United Kingdom · West Midlands · Local Authority
Birmingham
Metropolitan district · West Midlands, England · population ~1141k · 436 state-funded schools
High rents and high crime make Birmingham a tough sell, despite relatively affordable house prices. The median house price is 6.4 times median annual pay, below the West Midlands average, but monthly rents consume a significant 35.4% of gross median earnings, the highest share in the region. This is compounded by recorded crime rates being the highest in the West Midlands, and a deprivation score also at the regional extreme. On the plus side, 94.5% of pupils attend Good or Outstanding schools, a figure above the regional median. This city suits those prioritising school quality and a lower house price multiple over affordability and safety.
Written from the indicators on this page, 2026-08 data.
The signature
How Birmingham ranks across 361 UK Local Authorities
Pay
£36,811/yr
Low
Worse than 77% of UK LAs
House price
£235,000
Affordable
Better than 66% of UK LAs
Rent
£1,086/mo
Mid-range
Worse than 57% of UK LAs
Council tax
£2,363/yr
Cheap
Better than 66% of UK LAs
Crime
114.1/1k
Highest
Worse than 93% of UK LAs
Deprivation
38.1
Most deprived
Worse than 98% of UK LAs
Schools
93.0%
Mid
Around UK average
Colour shows quintile position against 361 UK Local Authorities. Green is the best position for someone moving here; red is the worst. Direction is set per indicator — higher pay, lower rent, less crime, less deprivation are all green.
Schools
435 state-funded schools · Ofsted Feb 2026
400 of 430 (93%) rated Good or Outstanding under Ofsted's legacy framework. 5 schools are on the post-2024 report-card framework and don't roll up into the legacy total. How we count →
The map
436 schools · pins coloured by Ofsted grade
Grades, phase and pupil numbers for all 436 schools, sortable and filterable.
Schools in Birmingham →Places with similar signatures
Nearest by quintile position across pay · housing · tax · crime · IMD · schools
Birmingham head-to-heads
What we don't know yet
Commute times · GP appointment availability · broadband speeds · air quality at LA level · green-space proximity · public transport coverage. These matter for a relocation decision. We'll add them when the source data is reliable nationally and consistent across LA boundaries.