United Kingdom · South West · Local Authority
Cheltenham
Non-metropolitan district · South West, England · population ~116k · 39 state-funded schools
Strong pay and excellent schools come at a significant cost. Cheltenham offers median weekly earnings of £817.50, placing it well above the South West median, and 95.1% of pupils attend Good or Outstanding schools, also a regional strength. However, this comes with a median house price 7.5 times annual pay, and monthly rents consuming 34.8% of gross median earnings, both considerably higher than regional averages. Recorded crime is also higher than the South West median. This suits those prioritising educational outcomes and earning potential, who can afford the higher housing costs.
Written from the indicators on this page, 2026-08 data.
The signature
How Cheltenham ranks across 361 UK Local Authorities
Pay
£42,510/yr
High
Better than 70% of UK LAs
House price
£320,000
Expensive
Worse than 60% of UK LAs
Rent
£1,233/mo
Expensive
Worse than 66% of UK LAs
Council tax
£2,370/yr
Cheap
Better than 65% of UK LAs
Crime
79.2/1k
Mid
Worse than 60% of UK LAs
Deprivation
14.3
Low
Better than 71% of UK LAs
Schools
97.4%
Very strong
Better than 83% 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
39 state-funded schools · Ofsted Feb 2026
37 of 38 (97.4%) 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
39 schools · pins coloured by Ofsted grade
Grades, phase and pupil numbers for all 39 schools, sortable and filterable.
Schools in Cheltenham →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.