United Kingdom · South West · Local Authority
Cornwall
Unitary authority · South West, England · population ~573k · 278 state-funded schools
Modest pay meets a significant housing burden in Cornwall. A median house costs 8.2 times median annual pay, a ratio that reflects the difficulty of local earnings, which at £678.80 a week sit below the South West median. Rent is equally demanding, claiming 34.1% of gross median earnings. While crime levels are lower than the regional median, the deprivation score is among the highest in the South West, indicating deeper economic challenges than the property market suggests. Council tax is also notably high, exceeding 86% of England authorities. This area suits those who can secure remote employment or bring capital into the region, as the local labour market offers limited financial headroom for the average resident.
Written from the indicators on this page, 2026-10 data.
The signature
How Cornwall ranks across 361 UK Local Authorities
Pay
£35,298/yr
Very low
Worse than 90% of UK LAs
House price
£290,000
Mid-range
Around UK average
Rent
£1,004/mo
Mid-range
Around UK average
Council tax
£2,591/yr
Most expensive
Worse than 86% of UK LAs
Crime
62.2/1k
Low
Better than 66% of UK LAs
Deprivation
23.1
High
Worse than 67% of UK LAs
Schools
90.3%
Weak
Worse than 70% 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
318 state-funded schools · Ofsted Sep 2026
250 of 277 (90.3%) rated Good or Outstanding under Ofsted's legacy framework. 41 schools are on the post-2024 report-card framework and don't roll up into the legacy total. How we count →
The map
278 schools · pins coloured by Ofsted grade
Grades, phase and pupil numbers for all 278 schools, sortable and filterable.
Schools in Cornwall →Places with similar signatures
Nearest by quintile position across pay · housing · tax · crime · IMD · schools
Cornwall 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.