Marine Road, Bandstand · Category A listed · Photo: Braveheart · CC BY-SA 4.0
Nairn’s story
Nairn in pictures
Historic Environment Scotland lists 63 buildings inside Nairn’s locality, 2 of them in the top category.
Explore the history →
NairnHighland
A Band D home pays £1,634 in council tax. A town in Highland, Scotland, home to 9,576 people.
2 places within 12 milesMap →
Photo: Lewis Clarke · CC BY-SA 2.0
Population
9,576
Census 2022 · Highland council
Median home
£219K
487 sales in 3 years
Median age
52
28% are 65+ · Highland 21%
Degree level
30%
of residents 16+ · Scotland 32%
Walk, cycle, bus
26%
of commuters · Scotland 27%
Is Nairn a good place to live?
Homes are affordable: homes sell for a median £218,600, about 4.9 times local household income. Add walkability to its strengths: 26% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Health is a weak point (C−): life expectancy is 77.1 for men and 81.6 for women. It also trails on hazard risk — 5.6% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · commuting, Census 2022 · life expectancy, ONS · flood risk, SEPA. Police Scotland publishes no street-level crime, which leaves Nairn without a Safety Grade or an overall grade. The other subjects are graded below.
What makes Nairn stand out
The 3 things Nairn does most differently from other towns.
Listed buildings per 10,000 residents
History
2 Category A, including Academy Street, Old Parish Church; 2.7 times the typical town in England and Wales for its size
Historic Environment Scotland’s list, October 2026.
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.
Residents 65 and over
Who lives here
28% are 65 or over
Against 19% across Scotland’s towns
How Nairn grades
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within Scotland), ordered by how far Nairn is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Police Scotland publishes no street-level crime, which leaves Nairn without a Safety Grade or an overall grade. The other subjects are graded below.
WalkabilityAmong the easiest places to get around without a carAOpen →Hazard riskIn the bottom fifth of the towns comparedDOpen →Cost of livingBased on what homes cost against what households earnAOpen →HealthHealth outcomes are among the weakest comparedC−Open →SchoolsSchool leavers’ results beat 31% of Scottish townsCOpen →
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 Nairn.
Work & commute
Nairn is more walkable than 91% of UK towns
Scotland’s Census was taken on 20 March 2022, a year after England and Wales’s lockdown census; 28% of workers were mainly at home, and shares here are of those who travelled.
The car took 74% of commuters, close to Highland’s towns (72%) and above Scotland’s towns (70%). 43% of commuters travelled under 5 km to work. Work in town: just over a third of resident commuters. Among 16 to 64s, 2.3% claimed unemployment benefits in 2026.
26%walk, cycle or ride
How commuters got to work · March 2022
Driving74%
On foot15%
Bicycle5%
Bus3%
Train2%
43%
of commuters travel under 5 km · Scotland 44%
28%
worked mainly from home in March 2022
2.3%
of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits (2026)
A
Walkability: more walkable than 91% of UK towns
Scotland’s Census 2022 (NRS), method of travel and distance to work · DWP claimant count · OGL
SchoolsC
School results in Nairn are weaker than in 69% of Scottish towns
Some 1,181 pupils attend Nairn’s two primaries and one secondary. Of its 3 schools, two are shown below, each with the reason.
CSchool Grade
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rosebank Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 264 | – |
| Nairn AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 681 | 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 3 schools →
Who lives here
Older residents shape Nairn: 28% are 65 or over, above Highland’s towns and Scotland’s towns
Under 15: 13% of residents. People aged 15 to 24 make up 8% of the town, below both Highland’s towns (10%) and Scotland’s towns (12%). The median resident of Nairn is 52 years old.
52median age
NairnHighlandScotland
Ages · share of residents
28%
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications17%
Apprenticeship9%
Highers or similar12%
Degree level30%
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across Scotland, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
| Nairn | Highland | Scotland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 13% | 16% | 15% |
| 15–24 | 8% | 10% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 19% | 25% | 26% |
| 45–64 | 30% | 28% | 27% |
| 65+ | 28% | 21% | 19% |
| No qualifications | 17% | 18% | 17% |
| Apprenticeship | 8.9% | 8.7% | 7.5% |
| Highers or similar | 12% | 11% | 11% |
| Degree level | 30% | 27% | 32% |
Scotland’s Census 2022 · Highland and Scotland: all residents of their towns · OGL
HousingCost of living grade A
Nairn is a town of owners: 68% of households own their home, above Highland’s towns and Scotland’s towns
Social housing holds 18% of households, below Highland’s towns (24%) and Scotland’s towns (24%) alike. 10% of households rent privately. Private rents average £816 a month across the Highland and Islands council area.
