United Kingdom · North East · Local Authority
Darlington
Unitary authority · North East, England · population ~107k · 42 state-funded schools
Affordable to buy into, but with earnings below the regional average. Darlington’s median house price is 4.9 times median annual pay, a multiple that is lower than many places in the North East, though pay itself is slightly above the regional median at £705.20 weekly. Rent takes up 21.8% of gross median earnings, a manageable figure and below the North East median. Crime rates are also below the regional average at 90.9 per 1,000. This suits those prioritising affordability and lower crime over higher earning potential, though it offers slightly worse than average school places at 94.8% Good or Outstanding.
Written from the indicators on this page, 2026-08 data.
The signature
How Darlington ranks across 361 UK Local Authorities
Pay
£36,670/yr
Low
Worse than 78% of UK LAs
House price
£178,000
Most affordable
Better than 89% of UK LAs
Rent
£666/mo
Most affordable
Better than 95% of UK LAs
Council tax
£2,494/yr
Expensive
Worse than 68% of UK LAs
Crime
90.9/1k
High
Worse than 75% of UK LAs
Deprivation
25.7
High
Worse than 75% of UK LAs
Schools
95.1%
Strong
Better than 68% 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
42 state-funded schools · Ofsted Feb 2026
39 of 41 (95.1%) 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
42 schools · pins coloured by Ofsted grade
Grades, phase and pupil numbers for all 42 schools, sortable and filterable.
Schools in Darlington →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.