Photo: Richard Webb · CC BY-SA 2.0How Midlothian stacks up
Only one Scottish council area has fewer homes at risk of flooding: in Midlothian, 0.1% of homes in its towns are at high or medium risk of flooding. Its strongest suit is well-off households. 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
70th of 90C−22/100 Schools trail most of Scotland. No town here reaches the top quarter for the UK; its best is Dalkeith, #1,274. Among Scotland’s council areas it ranks 14th lowest for school leavers’ results: 64% leave with five or more National 5 awards or better. City of Edinburgh, East Lothian and Scottish Borders all do better on schools.
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. 7 Midlothian towns.
Cost of living
85th of 98D13/100 Expensive against local pay. No town here reaches the top quarter for the UK; its best is Gorebridge, #1,027. At £281,600 for a typical home and £51,000 of household income, prices run 5.5 times income, the 22nd highest ratio of 98 areas. City of Edinburgh, East Lothian and Scottish Borders all do better on affordability.
The middle home sold for £281,600 over the past year, 29th highest of the areas.
Private rent £1,415 a month (10th highest); Band D council tax £1,816 (32nd 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. 7 Midlothian towns.
Health
65th of 98C34/100 Health a notch below average. Even its best town, Penicuik, ranks #1,707 of 2,515. People here can expect 60.6 years in good health, against 59.2 across Scotland (13th longest of 32 Scottish council areas). The area-wide figure flatters its towns; villages and the countryside lift it.
Life expectancy at birth: 79.9 years, 13th 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. 7 Midlothian towns.
Jobs & income
29th of 98B+71/100 Incomes above most areas. At £51,000 a year, household incomes here are the 37th highest of 98 areas.
Claimant rate: 2.6% of 16 to 64-year-olds claim out-of-work benefits (August 2026), 22nd lowest. 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.
Midlothian 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
37th of 98B63/100 Slightly easier on foot than average. Midlothian ranks 16th highest for getting to work without a car: 25% of commuters walk, cycle or ride. One town stands apart: Danderhall, #183 in the UK, while nearly every other town sits lower.
Worked mainly from home at the 2022 Census: 33% 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. 7 Midlothian towns.
Flood risk
2nd of 87A+99/100 Low flood risk with few exceptions. No area puts more of its town residents in the lowest-flood-risk quarter of towns (100%). SEPA puts 51 homes in its towns at high or medium flood risk, 0.1% of them. No neighbour beats it on flood risk; City of Edinburgh comes closest.
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. 7 Midlothian towns.
Growth
2nd of 98A+99/100 Growing fast. The population grew 19.5% between 2011 and 2024, to 99,720, against 4.6% across Scotland (2nd fastest). Among its neighbours it does best on growth, with East Lothian second.
From 2021 to 2024 alone, +4.2% (15th fastest).
Source: National Records of Scotland mid-year population estimates, 2011 and 2024.
Midlothian 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 Midlothian compares to its neighbours
Midlothian beats every neighbour on flood risk and growth; on schools, cost of living and health, every neighbour beats it.
| Midlothian | City of Edinburgh | East Lothian | Scottish Borders | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | No overall grade | No overall grade | No overall grade | No overall grade |
| Safety | Not graded | Not graded | Not graded | Not graded |
| Schools | C− 2219th official · 0% in top towns | B+ 7310th official | B− 4822nd official · 12% in top towns | B 6315th official · 20% in top towns |
| Cost of living | D 1377th official · 0% in top towns | C 2869th official | C+ 3869th official · 48% in top towns | A− 7832nd official · 100% in top towns |
| Health | C 3413th official · 0% in top towns | A− 778th official | B 5714th official · 15% in top towns | B+ 709th official · 15% in top towns |
| Jobs & income | B+ 7137th official | B+ 7030th official | A 8725th official | C+ 4373rd official |
| Getting about | B 6316th official · 0% in top towns | A+ 992nd official | A 9111th official · 32% in top towns | B− 4643rd official · 0% in top towns |
| Flood risk | A+ 992nd official · 100% in top towns | B+ 6913th official | C+ 3529th official · 31% in top towns | C− 2132nd official · 22% in top towns |
| Growth | A+ 992nd official | A 8520th official | A 9110th official | C 3072nd 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.