United Kingdom · East of England · Local Authority
Colchester
Non-metropolitan district · East of England, England · population ~197k · 80 state-funded schools
Affordable housing but high crime. Colchester offers a median house price of 8.2 times median annual pay, below the East of England average, and rent takes a manageable 36.6% of gross earnings. However, recorded crime is high at 80.5 per 1,000 people, significantly above the regional median. While council tax is lower than the regional average, and school quality matches the East of England median at 92.1% of pupils in Good or Outstanding places, the higher crime rate and deprivation score may deter some. This location suits those prioritising housing affordability and good schools over a lower crime environment.
Written from the indicators on this page, 2026-08 data.
The signature
How Colchester ranks across 361 UK Local Authorities
Pay
£39,863/yr
Mid
Better than 55% of UK LAs
House price
£327,000
Expensive
Worse than 62% of UK LAs
Rent
£1,216/mo
Expensive
Worse than 65% of UK LAs
Council tax
£2,283/yr
Cheapest
Better than 83% of UK LAs
Crime
80.5/1k
High
Worse than 61% of UK LAs
Deprivation
16.8
Mid
Better than 58% of UK LAs
Schools
95.0%
Strong
Better than 67% 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
80 state-funded schools · Ofsted Feb 2026
76 of 80 (95%) rated Good or Outstanding under Ofsted's legacy framework. How we count →
The map
80 schools · pins coloured by Ofsted grade
Grades, phase and pupil numbers for all 80 schools, sortable and filterable.
Schools in Colchester →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.