Linwood’s story
1 listed building, 1 of them in the second category
Historic Environment Scotland lists them inside Linwood’s locality.
Explore the history →
LinwoodRenfrewshire
8,408 people live in this town in Renfrewshire, Scotland.
7 places within 12 milesMap →
Photo: Chris Court · CC BY-SA 2.0
Population
8,408
Census 2022 · Renfrewshire council
Median home
£118K
377 sales in 3 years
Median age
43.5
19% are 65+ · Renfrewshire 19%
Degree level
16%
of residents 16+ · Scotland 32%
Walk, cycle, bus
22%
of commuters · Scotland 27%
Is Linwood a good place to live?
Where it does best is cost of living (A) — the median home sold for £118,300, 2.8 years of area income. It is easy to get around without a car (A−): just over a fifth of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. Health outcomes fall short of most towns: life expectancy is 74.6 for men and 77.6 for women. Homes change hands at a median £118,300.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · commuting, Census 2022 · life expectancy, ONS. Without street-level crime figures from Police Scotland, Linwood has no Safety Grade, and so no overall grade. The other subjects are graded below.
What makes Linwood stand out
The 3 things Linwood does most differently from other towns.
Median sale, £ thousands
Housing
57% below the typical town in England and Wales’s £277K
Data-zone medians, 2023 to 2025, at early-2025 prices.
Degree level, 16+
Education
Degree-level qualifications, residents 16+ (Scotland’s towns 32%)
Renfrewshire 30%.
Life expectancy, against UK towns
Health
77.6 and 74.6 years
Public Health Scotland, 2020–24.
How Linwood grades
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within Scotland), ordered by how far Linwood is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Without street-level crime figures from Police Scotland, Linwood has no Safety Grade, and so no overall grade. The other subjects are graded below.
HealthAmong the weakest of the towns comparedD−Open →Cost of livingGraded on home prices against local incomesAOpen →WalkabilityAmong the easiest places to get around without a carA−Open →SchoolsAbove the middle of the towns comparedB+Open →Hazard risk0.4% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the seaBOpen →
SafetyNo street-level crime data–
Jobs & incomeNo small-area income data in Scotland–
How TownRatings grades towns →
The data
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Linwood.
Who lives here
Fewer people in Linwood hold a degree than in Renfrewshire’s towns or Scotland’s towns: 16%
At 43.5, the median resident of Linwood sits in the middle of the age range. The 15-to-24 age group: 12%, about level with Scotland’s towns (12%) and above Renfrewshire’s towns (11%).
43.5median age
LinwoodRenfrewshireScotland
Ages · share of residents
19%
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications24%
Apprenticeship10%
Highers or similar10%
Degree level16%
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 87 men for every 100 women. Across Scotland, 51% of residents are women.
| Linwood | Renfrewshire | Scotland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 15% | 15% |
| 15–24 | 12% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 23% | 26% | 26% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 28% | 27% |
| 65+ | 19% | 19% | 19% |
| No qualifications | 24% | 17% | 17% |
| Apprenticeship | 10% | 8.5% | 7.5% |
| Highers or similar | 10% | 11% | 11% |
| Degree level | 16% | 30% | 32% |
Scotland’s Census 2022 · Renfrewshire and Scotland: all residents of their towns · OGL
SchoolsB+
Exam results at Linwood’s schools top 74% of Scottish towns
Of its 6 schools, two are shown below, each with the reason. Linwood’s three primaries and two secondaries have 1,904 pupils between them.
B+School Grade
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Our Lady Of Peace Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 248 | – |
| St Benedict's High SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 847 | B |
Scottish Government · school statistics and leavers’ results · The grade uses the secondaries its children go to; Scotland publishes no primary results by school.See all 6 schools →
Health
Linwood’s life expectancy trails 98% of UK towns
Disability touches 30% of Linwood’s population. Of the 11 towns in Renfrewshire, Linwood has the largest share in bad or very bad health: 11%. At the census, 72% of people in Linwood called their health good or very good, below Renfrewshire’s towns (78%) and Scotland’s towns (78%) alike.
72%good or very good healthD−Health Grade
General health, self-reported
Good or very good 72%Fair 18%Bad or very bad 11%
| Census 2022 | Linwood | Renfrewshire | Scotland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 72% | 78% | 78% |
| Bad or very bad health | 11% | 7.7% | 7.2% |
| Activities limited (health or disability) | 30% | 25% | 24% |
74.6
life expectancy at birth, men (2020–24)
77.6
life expectancy at birth, women
Scotland’s Census 2022, general health and disability · Public Health Scotland life expectancy by intermediate zone, 2020–24 · OGL · These answers aren’t adjusted for age, so young towns look healthier; the Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
HousingCost of living grade A
Few households rent privately in Linwood: 9%, fewer than in both Renfrewshire’s towns and Scotland’s towns
Social housing holds just over a third of households, above Renfrewshire’s towns (22%) and Scotland’s towns (24%) alike. 56% of households are owner-occupiers. Private rents average £768 a month across the Renfrewshire / Inverclyde council area.
£118Kmedian sale
Median sale price · 2023 to 2025, at early-2025 prices
Linwood£118K
Typical UK town£277K
56%
of households own their home · Scotland 60%
9%
rent privately · Scotland 13%
£768
average private rent a month, Renfrewshire / Inverclyde council area
£1,691
council tax, Band D, 2026–27
Registers of Scotland data-zone sale prices · Scottish Government council tax · Scotland’s Census 2022 tenure · OGL · The Scottish median is our estimate from data-zone sales, brought to early-2025 prices.
