Polbeth’s story
3 listed buildings, 1 of them in the second category
Historic Environment Scotland lists them inside Polbeth’s locality.
Explore the history →
PolbethWest Lothian
A town of 2,595 in West Lothian, Scotland. Band D council tax is £1,628.
7 places within 12 milesMap →
Photo: Thomas Nugent · CC BY-SA 2.0
Population
2,595
Census 2022 · West Lothian council
Median home
£241K
127 sales in 3 years
Median age
38.3
15% are 65+ · West Lothian 17%
Degree level
18%
of residents 16+ · Scotland 32%
Walk, cycle, bus
17%
of commuters · Scotland 27%
Is Polbeth a good place to live?
Police Scotland doesn’t publish street-level crime, so Polbeth has no Safety Grade and, without it, no overall grade. Its other subjects are graded below. Its strongest subject is schools (A): school leavers’ results beat 94% of Scottish towns. Its weakest is health (D−): life expectancy 76.5 for men, 78.5 for women. The median home sold for £241,000 in the last three years, 5 times what households in the West Lothian council area earn in a year.
What makes Polbeth stand out
The 3 things Polbeth does most differently from other towns.
Band D council tax
Council tax
£1,628 Band D
34% below the typical town in England and Wales’s £2,472, 2026–27
The council’s Band D; water and sewerage are billed on top. Scottish Government.
Degree level, 16+
Education
Degree-level qualifications, residents 16+ (Scotland’s towns 32%)
West Lothian 28%.
Life expectancy, against UK towns
Health
78.5 and 76.5 years
Public Health Scotland, 2020–24.
How Polbeth grades
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within Scotland), ordered by how far Polbeth is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Police Scotland doesn’t publish street-level crime, so Polbeth has no Safety Grade and, without it, no overall grade. Its other subjects are graded below.
HealthD−Open →SchoolsAOpen →Hazard risk0% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the seaAOpen →Cost of livingAOpen →WalkabilityB+Open →
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 Polbeth.
Who lives here
Degrees are less common in Polbeth than in West Lothian’s towns or across Scotland’s towns: 18% of adults
Polbeth has a median age of 38.3. The under-15s are 18% of the population here. The 65-and-over age group makes up 15% of residents.
38.3median age
PolbethWest LothianScotland
Ages · share of residents
12%
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications22%
Apprenticeship7%
Highers or similar10%
Degree level18%
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across Scotland, 51% of residents are women.
| Polbeth | West Lothian | Scotland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 18% | 15% |
| 15–24 | 12% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 28% | 26% | 26% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 29% | 27% |
| 65+ | 15% | 17% | 19% |
| No qualifications | 22% | 16% | 17% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.4% | 7.3% | 7.5% |
| Highers or similar | 9.6% | 11% | 11% |
| Degree level | 18% | 28% | 32% |
Scotland’s Census 2022 · West Lothian and Scotland: all residents of their towns · OGL
SchoolsA
For , Polbeth gets an A
The town has one school, shown below.
ASchool Grade
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Mary's RC Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 165 | – |
Scottish Government · school statistics and leavers’ results · The grade uses the secondaries its children go to; Scotland publishes no primary results by school.The Schools page →
Health
Polbeth’s life expectancy trails 94% of UK towns
At the census, 27% of people here had a disability, above West Lothian’s towns (24%) and Scotland’s towns (24%) alike. Nearly three quarters of people in Polbeth rate their own health good or very good. Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 8.3% of the town.
74%good or very good healthD−Health Grade
General health, self-reported
Good or very good 74%Fair 19%Bad or very bad 8%
| Census 2022 | Polbeth | West Lothian | Scotland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 74% | 79% | 78% |
| Bad or very bad health | 8.3% | 7% | 7.2% |
| Activities limited (health or disability) | 27% | 24% | 24% |
76.5
life expectancy at birth, men (2020–24)
78.5
life expectancy at birth, women
Scotland’s Census 2022, general health and disability · Public Health Scotland life expectancy by intermediate zone, 2020–24 · OGL · Self-reported health favours young towns, since these answers ignore age; the Health Grade leans on age-adjusted measures such as life expectancy and early deaths.
HousingCost of living grade A
Private renting is less common in Polbeth than in West Lothian’s towns or across Scotland’s towns: 5%
Council and housing-body homes hold 38% of households. Owners make up 53% of households, lower than both West Lothian’s towns (63%) and Scotland’s towns (60%). Private rents average £908 a month across the West Lothian council area.
