United Kingdom · South West · Local Authority
Cornwall
Unitary authority · South West, England · population ~573k · 279 state-funded schools
Affordability is a mixed bag in Cornwall. While house prices are below the South West median at £290,000, they stand at 8.2 times median annual pay, a high multiple. Rent is also a significant commitment, taking 34.1% of gross median earnings, though this is close to the regional median. Recorded crime is lower than the South West average at 62.2 per 1,000, but deprivation is high, ranking 23 of 27 in the region. School quality matches the regional average at 92.9% of pupils in good or outstanding places. This suits those prioritising a lower house price than the regional average and lower crime, over higher earning potential.
Written from the indicators on this page, 2026-08 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
90.6%
Weak
Worse than 69% 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
278 state-funded schools · Ofsted Feb 2026
251 of 277 (90.6%) 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
279 schools · pins coloured by Ofsted grade
Grades, phase and pupil numbers for all 279 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.