Housing is within reach: homes sell for a median £135,900, about 2.9 times local household income. Its weakest subject is health (D−) — life expectancy is 73.3 for men and 78.2 for women. Hazard risk is lower than in most UK towns (A−). Band D council tax is £1,468.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · life expectancy, ONS · flood risk, SEPA. Without street-level crime figures from Police Scotland, Blantyre has no Safety Grade, and so no overall grade. Every other subject still has a grade below.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within Scotland), ordered by how far Blantyre is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Without street-level crime figures from Police Scotland, Blantyre has no Safety Grade, and so no overall grade. Every other subject still has a grade below.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Blantyre.
Health
Lifespans in Blantyre run shorter than in 99% of UK towns
Self-reported good health: 72% of Blantyre’s residents. Its share in bad or very bad health, 11%, is the highest of the 16 towns in South Lanarkshire. A disability affects 30% of people in the town.
Scotland’s Census 2022, general health and disability · Public Health Scotland life expectancy by intermediate zone, 2020–24 · OGL · Young towns look healthier on these answers, which aren’t adjusted for age; the Health Grade uses measures that are, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
SchoolsB+
Exam results at Blantyre’s schools top 70% of Scottish towns
Two of its 7 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. Blantyre’s five primaries and one secondary have 2,415 pupils between them.
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 7 schools →
HousingCost of living grade A+
Private renting is less common in Blantyre than in South Lanarkshire’s towns or across Scotland’s towns: 8%
Blantyre is the cheapest of the 16 towns in South Lanarkshire: its median sale is £135,900. Social housing holds 28% of households, above South Lanarkshire’s towns (20%) and Scotland’s towns (24%) alike. Behind the median of £135,900: 730 sales in the town’s data zones, 2023 to 2025.
£136Kmedian sale
Median sale price · 2023 to 2025, at early-2025 prices
Blantyre£136K
Typical UK town£277K
62%
of households own their home · Scotland 60%
8%
rent privately · Scotland 13%
£839
average private rent a month, South Lanarkshire council area
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 Blantyre, 3.6% of 16 to 64s, than in South Lanarkshire’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; 30% of workers were mainly at home, and shares here are of those who travelled.
For every resident in work, Blantyre has 1.3 jobs. Of the commuters living locally, 15% work in the town itself. At the census, a fifth of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train. A third of commuters travelled under 5 km, above South Lanarkshire’s towns (31%) but below Scotland’s towns (44%).
Historic Environment Scotland list, October 2026 · OGL
Who lives here
Fewer people in Blantyre hold a degree than in South Lanarkshire’s towns or Scotland’s towns: 19%
14% are under 15, below South Lanarkshire’s towns (16%) and Scotland’s towns (15%) alike. Those 65 and older account for 21% of residents. Blantyre has a median age of 45 years.
45median age
BlantyreSouth LanarkshireScotland
Ages · share of residents
21%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications25%
Apprenticeship9%
Highers or similar10%
Degree level19%
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
WomenScotlandMen
About 92 men for every 100 women. Across Scotland, 51% of residents are women.
David Livingstone: Thomas Annan / Adam Cuerden, Public domain · James Paterson: T and R Annan, Glasgow, Public domain · William Bauchop Wilson: Bain News Service, publisher, Public domain · John Gowans: Salvationistdan, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Philip Murray: USGov-DOL, Public domain
Blantyre’s neighbours
The nearest towns and villages, from National Records of Scotland’s 2022 localities. See them on the map →
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 Blantyre
Is Blantyre expensive to live in?
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £135,900, against £277,000 in the typical town in England and Wales. On cost of living it is the 62nd most affordable of 296 Scottish towns.
How much is council tax in Blantyre?
Band D council tax in Blantyre is £1,468 for 2026–27, less than in 99% of UK towns (council, county, police and fire). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
Does Blantyre flood?
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
About Blantyre
Town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland
Blantyre is a locality of 16,534 people, in the South Lanarkshire 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
16,534 (Census 2022)
Council
South Lanarkshire
Nation
Scotland
Area
2 sq mi (5.3 km²)
NRS code
S52000078
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.
