Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 6,260 in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Council tax at Band D comes to £1,682.
Walkability is its strong suit (A): a quarter of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. Buying a home costs less than in most towns: homes sell for a median £101,900, about 2.6 times local household income. Health lags (D−): men here can expect to live to 73.8, women to 79.4. Schools lag: school leavers’ results beat 24% of Scottish towns.
Figures: commuting, Census 2022 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · life expectancy, ONS. Without street-level crime figures from Police Scotland, Alexandria has no Safety Grade, and so no overall grade. Its other subjects still get grades, below.
The 3 things Alexandria does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within Scotland), ordered by how far Alexandria is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Without street-level crime figures from Police Scotland, Alexandria has no Safety Grade, and so no overall grade. Its other subjects still get grades, below.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic Environment Scotland lists 24 buildings inside Alexandria’s locality, 2 of them in the top category.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Alexandria. Best known first.
Castle · Historic Environment ScotlandDumbarton Castle4.7 km outside town, to the south
Museum · National Trust for ScotlandGeilston Garden4.7 km outside town, to the southwestCastleCastleBalloch Castle1.3 km outside town, to the northCastleCastleKilmahew Castle3.4 km outside town, to the southwestWildlife parkWildlife parkLoch Lomond Bird of Prey Centre600 m outside town, to the northwestMuseumMuseumBalloch Steam Slipway900 m outside town, to the northPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Alexandria.
Alexandria’s share in bad or very bad health, 11%, is the second highest of the 8 towns in West Dunbartonshire. 32% of residents in Alexandria live with a disability. At the census, 71% of people in Alexandria called their health good or very good, below West Dunbartonshire’s towns (75%) and Scotland’s towns (78%) alike.
| Census 2022 | Alexandria | West Dunbartonshire | Scotland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 71% | 75% | 78% |
| Bad or very bad health | 11% | 9% | 7.2% |
| Activities limited (health or disability) | 32% | 28% | 24% |
Scotland’s Census 2022, general health and disability · Public Health Scotland life expectancy by intermediate zone, 2020–24 · OGL · The census answers take no account of age, so a young town looks healthier; the Health Grade relies on age-adjusted measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them.
Two of its 4 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. Alexandria’s three primaries and one secondary have 1,517 pupils between them.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christie Park Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 194 | – |
| Vale Of Leven AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 967 | C− |
Scotland’s Census was taken on 20 March 2022, a year after England and Wales’s lockdown census; 27% of workers were mainly at home, and shares here are of those who travelled.
Unemployment benefit claims came to 3.5% of 16 to 64s in 2026, near West Dunbartonshire’s towns (3.5%) and higher than Scotland’s towns (2.8%). Home was the main workplace for 27% of workers at the census. The next most common way to work was walking (12%).
Scotland’s Census 2022 (NRS), method of travel and distance to work · DWP claimant count · OGL
54% of households own their home, near West Dunbartonshire’s towns (57%) and lower than Scotland’s towns (60%). No town in West Dunbartonshire costs less to buy into than Alexandria, at £101,900, the lowest of 8. Private tenants account for just over one in ten households.
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.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
For its size, Alexandria has more listed buildings than any other town in West Dunbartonshire. Its listed buildings include Alexandria, Gilmour Street, Masonic Temple, Category A.
Historic Environment Scotland list, October 2026 · OGL
People aged 15 to 24 make up a tenth of the town, below both West Dunbartonshire’s towns (11%) and Scotland’s towns (12%). A quarter of residents are 65 or over. Half of Alexandria is older than 50, half younger. Among adults, 19% have a degree.
52% women, 48% men
About 91 men for every 100 women. Across Scotland, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
| Alexandria | West Dunbartonshire | Scotland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 13% | 16% | 15% |
| 15–24 | 9.6% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 22% | 24% | 26% |
| 45–64 | 31% | 29% | 27% |
| 65+ | 25% | 20% | 19% |
| No qualifications | 26% | 21% | 17% |
| Apprenticeship | 10% | 9.8% | 7.5% |
| Highers or similar | 10% | 11% | 11% |
| Degree level | 19% | 22% | 32% |
Scotland’s Census 2022 · West Dunbartonshire and Scotland: all residents of their towns · OGL
24 listed buildings in Alexandria, 2 of them in the top category.
Alexandria, Gilmour Street, Masonic Temple: Photo: JoachimKohlerBremen · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Alexandria, Bank Street, Vale of Leven Bingo Club with Boundary Wall, Railings and Portals: Photo: AlasdairW · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Alexandria, Main Street, Saint Andrew's Parish Church with Gatepiers, Railings, Graveyard and Smollett Mausoleum: Photo: Lairich Rig · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Balloch, Lomond Road, Bridge: Photo: Lairich Rig · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph
44 notable people were born in Alexandria.
Zander Diamond: Jonesy702, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fiona Pennie: Antoine Lamielle, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Gemma Doyle: Scottish Labour, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Jamie Smith: Clemed, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Jim McIntyre: Gparsfan, CC BY 3.0 · Karla Black: Karla Black, CC BY-SA 3.0
The nearest towns and villages, from National Records of Scotland’s 2022 localities. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexandria | 6,260 | — | — | A− | — | D− |
| Balloch and Haldane | 6,000 | 0.8 | — | B | — | D |
| Bonhill | 8,608 | 1.1 | — | A− | — | D− |
| Dumbarton | 21,027 | 3.2 | — | B+ | — | D− |
| Helensburgh | 14,128 | 5.5 | — | B | — | C+ |
| Port Glasgow | 14,260 | 5.6 | — | A | — | D− |
| Bishopton | 10,048 | 6.7 | — | B− | — | A− |
| Bowling and Old Kilpatrick | 4,761 | 6.8 | — | B+ | — | C |
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.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £101,900, against £277,000 in the typical town in England and Wales. On cost of living it is the 229th most affordable of 296 Scottish towns.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Band D council tax in Alexandria is £1,682 for 2026–27, less than in 92% of UK towns (council, county, police and fire). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
Town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland
Alexandria is a locality of 6,260 people, in the West Dunbartonshire 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
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.