Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0How Inverclyde stacks up
No area has homes that cost less against local incomes: in Inverclyde, a typical home costs 3.0 times the average household’s income. It struggles most with a shrinking population (-3.1% since 2011) and tighter household budgets. 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
65th of 90C28/100 Pupils score below most of Scotland. Even its best town, Gourock, ranks #941 of 2,331. Inverclyde’s school leavers rank 15th highest of 32 Scottish council areas: 66% have five or more awards at National 5 level. The area-wide figure flatters its towns; villages and the countryside lift it.
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. 5 Inverclyde towns.
Cost of living
15th of 98A86/100 Affordable nearly everywhere. Town after town lands in the top quarter for the UK: 90% of residents live in one. Inverclyde leads every area on this measure: a typical home costs 3.0 times the average household’s income. Over five years, typical prices have risen 22%.
The middle home sold for £124,200 over the past year, the lowest of the areas.
Private rent £800 a month (25th lowest); Band D council tax £1,674 (14th 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. 5 Inverclyde towns.
Health
76th of 98C−23/100 Less healthy than most areas. Of a life expectancy of 77.6 years, 53.9 are expected in good health (5th shortest among the Scottish council areas). Its biggest places pull the town measure down: Greenock and Port Glasgow sit in the bottom quarter for the UK.
Total life expectancy is 77.6 years (7th 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. 5 Inverclyde towns.
Jobs & income
93rd of 98D5/100 Among the lowest incomes anywhere. Inverclyde ranks 5th lowest for household income, at £41,200 a year before tax. Its claimant rate, 3.5%, ranks 27th highest, while household income ranks 5th lowest.
Claimant rate: 3.5% of 16 to 64-year-olds claim out-of-work benefits (August 2026), 27th highest. Counted half 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.
Inverclyde 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
43rd of 98B57/100 Slightly easier on foot than average. 22% of commuters walk, cycle or take the bus or train to work, against 25% across Scotland (28th highest of 98 areas). None of its towns makes the top quarter; Greenock comes closest, at #364 of 2,515.
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. 5 Inverclyde towns.
Flood risk
67th of 87C−23/100 Rivers and the sea are a real risk. Inverclyde ranks 16th highest of 32 Scottish council areas for flood risk: 2.0% of town homes are in harm’s way. 5% of town residents live in a top-quarter town, 19% in a bottom-quarter one; Kilmacolm 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. 5 Inverclyde towns.
Growth
95th of 98D−3/100 Among the slowest-growing areas. Since 2011 it has shrunk 3.1%, the 4th slowest change of 98 areas. Renfrewshire, North Ayrshire and Argyll and Bute all do better on growth.
Since the 2021 Census: +0.4%, 13th slowest.
Source: National Records of Scotland mid-year population estimates, 2011 and 2024.
Inverclyde 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 Inverclyde compares to its neighbours
Against Renfrewshire, North Ayrshire and Argyll and Bute, Inverclyde trails on growth.
| Inverclyde | Renfrewshire | North Ayrshire | Argyll and Bute | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | No overall grade | No overall grade | No overall grade | No overall grade |
| Safety | Not graded | Not graded | Not graded | Not graded |
| Schools | C 2815th official · 0% in top towns | B+ 748th official · 14% in top towns | C+ 4421st official · 9% in top towns | C 2518th official · 0% in top towns |
| Cost of living | A 861st official · 90% in top towns | B+ 7221st official · 91% in top towns | A 9410th official · 100% in top towns | B 5538th official · 43% in top towns |
| Health | C− 2328th official · 10% in top towns | C+ 3724th official · 14% in top towns | D− 330th official · 0% in top towns | C− 2121st official · 0% in top towns |
| Jobs & income | D 594th official | C− 2393rd official | D− 197th official | C+ 4490th official |
| Getting about | B 5728th official · 0% in top towns | B 5533rd official · 0% in top towns | C+ 4050th official · 0% in top towns | A 8721st official · 31% in top towns |
| Flood risk | C− 2317th official · 5% in top towns | C+ 4322nd official · 25% in top towns | C+ 4424th official · 27% in top towns | D− 128th official · 0% in top towns |
| Growth | D− 395th official | B 6341st official | D− 395th 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.