Work & commute
Benefit claims run higher in Linwood, 3.6% of 16 to 64s, than in Renfrewshire’s towns or across Scotland’s towns
Scotland’s Census was taken on 20 March 2022, a year after England and Wales’s lockdown census; 26% of workers were mainly at home, and shares here are of those who travelled.
Working mainly from home: just over a quarter of workers, below Renfrewshire’s towns (31%) and Scotland’s towns (31%) alike. Linwood counts 0.5 jobs per working resident.
22%walk, cycle or ride
How commuters got to work · March 2022
Driving75%
Bus11%
On foot8%
Train2%
Bicycle1%
39%
of commuters travel under 5 km · Scotland 44%
26%
worked mainly from home in March 2022
3.6%
of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits (2026)
A−
Walkability: more walkable than 84% of UK towns
Scotland’s Census 2022 (NRS), method of travel and distance to work · DWP claimant count · OGL
History
Among Linwood’s 1 listed buildings: Clippens House, Clippens Road, By Linwood, Category B
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Linwood has 1 listed building inside its locality on Historic Environment Scotland’s list: 1 Category B.
1listed buildings
Listed buildings by grade · Historic Environment Scotland
Category A0
Category B1
Category C0
Among them · Category B
- Clippens House, Clippens Road, By Linwood Category B
0
scheduled monuments
0
gardens and designed landscapes
1
listed buildings per 10,000 residents · typical town in England and Wales 24
Historic Environment Scotland list, October 2026 · OGL
Nearby attractions
All attractions →St Mirin's Cathedral and 4 more in and around Linwood
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Linwood. Best known first.
CathedralSt Mirin's Cathedral4.1 km outside town, to the east
CastleJohnstone Castle1.7 km outside town, to the south
MuseumPaisley Museum and Art Galleries3.3 km outside town, to the eastCastleCastleDargavel House3.9 km outside town, to the northArt galleryArt galleryPicture framers and Art Gallery3.7 km outside town, to the eastPlaces: © OpenStreetMap contributors · Wikidata
Photos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Photo credits (3)
- St Mirin's Cathedral: JohnArmagh, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Johnstone Castle: wfmillar, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Paisley Museum and Art Galleries: Thomas Nugent, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Keep exploring
Everything we know about Linwood
14pages on Linwood
The big questions
SafetyNot graded · 13% live in Scotland’s most crime-deprived fifthCost of livingAMedian home £118K · rent £768 a monthSchoolsB+6 state schoolsHealthD−Life expectancy 74.6 (men), 77.6 (women)Work & commute47% of working residents work in the townFlood & hazardsB0.4% of homes at high or medium flood risk
Out and about
Famous people from Linwood
4 notable people were born in Linwood.
Linwood’s neighbours
The nearest towns and villages, from National Records of Scotland’s 2022 localities. See them on the map →
ElderslieJohnstoneHoustonKilbarchanBridge of WeirPaisleyBishoptonLinwood
How the neighbours grade
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linwood | 8,408 | — | — | A | — | D− |
| Elderslie | 5,632 | 1.4 | — | A− | — | D |
| Johnstone | 16,477 | 1.4 | — | A | — | D− |
| Houston | 6,206 | 1.5 | — | B− | — | A |
| Kilbarchan | 3,367 | 2 | — | A | — | C+ |
| Bridge of Weir | 4,927 | 2.9 | — | A− | — | B− |
| Paisley | 79,351 | 3 | — | A | — | D− |
| Bishopton | 10,048 | 3.8 | — | B− | — | A− |
No Scottish town has a Safety Grade or an overall grade yet: Police Scotland doesn’t publish street-level crime. People: Census 2022. Miles: centre to centre.
Questions about Linwood
Is Linwood expensive to live in?
On cost of living it is the 144th most affordable of 296 Scottish towns.
How much is council tax in Linwood?
Band D council tax in Linwood is £1,691 for 2026–27, less than in 90% of UK towns (council, county, police and fire). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
About Linwood
Town in Renfrewshire, Scotland
Linwood is a locality of 8,408 people, in the Renfrewshire council area. TownRatings uses National Records of Scotland’s 2022 localities as Scotland’s towns: the physical town, as people mean the word, rather than a council area, so its figures cover the town itself. Localities split the big settlements into their towns, as ONS’s 2022 boundaries split conurbations in England and Wales.
Built from NRS geography and Census 2022
- Population
- 8,408 (Census 2022)
- Council
- Renfrewshire
- Nation
- Scotland
- Area
- 1 sq mi (2.5 km²)
- NRS code
- S52000406
Sources: Scotland’s Census 2022 (National Records of Scotland), output areas summed to the NRS 2022 locality · Registers of Scotland house price statistics, medians and quartiles of residential sales by 2022 data zone, 2004 to 2025 (the 2023 to 2025 headline brought to early-2025 prices with each council’s medians) · Scottish Government, Council Tax by band 2026-27; Scottish Water charges 2026-27 · Scottish Government, Recorded Crime in Scotland (crimes, offences and clear-up rates by council area, 2016-17 to 2025-26); Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2020v2 crime domain and SIMD crime indicators (2014/15, 2017/18), 2011 data zones with Census 2022 residents · ONS gross disposable household income by council (2022), scaled to household income on England and Wales’s councils, with Scotland’s Census 2022 households · DWP / ONS Claimant Count via Nomis (2022 data zones, January to August 2026), over residents aged 16 to 64 at Scotland’s Census 2022; council series since 2015 · Scottish Government school contact list (31 July 2026) and school summary statistics (pupil census, September 2025); School Information Dashboard leavers’ attainment by school, 2022-23 to 2024-25 (data.gov.scot) · 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.