£241Kmedian sale
Median sale price · 2023 to 2025, at early-2025 prices
Polbeth£241K
Typical UK town£277K
53%
of households own their home · Scotland 60%
5%
rent privately · Scotland 13%
£908
average private rent a month, West Lothian council area
£1,628
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
Polbeth is a driving town: 84% of commuters go by car, above West Lothian’s towns and Scotland’s towns
Scotland’s Census was taken on 20 March 2022, a year after England and Wales’s lockdown census; 31% of workers were mainly at home, and shares here are of those who travelled.
17% of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train at the census, below West Lothian’s towns (20%) and Scotland’s towns (27%) alike. In 2026, 3.8% of 16 to 64s were claiming unemployment benefits. Of the commuters living in Polbeth, 6% work in the town itself. The town counts 1.1 jobs per working resident.
17%walk, cycle or ride
How commuters got to work · March 2022
Driving84%
Bus7%
On foot7%
Train3%
43%
of commuters travel under 5 km · Scotland 44%
31%
worked mainly from home in March 2022
3.8%
of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits (2026)
B+
Walkability: more walkable than 66% of UK towns
Scotland’s Census 2022 (NRS), method of travel and distance to work · DWP claimant count · OGL
History
Among Polbeth’s 3 listed buildings: Limefield House, Category B
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Polbeth has 3 listed buildings on Historic Environment Scotland’s list: 1 Category B. It has 12 listed buildings for every 10,000 residents.
3listed buildings
Listed buildings by grade · Historic Environment Scotland
Category A0
Category B1
Category C2
Among them · Category B
- Limefield House Category B
0
scheduled monuments
0
gardens and designed landscapes
12
listed buildings per 10,000 residents · typical town in England and Wales 24
Historic Environment Scotland list, October 2026 · OGL
Nearby attractions
All attractions →Almond Valley Light Railway and 5 more in and around Polbeth
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Polbeth. Best known first.
Heritage railwayHeritage railwayAlmond Valley Light Railway2.1 km outside town, to the northZooZooFive Sisters Zoo100 m outside town, to the westMuseumMuseumMuseum of the Scottish Shale Oil Industry2.1 km outside town, to the northMuseumMuseumAlmond Valley Heritage Centre2.1 km outside town, to the northMuseumMuseumThe Wee Museum of Memory2.7 km outside town, to the northeastCastleCastleCalder House4.3 km outside town, to the northeast
Places: © OpenStreetMap contributors · Wikidata
Keep exploring
Everything we know about Polbeth
14pages on Polbeth
The big questions
SafetyNot graded · 34% live in Scotland’s most crime-deprived fifthCost of livingAMedian home £241K · rent £908 a monthSchoolsA1 state schoolHealthD−Life expectancy 76.5 (men), 78.5 (women)Work & commute51% of working residents work in the townFlood & hazardsA0% of homes at high or medium flood risk
Out and about
Polbeth’s neighbours
The nearest towns and villages, from National Records of Scotland’s 2022 localities. See them on the map →
West CalderLivingstonBlackburnMid CalderBathgateEast CalderWhitburnPolbeth
How the neighbours grade
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Polbeth | 2,595 | — | — | A | — | D− |
| West Calder | 3,405 | 1 | — | A | — | D |
| Livingston | 55,798 | 2.5 | — | A | — | D |
| Blackburn | 5,263 | 2.9 | — | A | — | D− |
| Mid Calder | 3,217 | 3.1 | — | A | — | B |
| Bathgate | 22,229 | 4.2 | — | A+ | — | C− |
| East Calder | 7,249 | 4.4 | — | B | — | C+ |
| Whitburn | 11,772 | 5.3 | — | A+ | — | D− |
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 Polbeth
Are schools in Polbeth good?
GCSE results beat 94% of towns in England (Department for Education, Attainment 8). One state school is inside the town; places are handled by the local council.
How much is council tax in Polbeth?
Band D council tax in Polbeth is £1,628 for 2026–27, less than in 94% of UK towns (council, county, police and fire). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
About Polbeth
Town in West Lothian, Scotland
Polbeth is a locality of 2,595 people, in the West Lothian 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
- 2,595 (Census 2022)
- Council
- West Lothian
- Nation
- Scotland
- Area
- 0.4 sq mi (1 km²)
- NRS code
- S52000518
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.