United Kingdom · West Midlands · Local Authority
Herefordshire
Unitary authority · West Midlands, England · population ~194k · 98 state-funded schools
Expensive to live in relative to local wages, Herefordshire presents a challenging financial landscape for prospective residents. A median house price of £295,000 represents 8 times the median annual gross pay, a significant hurdle for those looking to enter the property market. While monthly rent is more accessible at £815, taking 26.4% of gross earnings, the high Band D council tax of £2,574 adds a persistent burden to household budgets. These costs are paired with weekly earnings of £713.10, which sit below the West Midlands median. On the positive side, the area benefits from a lower crime rate, with 50.6 recorded incidents per 1,000 people. This location suits those who prioritise safety and lower rental costs over high local pay or low tax bills.
Written from the indicators on this page, 2026-10 data.
The signature
How Herefordshire ranks across 361 UK Local Authorities
Pay
£37,081/yr
Low
Worse than 74% of UK LAs
House price
£295,000
Mid-range
Around UK average
Rent
£815/mo
Affordable
Better than 71% of UK LAs
Council tax
£2,574/yr
Most expensive
Worse than 84% of UK LAs
Crime
50.6/1k
Safest
Better than 88% of UK LAs
Deprivation
18.9
Mid
Around UK average
Schools
90.8%
Weak
Worse 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
111 state-funded schools · Ofsted Sep 2026
89 of 98 (90.8%) rated Good or Outstanding under Ofsted's legacy framework. 13 schools are on the post-2024 report-card framework and don't roll up into the legacy total. How we count →
The map
98 schools · pins coloured by Ofsted grade
Grades, phase and pupil numbers for all 98 schools, sortable and filterable.
Schools in Herefordshire →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.