keep exploring
Everything we know about Cowdenbeath and Lumphinnans
14pages on Cowdenbeath and Lumphinnans
The big questions
SafetyNot graded · 20% live in Scotland’s most crime-deprived fifthCost of livingAMedian home £132K · rent £868 a monthSchoolsD6 state schoolsHealthD−Life expectancy 74.5 (men), 78.5 (women)Work & commute51% of working residents work in the townFlood & hazardsC+1.1% of homes at high or medium flood risk
Out and about
Famous people from Cowdenbeath and Lumphinnans
50 notable people were born in Cowdenbeath and Lumphinnans.
W
Willie CunninghamScottish footballer (1925–2000)T
Tricia MarwickScottish politician (born 1953)T
Tommy CallaghanScottish footballer and manager (1945–2024)W
Willie CallaghanScottish footballer (born 1943)Photo credits
Jim Baxter: Paul McIlroy, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Peter Johnstone: Michael Payne cew, CC BY-SA 4.0
About Cowdenbeath and Lumphinnans
Town in Fife, Scotland
Cowdenbeath and Lumphinnans is a locality of 11,979 people, in the Fife 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
- 11,979 (Census 2022)
- Council
- Fife
- Nation
- Scotland
- Area
- 1.7 sq mi (4.4 km²)
- NRS code
- S52000159
Cowdenbeath and Lumphinnans’s neighbours
The nearest towns and villages, from National Records of Scotland’s 2022 localities. See them on the map →
CrossgatesLochgellyKeltyBallingryDunfermlineCardenden and AuchterderranDalgety Bay and HillendCowdenbeath and Lumphinnans
How the neighbours grade
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cowdenbeath and Lumphinnans | 11,979 | — | — | A | — | D− |
| Crossgates | 2,993 | 1.9 | — | A | — | C− |
| Lochgelly | 7,157 | 2.1 | — | A | — | D− |
| Kelty | 6,898 | 2.1 | — | A | — | D |
| Ballingry | 5,823 | 3.7 | — | A | — | D− |
| Dunfermline | 56,053 | 4.1 | — | A | — | C− |
| Cardenden and Auchterderran | 5,266 | 4.4 | — | A | — | D− |
| Dalgety Bay and Hillend | 9,452 | 5.1 | — | A− | — | B+ |
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 Cowdenbeath and Lumphinnans
Is Cowdenbeath and Lumphinnans expensive to live in?
On cost of living it is the 147th most affordable of 296 Scottish towns.
How much is council tax in Cowdenbeath and Lumphinnans?
Band D council tax in Cowdenbeath and Lumphinnans is £1,574 for 2026–27, less than in 97% of UK towns (council, county, police and fire). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
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.