£219Kmedian sale
Median sale price · 2023 to 2025, at early-2025 prices
Nairn£219K
Typical UK town£277K
68%
of households own their home · Scotland 60%
10%
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 · The Scottish median is our estimate from data-zone sales, brought to early-2025 prices.
Health
More people in Nairn live with a disability than in Highland’s towns or across Scotland’s towns: 27%
At the census, 76% of people in Nairn called their health good or very good, lower than both Highland’s towns (79%) and Scotland’s towns (78%). Women here live to 81.6 on average and men to 77.1 (2020–24). Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 7.3% of the town.
76%good or very good healthC−Health Grade
General health, self-reported
Good or very good 76%Fair 16%Bad or very bad 7%
| Census 2022 | Nairn | Highland | Scotland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 76% | 79% | 78% |
| Bad or very bad health | 7.3% | 6.6% | 7.2% |
| Activities limited (health or disability) | 27% | 24% | 24% |
77.1
life expectancy at birth, men (2020–24)
81.6
life expectancy at birth, women
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 and early deaths.
History
Nairn’s heritage list runs to 63 buildings, 2 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.
For its size, Nairn has 66 listed buildings per 10,000 residents, above both Highland’s towns (25) and Scotland’s towns (22). The town’s listed buildings include Academy Street, Old Parish Church, Category A. At the top of the list, 2 are Category A and 38 Category B.
63listed buildings
Listed buildings by grade · Historic Environment Scotland
Category A2
Category B38
Category C23
Among them · Category A
- Academy Street, Old Parish Church Category A
- Marine Road, Bandstand Category A
0
scheduled monuments
0
gardens and designed landscapes
66
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 Nairn
14pages on Nairn
The big questions
SafetyNot graded · 12% live in Scotland’s most crime-deprived fifthCost of livingAMedian home £219K · rent £816 a monthSchoolsC3 state schoolsHealthC−Life expectancy 77.1 (men), 81.6 (women)Work & commute62% of working residents work in the townFlood & hazardsD5.6% of homes at high or medium flood risk
Out and about
Landmarks
63 listed buildings in Nairn, 2 of them in the top category.
Academy Street, Old Parish ChurchCategory A listed
Nairn Railway Station Including Main Offices, Former Waiting Room and…Category B listed
Cawdor Street, British Legion Club; House, Gatepiers and_Walling to C…Category B listed
Crescent Road, Havelock HotelCategory C listed
Photo credits
Academy Street, Old Parish Church: Photo: Braveheart · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Nairn Railway Station Including Main Offices, Former Waiting Room and Shelter, West Signal Box, East Signal Box and Footbridge: Photo: Braveheart · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cawdor Street, British Legion Club; House, Gatepiers and_Walling to Cawdor Street: Photo: Braveheart · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Crescent Road, Havelock Hotel: Photo: Braveheart · CC BY-SA 4.0
Famous people from Nairn
9 notable people were born in Nairn.
D
Davie JohnstonBritish association football player (1942-2004)D
Don BoydBritish writer and director · born 1948A
Andrew MacDonaldScottish rugby union player · born 1966Photo credits
James Augustus Grant: Will update shortly, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Margaret Fulton: Eva Rinaldi, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Isaac B. Cameron: Baker's Art Gallery, Public domain
Nairn’s neighbours
The nearest towns and villages, from National Records of Scotland’s 2022 localities. See them on the map →
Questions about Nairn
How many listed buildings are there in Nairn?
That is 2.7 times the typical town in England and Wales for its size. Its Category A buildings include Academy Street, Old Parish Church.
Does Nairn flood?
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
How much is council tax in Nairn?
Band D council tax in Nairn 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.
About Nairn
Town in Highland, Scotland
Nairn is a locality of 9,576 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
- 9,576 (Census 2022)
- Council
- Highland
- Nation
- Scotland
- Area
- 2 sq mi (5.1 km²)
- NRS code
- S52000470
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.