Photo: Gordon Hatton · CC BY-SA 2.0How Moray stacks up
In Moray, 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 slow growth. 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
78th of 90D13/100 Weaker results than most. None of its towns makes the top quarter; Buckie comes closest, at #786 of 2,331. 63% of school leavers have five or more awards at National 5 level or better, against 67% across Scotland (9th lowest of 32 Scottish council areas). Both its neighbours, Highland and Aberdeenshire, score higher.
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 Moray towns.
Cost of living
25th of 98A−76/100 Affordable with few exceptions. No area puts more of its town residents in the most affordable quarter of towns (100%). At £194,300 for a typical home and £44,100 of household income, prices run 4.4 times income, the 36th lowest ratio of 98 areas. Typical prices are up 18% on five years ago.
The middle home sold for £194,300 over the past year, 32nd lowest of the areas.
Private rent £739 a month (12th lowest); Band D council tax £1,731 (27th 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 Moray towns.
Health
61st of 98C+38/100 Healthier area-wide than in its towns. No town here reaches the top quarter for the UK; its best is Lossiemouth, #1,596. People here can expect 61.9 years in good health, against 59.2 across Scotland (11th longest of 32 Scottish council areas). The area-wide figure flatters its towns; villages and the countryside lift it.
Life expectancy at birth: 80.0 years, 11th 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. 5 Moray towns.
Jobs & income
49th of 98B−51/100 About average for incomes. Incomes and work tell different stories: 23rd lowest household income, but the 22nd lowest share claiming out-of-work benefits (2.6%). At £44,100 a year, household incomes here are the 23rd lowest of 98 areas. Both its neighbours, Highland and Aberdeenshire, score higher.
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.
Moray 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
61st of 98C+38/100 A little more car-bound than average. Moray ranks 46th lowest for getting to work without a car: 19% of commuters walk, cycle or ride. None of its towns makes the top quarter; Elgin comes closest, at #400 of 2,515.
Worked mainly from home at the 2022 Census: 27% 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 Moray towns.
Flood risk
13th of 87A86/100 Low flood risk, town after town. Town after town lands in the top quarter for the UK: 71% of residents live in one. 0.8% of homes in its towns are at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea, against 2.0% across Scotland (7th lowest). Among its neighbours it does best on flood risk, with Highland second.
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 Moray towns.
Growth
80th of 98C−19/100 Population barely moving. Moray grew 1.5% from 2011 to 2024, against 4.6% for Scotland. Both its neighbours, Highland and Aberdeenshire, score higher.
From 2021 to 2024 alone, +0.7% (25th slowest).
Source: National Records of Scotland mid-year population estimates, 2011 and 2024.
Moray 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 Moray compares to its neighbours
Moray beats every neighbour on flood risk; on schools, health and jobs and income, every neighbour beats it.
| Moray | Highland | Aberdeenshire | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | No overall grade | No overall grade | No overall grade |
| Safety | Not graded | Not graded | Not graded |
| Schools | D 1324th official · 0% in top towns | C− 1722nd official · 0% in top towns | A− 7612th official · 27% in top towns |
| Cost of living | A− 7636th official · 100% in top towns | B+ 6555th official · 100% in top towns | A− 8222nd official · 100% in top towns |
| Health | C+ 3811th official · 0% in top towns | B− 4512th official · 5% in top towns | A 915th official · 51% in top towns |
| Jobs & income | B− 5176th official | B 5870th official | A 9031st official |
| Getting about | C+ 3853rd official · 0% in top towns | B− 5339th official · 0% in top towns | C+ 3786th official · 3% in top towns |
| Flood risk | A 867th official · 71% in top towns | B+ 7412th official · 38% in top towns | B+ 7020th official · 50% in top towns |
| Growth | C− 1983rd official | C− 2279th official | C+ 3863rd 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.