Photo: Mark S · CC BY-SA 2.0How South Ayrshire stacks up
No area puts more of its town residents in the most affordable quarter of towns: 100% of South Ayrshire’s do. It struggles most with shorter healthy lives (57.8 years of healthy life expectancy) and weaker school results. 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
63rd of 90C30/100 Schools a notch below average. None of its towns makes the top quarter; Troon comes closest, at #663 of 2,331. 67% of school leavers have five or more awards at National 5 level or better, against 67% across Scotland (14th highest of 32 Scottish council areas). The area-wide figure flatters its towns; villages and the countryside lift it.
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. 6 South Ayrshire towns.
Cost of living
19th of 98A−82/100 Affordable with few exceptions. No area puts more of its town residents in the most affordable quarter of towns (100%). A typical home sold for £178,700 over the past year, 4.0 times the average household’s income (22nd lowest of 98 areas). Every neighbour scores higher, East Ayrshire, Dumfries and Galloway and North Ayrshire among them.
The middle home sold for £178,700 over the past year, 15th lowest of the areas.
Private rent £643 a month (3rd lowest); Band D council tax £1,695 (21st 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. 6 South Ayrshire towns.
Health
82nd of 98C−16/100 Less healthy than most areas. Healthy life expectancy at birth is 57.8 years (men and women averaged), 1.4 years fewer than the figure for Scotland. No town here reaches the top quarter for the UK; its best is Troon, #1,510.
Total life expectancy is 79.0 years (14th 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. 6 South Ayrshire towns.
Jobs & income
66th of 98C33/100 A little less money than most. Households take in £44,700 a year on average before tax, against £45,600 across Scotland (30th lowest of 98 areas). It leads its neighbours on incomes, ahead of Dumfries and Galloway.
Out-of-work claimants in August 2026: 3.2% of working-age adults (41st highest), 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.
South Ayrshire 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
68th of 98C31/100 Most journeys need a car. At the 2022 Census, 18% of people travelling to work went on foot, by bike or by public transport, 7 points below the figure for Scotland. No town here reaches the top quarter for the UK; its best is Girvan, #412.
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. 6 South Ayrshire towns.
Flood risk
73rd of 87C−16/100 More flood risk than most areas. 2.9% of homes in its towns are at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea, against 2.0% across Scotland (10th highest). It trails all of its neighbours on flood risk. Town by town it lands near the middle, with Maybole its best at #458 of 2,452.
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. 6 South Ayrshire towns.
Growth
88th of 98D10/100 Growing slower than most areas. South Ayrshire fell 0.6% from 2011 to 2024, against 4.6% for Scotland. It leads its neighbours on growth, ahead of East Ayrshire.
From 2021 to 2024 alone, +0.6% (16th slowest).
Source: National Records of Scotland mid-year population estimates, 2011 and 2024.
South Ayrshire 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 South Ayrshire compares to its neighbours
South Ayrshire beats every neighbour on jobs and income and growth; on cost of living and flood risk, every neighbour beats it.
| South Ayrshire | East Ayrshire | Dumfries and Galloway | North Ayrshire | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | No overall grade | No overall grade | No overall grade | No overall grade |
| Safety | Not graded | Not graded | Not graded | Not graded |
| Schools | C 3014th official · 0% in top towns | D− 429th official · 0% in top towns | C+ 3519th official · 5% in top towns | C+ 4421st official · 9% in top towns |
| Cost of living | A− 8222nd official · 100% in top towns | A+ 1002nd official · 100% in top towns | A 9114th official · 100% in top towns | A 9410th official · 100% in top towns |
| Health | C− 1623rd official · 0% in top towns | D 528th official · 0% in top towns | C 2517th official · 0% in top towns | D− 330th official · 0% in top towns |
| Jobs & income | C 3369th official | D 685th official | C 2991st official | D− 197th official |
| Getting about | C 3159th official · 0% in top towns | C− 2175th official · 0% in top towns | C+ 3654th official · 0% in top towns | C+ 4050th official · 0% in top towns |
| Flood risk | C− 1623rd official · 8% in top towns | B− 4718th official · 21% in top towns | C− 2027th official · 17% in top towns | C+ 4424th official · 27% in top towns |
| Growth | D 1088th official | D 890th official | D− 197th official | D− 395th 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.