United Kingdom · East of England · Local Authority
Harlow
Non-metropolitan district · East of England, England · population ~87k · 40 state-funded schools
Affordable to buy into, but expensive to rent and live in. Harlow’s median house price is 8.8 times median annual pay, a multiple that is higher than 57% of English authorities, though below the regional median. However, monthly rents consume 48% of gross median earnings, the highest proportion in the East of England, and recorded crime is also the highest in the region at 91.7 per 1,000. While council tax is below the regional median, and school performance matches it, the high cost of renting and elevated crime rates suggest this is not a place for those on lower incomes.
Written from the indicators on this page, 2026-08 data.
The signature
How Harlow ranks across 361 UK Local Authorities
Pay
£37,861/yr
Low
Worse than 65% of UK LAs
House price
£335,000
Expensive
Worse than 64% of UK LAs
Rent
£1,513/mo
Very expensive
Worse than 83% of UK LAs
Council tax
£2,299/yr
Cheapest
Better than 80% of UK LAs
Crime
91.7/1k
High
Worse than 76% of UK LAs
Deprivation
21.4
High
Worse than 61% of UK LAs
Schools
89.7%
Weak
Worse than 75% 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
35 of 39 (89.7%) rated Good or Outstanding under Ofsted's legacy framework. How we count →
The map
40 schools · pins coloured by Ofsted grade
Grades, phase and pupil numbers for all 40 schools, sortable and filterable.
Schools in Harlow →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.