Photo: Robin Fernandes · CC BY-SA 2.0How Perth and Kinross stacks up
In Perth and Kinross, there is no weak subject here: its lowest grade is a B−. Its strongest suits are good health and easy getting about (21% of commuters on foot, bike, bus or train). 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
28th of 90B+70/100 Better results than most of Scotland. Among Scotland’s council areas it ranks 11th highest for school leavers’ results: 68% leave with five or more National 5 awards or better. Kinross leads its towns at #164 of 2,331; 18% of town residents live in top-quarter towns.
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. 8 Perth and Kinross towns.
Cost of living
31st of 98B+69/100 A little more affordable than average. A typical home sold for £222,100 over the past year, 4.6 times the average household’s income (44th lowest of 98 areas). No area puts more of its town residents in the most affordable quarter of towns (100%). Typical prices are up 12% on five years ago.
The middle home sold for £222,100 over the past year, 49th highest of the areas.
Private rent £739 a month (12th 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. 8 Perth and Kinross towns.
Health
24th of 98A−76/100 Healthy with few exceptions. Of a life expectancy of 80.9 years, 65.8 are expected in good health (4th longest among the Scottish council areas). No neighbour beats it on health; Stirling comes closest. Town by town it lands near the middle, with Pitlochry its best at #1,000 of 2,515.
Total life expectancy is 80.9 years (6th 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. 8 Perth and Kinross towns.
Jobs & income
32nd of 98B+68/100 Incomes a notch above average. Its claimant rate, 2.4%, ranks 16th lowest, while household income ranks 47th lowest. The average household income is £48,100 a year.
Out-of-work claimants in August 2026: 2.4% of working-age adults (16th 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.
Perth and Kinross 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
29th of 98B+71/100 Easier to get about than most. Perth and Kinross ranks 30th highest for getting to work without a car: 21% of commuters walk, cycle or ride. 3% of town residents live in a top-quarter town, 10% in a bottom-quarter one; Pitlochry ranks highest.
Worked mainly from home at the 2022 Census: 32% 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. 8 Perth and Kinross towns.
Flood risk
39th of 87B56/100 Slightly lower flood risk than average. Perth and Kinross ranks 10th lowest of 32 Scottish council areas for flood risk: 1.5% of town homes are in harm’s way. 18% of town residents live in a top-quarter town, 6% in a bottom-quarter one; Blairgowrie 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. 8 Perth and Kinross towns.
Growth
53rd of 98B−46/100 Growing at about the national pace. NRS estimates put 154,490 people here in 2024, +5.2% on 2011 (39th slowest). No neighbour beats it on growth; Stirling comes closest.
Since the 2021 Census: +2.5%, 48th slowest.
Source: National Records of Scotland mid-year population estimates, 2011 and 2024.
Perth and Kinross 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 Perth and Kinross compares to its neighbours
Against Angus, Dundee City, Fife, Clackmannanshire and Stirling, Perth and Kinross leads on health and growth.
| Perth and Kinross | Angus | Dundee City | Fife | Clackmannanshire | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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+ 7011th official · 18% in top towns | C 3127th official · 11% in top towns | C− 1526th official | D 930th official · 2% in top towns | D− 132nd official · 0% in top towns |
| Cost of living | B+ 6944th official · 100% in top towns | A− 7733rd official · 100% in top towns | A+ 998th official | B+ 7028th official · 92% in top towns | B+ 6824th official · 88% in top towns |
| Health | A− 764th official · 17% in top towns | B 5910th official · 11% in top towns | C− 1526th official | C+ 3617th official · 5% in top towns | C− 2227th official · 6% in top towns |
| Jobs & income | B+ 6852nd official | C− 1882nd official | D− 296th official | C− 2174th official | C+ 3679th official |
| Getting about | B+ 7130th official · 3% in top towns | C 2863rd official · 0% in top towns | A 937th official | B+ 6556th official · 6% in top towns | C− 1977th official · 0% in top towns |
| Flood risk | B 5610th official · 18% in top towns | C− 2219th official · 7% in top towns | B 5715th official | A 857th official · 66% in top towns | B 6321st official · 44% in top towns |
| Growth | B− 4660th official | D 890th official | C− 1685th official | C 2575th official | D 1486th 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.