United Kingdom · Local Authorities · Compare
County Durham vs Somerset
County Durham (North East, England · ~533k people) · Somerset (South West, England · ~564k people)
Of 7 strictly-comparable measures: County Durham leads on 3, Somerset on 4. Which trade-offs matter is yours to weigh — the rows below show where each one wins.
Head to head
Median pay
ONS ASHE (residence) · 2025
County Durham
£34,388/yr
Worse than 95% of UK LAs
Somerset
£36,951/yr
Worse than 75% of UK LAs
Somerset: 7% higher median pay.
House price
ONS HPSSA-9 median · Year ending Sep 2025
County Durham
£143,000
Better than 97% of UK LAs
Somerset
£285,000
Around UK average
County Durham: 99% lower median price.
Monthly rent
ONS PIPR (newly-signed lets) · 2026-03
County Durham
£632/mo
Better than 97% of UK LAs
Somerset
£980/mo
Around UK average
County Durham: 55% lower median rent.
Council tax (Band D)
MHCLG · 2026-27
County Durham
£2,622/yr
Worse than 93% of UK LAs
Somerset
£2,561/yr
Worse than 83% of UK LAs
Somerset: £61 less per year at Band D.
Recorded crime
ONS PFA Table C4 · Year ending Dec 2025
County Durham
89.4/1k
Worse than 73% of UK LAs
Somerset
83.1/1k
Worse than 66% of UK LAs
Somerset: 8% lower recorded-crime rate.
Deprivation (IMD)
MHCLG Indices of Deprivation · 2019
County Durham
26.8
Worse than 80% of UK LAs
Somerset
19.0
Around UK average
Somerset: lower average deprivation score (19.0 vs 26.8).
Schools (Ofsted)
Ofsted MI · Feb 2026 snapshot
County Durham
92.6%
Worse than 57% of UK LAs
Somerset
81.3%
Worse than 99% of UK LAs
County Durham: 11.3 percentage points more pupils in Good/Outstanding schools.
What local pay actually covers
Same-place ratios — each area's own median rent and house price against its own median gross pay. A cheap-looking area stops looking cheap when local pay is lower still.
County Durham
Rent takes 22% of median gross monthly pay
A median home costs 4.2× median annual pay
Somerset
Rent takes 32% of median gross monthly pay
A median home costs 7.7× median annual pay
Full County Durham profile →
Every indicator, all state-funded schools with Ofsted grades, and similar areas.
Full Somerset profile →
Every indicator, all state-funded schools with Ofsted grades, and similar areas.