United Kingdom · East of England · Local Authority
Central Bedfordshire
Unitary authority · East of England, England · population ~294k · 128 state-funded schools
Expensive to live in, but with strong earning potential and low crime. Central Bedfordshire's median house price is 8.1 times median annual pay, and rent consumes 32.9% of gross median earnings, both higher than the East of England medians. However, weekly pay is £868.70, above the regional average, and recorded crime is low at 48.7 per 1,000. Pupils here are more likely to attend Good or Outstanding schools, with 94.5% achieving this standard. This location suits those prioritising career prospects and safety over immediate housing affordability.
Written from the indicators on this page, 2026-08 data.
The signature
How Central Bedfordshire ranks across 361 UK Local Authorities
Pay
£45,172/yr
Very high
Better than 83% of UK LAs
House price
£365,000
Expensive
Worse than 73% of UK LAs
Rent
£1,238/mo
Expensive
Worse than 67% of UK LAs
Council tax
£2,516/yr
Expensive
Worse than 73% of UK LAs
Crime
48.7/1k
Safest
Better than 90% of UK LAs
Deprivation
12.2
Least deprived
Better than 81% of UK LAs
Schools
95.9%
Strong
Better than 74% of UK LAs
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
128 state-funded schools · Ofsted Feb 2026
118 of 123 (95.9%) 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
128 schools · pins coloured by Ofsted grade
Grades, phase and pupil numbers for all 128 schools, sortable and filterable.
Schools in Central Bedfordshire →Places with similar signatures
Nearest by quintile position across pay · housing · tax · crime · IMD · schools
Central Bedfordshire 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.