Photo: valenta · CC BY-SA 2.0How Highland stacks up
In Highland, town by town, 100% of residents live in the most affordable quarter of towns in the UK, 1st among the areas. It struggles most with weaker school results and slow growth (+2.1% since 2011). 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
75th of 90C−17/100 Schools trail most of Scotland. 63% of school leavers have five or more awards at National 5 level or better, against 67% across Scotland (11th lowest of 32 Scottish council areas). None of its towns makes the top quarter; Smithton comes closest, at #813 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. 15 Highland towns.
Cost of living
35th of 98B+65/100 Somewhat affordable. No area puts more of its town residents in the most affordable quarter of towns (100%). A typical home sold for £218,200 over the past year, 4.9 times the average household’s income (44th highest of 98 areas). Its towns beat the area-wide figure.
The middle home sold for £218,200 over the past year, 49th lowest of the areas.
Private rent £739 a month (12th lowest); Band D council tax £1,634 (12th 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. 16 Highland towns.
Health
54th of 98B−45/100 Health right at the middle. Healthy life expectancy at birth is 61.5 years (men and women averaged), 2.3 years more than the figure for Scotland. 5% of town residents live in a top-quarter town, 32% in a bottom-quarter one; Milton of Leys ranks highest.
Total life expectancy is 79.8 years (15th longest).
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. 16 Highland towns.
Jobs & income
42nd of 98B58/100 A little better off than average. The average household income is £44,600 a year. Its claimant rate, 2.3%, ranks 13th lowest, while household income ranks 29th lowest.
Out-of-work claimants in August 2026: 2.3% of working-age adults (13th 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.
Highland 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
47th of 98B−53/100 Typical for getting about. 20% of commuters walk, cycle or take the bus or train to work, against 25% across Scotland (39th highest of 98 areas). Fort William is the exception, #139 of 2,515; almost no one else lives in a top-quarter town.
Worked mainly from home at the 2022 Census: 31% 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. 16 Highland towns.
Flood risk
23rd of 87B+74/100 Fairly sheltered from flooding. Highland ranks 12th lowest of 32 Scottish council areas for flood risk: 1.5% of town homes are in harm’s way. 38% of town residents live in a top-quarter town, 15% in a bottom-quarter one; Culloden ranks highest.
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. 16 Highland towns.
Growth
77th of 98C−22/100 Growing slower than most areas. NRS estimates put 237,570 people here in 2024, +2.1% on 2011 (20th slowest).
Since the 2021 Census: +0.7%, 25th slowest.
Source: National Records of Scotland mid-year population estimates, 2011 and 2024.
Highland 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 Highland compares to its neighbours
Against Moray, Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross, Argyll and Bute and Na h-Eileanan Siar, Highland lands in the middle on every subject.
| Highland | Moray | Aberdeenshire | Perth and Kinross | Argyll and Bute | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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− 1722nd official · 0% in top towns | D 1324th official · 0% in top towns | A− 7612th official · 27% in top towns | B+ 7011th official · 18% in top towns | C 2518th official · 0% in top towns |
| Cost of living | B+ 6555th official · 100% in top towns | A− 7636th official · 100% in top towns | A− 8222nd official · 100% in top towns | B+ 6944th official · 100% in top towns | B 5538th official · 43% in top towns |
| Health | B− 4512th official · 5% in top towns | C+ 3811th official · 0% in top towns | A 915th official · 51% in top towns | A− 764th official · 17% in top towns | C− 2121st official · 0% in top towns |
| Jobs & income | B 5870th official | B− 5176th official | A 9031st official | B+ 6852nd official | C+ 4490th official |
| Getting about | B− 5339th official · 0% in top towns | C+ 3853rd official · 0% in top towns | C+ 3786th official · 3% in top towns | B+ 7130th official · 3% in top towns | A 8721st official · 31% in top towns |
| Flood risk | B+ 7412th official · 38% in top towns | A 867th official · 71% in top towns | B+ 7020th official · 50% in top towns | B 5610th official · 18% in top towns | D− 128th official · 0% in top towns |
| Growth | C− 2279th official | C− 1983rd official | C+ 3863rd official | B− 4660th official | D 692nd 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.