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Best place to live in Scotland
Last updated · Figures checked
Quick answer · Best place to live in Scotland
East Renfrewshire
East Renfrewshire scores 94 out of 100 across pay, jobs, poverty, crime, health and schools, the highest of Scotland's 32 council areas. East Dunbartonshire and Shetland come next.
- 1. East Renfrewshire
- 94 out of 100
- 2. East Dunbartonshire
- 89 out of 100
- 3. Shetland
- 77 out of 100
- 4. Aberdeenshire
- 71 out of 100
- 5. Western Isles
- 68 out of 100
Latest official figures, checked 29 October 2026
The full ranking
All 32 areas, best first
The score is out of 100. Under each area is the part of life it does best on, and the one it does worst on, so you can see why it lands where it does. Tap an area for all its figures.
- 1East Renfrewshire
Strongest on health · weakest on jobs
Score94 out of 100
- 2East Dunbartonshire
Strongest on pay · weakest on jobs
Score89 out of 100
- 3Shetland
Strongest on jobs · weakest on schools
Score77 out of 100
- 4Aberdeenshire
Strongest on poverty · weakest on schools
Score71 out of 100
- 5Western Isles
Strongest on crime · weakest on schools
Score68 out of 100
- 6Perth and Kinross
Strongest on jobs · weakest on pay
Score64 out of 100
- 7Stirling
Strongest on jobs · weakest on schools
Score63 out of 100
- 8South Ayrshire
Strongest on pay · weakest on health
Score61 out of 100
- 9Orkney
Strongest on poverty · weakest on schools
Score60 out of 100
- 10East Lothian
Strongest on jobs · weakest on pay
Score59 out of 100
- 11Scottish Borders
Strongest on poverty · weakest on pay
Score57 out of 100
- 12Edinburgh
Strongest on jobs · weakest on crime
Score56 out of 100
- 13Highland
Strongest on jobs · weakest on schools
Score55 out of 100
- 14Renfrewshire
Strongest on schools · weakest on health
Score55 out of 100
- 15South Lanarkshire
Strongest on jobs · weakest on health
Score55 out of 100
- 16Argyll and Bute
Strongest on poverty · weakest on schools
Score53 out of 100
- 17Midlothian
Strongest on jobs · weakest on schools
Score53 out of 100
- 18West Lothian
Strongest on jobs · weakest on schools
Score51 out of 100
- 19Angus
Strongest on poverty · weakest on schools
Score50 out of 100
- 20Falkirk
Strongest on jobs · weakest on pay
Score47 out of 100
- 21Dumfries and Galloway
Strongest on jobs · weakest on pay
Score47 out of 100
- 22Moray
Strongest on jobs · weakest on pay
Score47 out of 100
- 23Aberdeen
Strongest on poverty · weakest on schools
Score46 out of 100
- 24Fife
Strongest on poverty · weakest on schools
Score46 out of 100
- 25Clackmannanshire
Strongest on jobs · weakest on health
Score43 out of 100
- 26North Ayrshire
Strongest on crime · weakest on health
Score38 out of 100
- 27North Lanarkshire
Strongest on jobs · weakest on health
Score38 out of 100
- 28Inverclyde
Strongest on schools · weakest on health
Score38 out of 100
- 29East Ayrshire
Strongest on crime · weakest on schools
Score31 out of 100
- 30West Dunbartonshire
Strongest on jobs · weakest on schools
Score26 out of 100
- 31Dundee
Strongest on poverty · weakest on crime
Score15 out of 100
- 32Glasgow
Strongest on pay · weakest on health
Score14 out of 100
For families
Best place to live in Scotland for families
The same idea, weighted to what families ask about most: how school leavers do, how many children grow up in poverty, crime, and how long people live.
- 1
Family score96 out of 100
- Leavers with a Higher
- 83.4%
- Child poverty
- 12.0%
- Recorded crime
- 253 per 10,000
- 2
Family score89 out of 100
- Leavers with a Higher
- 79.1%
- Child poverty
- 14.9%
- Recorded crime
- 280 per 10,000
- 3
Family score71 out of 100
- Leavers with a Higher
- 48.6%
- Child poverty
- 14.5%
- Recorded crime
- 203 per 10,000
- 4
Family score67 out of 100
- Leavers with a Higher
- 56.2%
- Child poverty
- 15.0%
- Recorded crime
- 294 per 10,000
- 5
Family score64 out of 100
- Leavers with a Higher
- 58.2%
- Child poverty
- 19.2%
- Recorded crime
- 424 per 10,000
- 6
Family score60 out of 100
- Leavers with a Higher
- 58.3%
- Child poverty
- 21.5%
- Recorded crime
- 409 per 10,000
- 7
Family score60 out of 100
- Leavers with a Higher
- 54.1%
- Child poverty
- 19.7%
- Recorded crime
- 236 per 10,000
- 8
Family score59 out of 100
- Leavers with a Higher
- Not published
- Child poverty
- 18.6%
- Recorded crime
- 245 per 10,000
- 9
Family score58 out of 100
- Leavers with a Higher
- 65.9%
- Child poverty
- 20.4%
- Recorded crime
- 449 per 10,000
- 10
Family score57 out of 100
- Leavers with a Higher
- 58.8%
- Child poverty
- 22.1%
- Recorded crime
- 482 per 10,000
Cities
Best city to live in Scotland
Of the four cities, Edinburgh ranks highest, 12th of 32 overall. Aberdeen is 23rd, Dundee is 31st, Glasgow is 32nd. For the two biggest side by side, see Glasgow vs Edinburgh.
Method
How this ranking works
Every area gets a score from 0 to 100 on each measure: 100 for the best council in Scotland, 0 for the worst, and the rest in between. The measures sit in six parts of life, each part counts the same however many measures it has, and the overall score is the average of the six.
- Money and housing: full time weekly pay (2025, ONS, via Nomis).
- Jobs: unemployment (July 2025 to June 2026, ONS model based estimates of unemployment, via Nomis); out of work benefits (January 2026, ONS, via Nomis); jobs per working age adult (2024, ONS, via Nomis).
- Poverty and deprivation: child poverty (2023/24, End Child Poverty / Loughborough University); most deprived neighbourhoods (SIMD 2020 (version 2), Scottish Government).
- Crime: recorded crime (2025-26, Scottish Government); violent crime (2025-26, Scottish Government); housebreaking (2025-26, Scottish Government).
- Health: life expectancy, men (2022 to 2024, National Records of Scotland); life expectancy, women (2022 to 2024, National Records of Scotland); drug deaths (2021 to 2025, National Records of Scotland).
- Schools: leavers with a higher (2024/25 school leavers, Scottish Government); leavers into work, study or training (2024/25 school leavers, Scottish Government).
Left out on purpose: house prices, rents and council tax, because cheaper is not better for everyone. They have their own ranking on the cheapest places to live.
Worth knowing: a council area is big, and the figures are averages across all of it, so a single street or town can be very different. The island councils are small, so a few events move their figures a lot. Nothing here covers weather, scenery or transport.
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