Photo: Thomas Nugent · CC BY-SA 2.0How South Lanarkshire stacks up
No area puts more of its town residents in the most affordable quarter of towns: 100% of South Lanarkshire’s do. Alongside strong schools, it has a reliance on the car (only 18% of commuters walk, cycle or ride) and shorter healthy lives (58.0 years of healthy life expectancy). 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
20th of 90A−79/100 Better results than most of Scotland. South Lanarkshire’s school leavers rank 9th highest of 32 Scottish council areas: 70% have five or more awards at National 5 level. Strathaven leads its towns at #50 of 2,331; 30% 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. 16 South Lanarkshire towns.
Cost of living
21st of 98A−79/100 Affordable, town after town. No area puts more of its town residents in the most affordable quarter of towns (100%). At £189,700 for a typical home and £46,400 of household income, prices run 4.1 times income, the 26th lowest ratio of 98 areas. Typical prices are up 33% on five years ago.
The middle home sold for £189,700 over the past year, 26th lowest of the areas.
Private rent £893 a month (43rd highest); Band D council tax £1,468 (the 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. 16 South Lanarkshire towns.
Health
69th of 98C30/100 Health a notch below average. 63% of town residents live in bottom-quarter towns, among them Hamilton and Cambuslang. People here can expect 58.0 years in good health, against 59.2 across Scotland (11th shortest of 32 Scottish council areas).
Life expectancy at birth: 78.7 years, 11th 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. 16 South Lanarkshire towns.
Jobs & income
45th of 98B55/100 Incomes a notch above average. Households take in £46,400 a year on average (41st lowest), and 2.8% of working-age adults claim out-of-work benefits. Incomes and work tell different stories: 41st lowest household income, but the 34th lowest share claiming out-of-work benefits (2.8%).
Claimant rate: 2.8% of 16 to 64-year-olds claim out-of-work benefits (August 2026), 34th lowest. 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.
South 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
71st of 98C28/100 Hard going without a car. 18% of commuters walk, cycle or take the bus or train to work, against 25% across Scotland (36th lowest of 98 areas). Rutherglen is the exception, #158 of 2,515; almost no one else lives in a top-quarter town.
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. 16 South Lanarkshire towns.
Flood risk
15th of 87A−84/100 Lower flood risk than most. South Lanarkshire ranks 6th lowest of 32 Scottish council areas for flood risk: 0.7% of town homes are in harm’s way. 51% of town residents live in a top-quarter town; Kirkmuirhill and Blackwood ranks highest, at #19.
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. 16 South Lanarkshire towns.
Growth
48th of 98B−52/100 Average growth. South Lanarkshire grew 6.1% from 2011 to 2024, against 4.6% for Scotland.
From 2021 to 2024 alone, +2.4% (47th slowest).
Source: National Records of Scotland mid-year population estimates, 2011 and 2024.
South 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 South Lanarkshire compares to its neighbours
Against Glasgow City, North Lanarkshire, East Renfrewshire, East Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway, South Lanarkshire lands in the middle on every subject.
| South Lanarkshire | Glasgow City | North Lanarkshire | East Renfrewshire | East Ayrshire | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | A− 799th official · 30% in top towns | C− 1925th official | B− 4617th official · 5% in top towns | A+ 991st official · 81% in top towns | D− 429th official · 0% in top towns |
| Cost of living | A− 7926th official · 100% in top towns | B 5645th official | A 886th official · 99% in top towns | B− 4865th official · 82% in top towns | A+ 1002nd official · 100% in top towns |
| Health | C 3022nd official · 6% in top towns | C− 2025th official | D− 132nd official · 0% in top towns | A+ 953rd official · 67% in top towns | D 528th official · 0% in top towns |
| Jobs & income | B 5558th official | D− 095th official | C 2877th official | A+ 9712th official | D 685th official |
| Getting about | C 2863rd official · 0% in top towns | A+ 983rd official | C 2569th official · 0% in top towns | C 3458th official · 0% in top towns | C− 2175th official · 0% in top towns |
| Flood risk | A− 846th official · 51% in top towns | A− 799th official | A+ 973rd official · 81% in top towns | B+ 6711th official · 23% in top towns | B− 4718th official · 21% in top towns |
| Growth | B− 5255th official | B+ 7132nd official | C− 2082nd official | B+ 6835th official | D 890th 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.