United Kingdom · Local Authorities · Compare
County Durham vs Manchester
County Durham (North East, England · ~533k people) · Manchester (North West, England · ~556k people)
Of 7 strictly-comparable measures: County Durham leads on 5, Manchester on 2. 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
Manchester
£37,211/yr
Worse than 73% of UK LAs
Manchester: 8% higher median pay.
House price
ONS HPSSA-9 median · Year ending Sep 2025
County Durham
£143,000
Better than 97% of UK LAs
Manchester
£247,500
Better than 61% of UK LAs
County Durham: 73% lower median price.
Monthly rent
ONS PIPR (newly-signed lets) · 2026-03
County Durham
£632/mo
Better than 97% of UK LAs
Manchester
£1,347/mo
Worse than 75% of UK LAs
County Durham: 113% lower median rent.
Council tax (Band D)
MHCLG · 2026-27
County Durham
£2,622/yr
Worse than 93% of UK LAs
Manchester
£2,312/yr
Better than 77% of UK LAs
Manchester: £310 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
Manchester
143.2/1k
Worse than 98% of UK LAs
County Durham: 60% lower recorded-crime rate.
Deprivation (IMD)
MHCLG Indices of Deprivation · 2019
County Durham
26.8
Worse than 80% of UK LAs
Manchester
40.0
Worse than 98% of UK LAs
County Durham: lower average deprivation score (26.8 vs 40.0).
Schools (Ofsted)
Ofsted MI · Feb 2026 snapshot
County Durham
92.6%
Worse than 57% of UK LAs
Manchester
90.3%
Worse than 76% of UK LAs
County Durham: 2.3 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
Manchester
Rent takes 43% of median gross monthly pay
A median home costs 6.7× median annual pay
Full County Durham profile →
Every indicator, all state-funded schools with Ofsted grades, and similar areas.
Full Manchester profile →
Every indicator, all state-funded schools with Ofsted grades, and similar areas.