United Kingdom · East of England · Local Authority
Chelmsford
Non-metropolitan district · East of England, England · population ~180k · 73 state-funded schools
Affordable to live in, but not cheap. Chelmsford offers median weekly earnings of £878.30, well above the East of England median, and a median house price that is 9 times annual pay. However, rent is a significant burden, taking 37.9% of gross median earnings, and is higher than three-quarters of places in the region. While council tax is below the regional median, recorded crime is also higher than the regional average. This location suits those prioritising higher earnings and good schools, but who can absorb higher housing costs.
Written from the indicators on this page, 2026-08 data.
The signature
How Chelmsford ranks across 361 UK Local Authorities
Pay
£45,672/yr
Very high
Better than 85% of UK LAs
House price
£410,000
Expensive
Worse than 79% of UK LAs
Rent
£1,442/mo
Expensive
Worse than 79% of UK LAs
Council tax
£2,300/yr
Cheap
Better than 80% of UK LAs
Crime
69.2/1k
Mid
Around UK average
Deprivation
12.2
Least deprived
Better than 81% 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
72 state-funded schools · Ofsted Feb 2026
66 of 71 (93%) rated Good or Outstanding under Ofsted's legacy framework. 1 school is on the post-2024 report-card framework and don't roll up into the legacy total. How we count →
The map
73 schools · pins coloured by Ofsted grade
Grades, phase and pupil numbers for all 73 schools, sortable and filterable.
Schools in Chelmsford →Places with similar signatures
Nearest by quintile position across pay · housing · tax · crime · IMD · schools
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.