Teaninich House · Category B listed · Photo: Derek Spence · CC BY-SA 2.0
Alness’s story
Alness in pictures
Historic Environment Scotland lists 14 buildings inside Alness’s locality, 9 of them in the second category.
Explore the history →
AlnessHighland
A town of 5,940 in Highland, Scotland.
3 places within 12 milesMap →
Photo: Richard Dorrell · CC BY-SA 2.0
Population
5,940
Census 2022 · Highland council
Median home
£166K
200 sales in 3 years
Median age
40.8
20% are 65+ · Highland 21%
Degree level
19%
of residents 16+ · Scotland 32%
Walk, cycle, bus
19%
of commuters · Scotland 27%
Is Alness a good place to live?
Police Scotland doesn’t publish street-level crime, so Alness has no Safety Grade and, without it, no overall grade. Its other subjects are graded below. Its strongest subject is cost of living (A): the 128th most affordable of 296 Scottish towns: median sale £166,100, 3.7 years of area income; rent £816 a month. Its weakest is health (D−): life expectancy 71.9 for men, 76.7 for women.
What makes Alness stand out
The 3 things Alness does most differently from other towns.
Life expectancy, against UK towns
Health
76.7 and 71.9 years
Life expectancy at birth, women and men: shorter than in 100% of UK towns
Public Health Scotland, 2020–24.
Band D council tax
Council tax
£1,634 Band D
34% 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
19% have a degree
Degree-level qualifications, residents 16+ (Scotland’s towns 32%)
Highland 27%.
How Alness grades
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within Scotland), ordered by how far Alness is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Police Scotland doesn’t publish street-level crime, so Alness has no Safety Grade and, without it, no overall grade. Its other subjects are graded below.
HealthD−Open →SchoolsSchool leavers’ results beat 3% of Scottish townsD−Open →Cost of livingAOpen →WalkabilityB+Open →Hazard risk0.5% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the seaB−Open →
SafetyNo street-level crime data–
Jobs & incomeNo small-area income data in Scotland–
How TownRatings grades towns →
The data
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Alness.
Who lives here
A town of families: 20% of people in Alness are under 15, more than in Highland’s towns or Scotland’s towns
In the comparison, Alness comes above both Highland’s towns (16%) and Scotland’s towns (15%). 10% of residents are aged 15 to 24. Alness has a median age of 40.8.
40.8median age
AlnessHighlandScotland
Ages · share of residents
20%
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications24%
Apprenticeship8%
Highers or similar11%
Degree level19%
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across Scotland, 51% of residents are women.
| Alness | Highland | Scotland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 20% | 16% | 15% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 10% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 26% | 25% | 26% |
| 45–64 | 25% | 28% | 27% |
| 65+ | 20% | 21% | 19% |
| No qualifications | 24% | 18% | 17% |
| Apprenticeship | 8.2% | 8.7% | 7.5% |
| Highers or similar | 11% | 11% | 11% |
| Degree level | 19% | 27% | 32% |
Scotland’s Census 2022 · Highland and Scotland: all residents of their towns · OGL
SchoolsD−
Results at Alness’s schools trail 97% of Scottish towns
One of its 3 schools is below, with why it’s listed. The grade uses the secondaries its children go to; Scotland publishes no primary results by school.
D−School Grade
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bridgend Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 275 | – |
Scottish Government · school statistics and leavers’ resultsSee all 3 schools →
Health
Life expectancy in Alness is shorter than in 100% of UK towns
Women here live to 76.7 on average and men to 71.9 (2020–24). At the census, 27% of people here had a disability, above both Highland’s towns (24%) and Scotland’s towns (24%). These answers aren’t adjusted for age, so young towns look healthier; the Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
76%good or very good healthD−Health Grade
General health, self-reported
Good or very good 76%Fair 16%Bad or very bad 8%
| Census 2022 | Alness | Highland | Scotland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 76% | 79% | 78% |
| Bad or very bad health | 8.1% | 6.6% | 7.2% |
| Activities limited (health or disability) | 27% | 24% | 24% |
71.9
life expectancy at birth, men (2020–24)
76.7
life expectancy at birth, women
Scotland’s Census 2022, general health and disability · Public Health Scotland life expectancy by intermediate zone, 2020–24 · OGL
HousingCost of living grade A
Private renting is less common in Alness than in Highland’s towns or across Scotland’s towns: 6%
For Alness, that is below both Highland’s towns (11%) and Scotland’s towns (13%). Social housing holds 39% of households.
