Photo: David Bremner · CC BY-SA 2.0How North Lanarkshire stacks up
In North Lanarkshire, healthy life expectancy at birth is 52.6 years here, the shortest of any Scottish council area. It struggles most with car dependence and lower incomes (£44,100 a household). 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
49th of 90B−46/100 Middle of the table for schools. 5% of town residents live in a top-quarter town, 4% in a bottom-quarter one; Harthill ranks highest. Among Scotland’s council areas it ranks 16th lowest for school leavers’ results: 66% leave with five or more National 5 awards or better.
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. 24 North Lanarkshire towns.
Cost of living
13th of 98A88/100 Consistently affordable. At £155,700 for a typical home and £44,100 of household income, prices run 3.5 times income, the 6th lowest ratio of 98 areas. 99% of town residents live in top-quarter towns such as Bellshill and Plains, and almost none at the bottom. Among its neighbours it does best on affordability, with South Lanarkshire second.
The middle home sold for £155,700 over the past year, 8th lowest of the areas.
Private rent £801 a month (27th lowest); Band D council tax £1,555 (4th 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. 24 North Lanarkshire towns.
Health
98th of 98D−1/100 Among the least healthy areas. North Lanarkshire trails every Scottish council area on this measure: healthy life expectancy at birth is 52.6 years. Even its best town, Gartcosh, ranks #1,556 of 2,515. Every neighbour scores higher, Glasgow City, South Lanarkshire and East Dunbartonshire among them.
Total life expectancy is 77.1 years (2nd 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. 24 North Lanarkshire towns.
Jobs & income
71st of 98C28/100 Lower incomes than most areas. Households take in £44,100 a year on average before tax, against £45,600 across Scotland (22nd lowest of 98 areas). Incomes and work tell different stories: 22nd lowest household income, but the 47th highest share claiming out-of-work benefits (3.1%).
Claimant rate: 3.1% of 16 to 64-year-olds claim out-of-work benefits (August 2026), 47th 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.
North Lanarkshire 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
74th of 98C25/100 Hard going without a car. About 2 in 10 commuters leave the car at home here (30th lowest). No town here reaches the top quarter for the UK; its best is Motherwell, #698.
Worked mainly from home at the 2022 Census: 30% 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. 24 North Lanarkshire towns.
Flood risk
4th of 87A+97/100 Consistently low flood risk. Only Midlothian puts more town residents in the lowest-flood-risk quarter of towns. Fewer than one in 100 homes in its towns face a real risk of flooding from rivers or the sea (3rd lowest). Its standout is Carfin, #5 in the UK for flood risk.
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. 24 North Lanarkshire towns.
Growth
79th of 98C−20/100 Population barely moving. Since 2011 it has grown 1.7%, the 17th slowest change of 98 areas. It trails all of its neighbours on growth.
Since the 2021 Census: +0.7%, 25th slowest.
Source: National Records of Scotland mid-year population estimates, 2011 and 2024.
North Lanarkshire 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 North Lanarkshire compares to its neighbours
North Lanarkshire beats every neighbour on cost of living and flood risk; on health and growth, every neighbour beats it.
| North Lanarkshire | Glasgow City | South Lanarkshire | East Dunbartonshire | Falkirk | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | B− 4617th official · 5% in top towns | C− 1925th official | A− 799th official · 30% in top towns | A 942nd official · 72% in top towns | A 877th official · 52% in top towns |
| Cost of living | A 886th official · 99% in top towns | B 5645th official | A− 7926th official · 100% in top towns | B− 4958th official · 72% in top towns | B+ 6626th official · 84% in top towns |
| Health | D− 132nd official · 0% in top towns | C− 2025th official | C 3022nd official · 6% in top towns | A 926th official · 71% in top towns | C 2517th official · 0% in top towns |
| Jobs & income | C 2877th official | D− 095th official | B 5558th official | A+ 9617th official | C+ 4072nd official |
| Getting about | C 2569th official · 0% in top towns | A+ 983rd official | C 2863rd official · 0% in top towns | C+ 4445th official · 0% in top towns | C− 2274th official · 0% in top towns |
| Flood risk | A+ 973rd official · 81% in top towns | A− 799th official | A− 846th official · 51% in top towns | B+ 6516th official · 27% in top towns | C+ 3726th official · 27% in top towns |
| Growth | C− 2082nd official | B+ 7132nd official | B− 5255th official | C+ 3863rd official | C− 2377th 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.