£166Kmedian sale
Median sale price · 2023 to 2025, at early-2025 prices
Alness£166K
Typical UK town£277K
51%
of households own their home · Scotland 60%
6%
rent privately · Scotland 13%
£816
average private rent a month, Highland and Islands council area
£1,634
council tax, Band D, 2026–27
Registers of Scotland data-zone sale prices · Scottish Government council tax · Scotland’s Census 2022 tenure · OGL
Work & commute
Walking, cycling and public transport carry fewer commuters in Alness than in Highland’s towns or Scotland’s towns: 19%
Scotland’s Census was taken on 20 March 2022, a year after England and Wales’s lockdown census; 25% of workers were mainly at home, and shares here are of those who travelled.
Alness sits below both Highland’s towns (25%) and Scotland’s towns (27%) on this measure. 79% of commuters drove to work at the census.
19%walk, cycle or ride
How commuters got to work · March 2022
Driving79%
On foot12%
Bus3%
Bicycle2%
Train2%
42%
of commuters travel under 5 km · Scotland 44%
25%
worked mainly from home in March 2022
3.4%
of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits (2026)
B+
Walkability: more walkable than 74% of UK towns
Scotland’s Census 2022 (NRS), method of travel and distance to work · DWP claimant count · OGL
History
14 listed buildings, 0 of them in the top category
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Alness has 14 listed buildings inside its locality on Historic Environment Scotland’s list: 0 Category A, 9 Category B.
14listed buildings
Listed buildings by grade · Historic Environment Scotland
Category A0
Category B9
Category C5
Among them · Category B
0
scheduled monuments
0
gardens and designed landscapes
24
listed buildings per 10,000 residents · typical town in England and Wales 24
Historic Environment Scotland list, October 2026 · OGL
Nearby attractions
All attractions →Alness Heritage Centre and 2 more in and around Alness
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Alness. Best known first.
MuseumMuseumAlness Heritage Centrein townAttractionAttractionThe Dalmore Distillery600 m outside town, to the southeastMuseumMuseumInvergordon Naval Museum & Heritage Centre3.9 km outside town, to the east
Places: © OpenStreetMap contributors · Wikidata
Keep exploring
Everything we know about Alness
14pages on Alness
The big questions
SafetyNot graded · 47% live in Scotland’s most crime-deprived fifthCost of livingAMedian home £166K · rent £816 a monthSchoolsD−3 state schoolsHealthD−Life expectancy 71.9 (men), 76.7 (women)Work & commute55% of working residents work in the townFlood & hazardsB−0.5% of homes at high or medium flood risk
Out and about
Landmarks
14 listed buildings in Alness.
Alness Bridge over River Averon or Alness on A9 RoadCategory B listed
Alness, 92-94 (Even Nos) High Street, Station HotelCategory B listed
Photo credits
Alness Bridge over River Averon or Alness on A9 Road: Photo: Bob Embleton · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Alness, 92-94 (Even Nos) High Street, Station Hotel: Photo: Richard Dorrell · CC BY-SA 2.0
Famous people from Alness
4 notable people were born in Alness.
R
Roddie MacDonaldScottish former footballer (born 1954)Photo credits
Robert Munro, 1st Baron Alness: The Library of Congress, Public domain · John Munro: unknown, from an engraving in the Canadian National Archives, Public domain
Alness’s neighbours
The nearest towns and villages, from National Records of Scotland’s 2022 localities. See them on the map →
InvergordonDingwallTainAlness
How the neighbours grade
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alness | 5,940 | — | — | A | — | D− |
| Invergordon | 3,801 | 3.1 | — | A+ | — | D |
| Dingwall | 5,274 | 9.3 | — | A+ | — | D |
| Tain | 3,544 | 10 | — | A+ | — | D |
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 Alness
Are schools in Alness good?
Alness has 3 state schools; places are handled by the local council.
Who lives in Alness?
Fewer households own their home than across Scotland’s towns: 51%, against 60%.
How much is council tax in Alness?
Band D council tax in Alness is £1,634 for 2026–27, less than in 93% of UK towns (council, county, police and fire). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
Is Alness expensive to live in?
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £166,100, against £277,000 in the typical town in England and Wales. On cost of living it is the 128th most affordable of 296 Scottish towns.
About Alness
Town in Highland, Scotland
Alness is a locality of 5,940 people, in the Highland 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
- 5,940 (Census 2022)
- Council
- Highland
- Nation
- Scotland
- Area
- 1 sq mi (2.5 km²)
- NRS code
- S52000018
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.