United Kingdom · South East · Local Authority
Oxford
Non-metropolitan district · South East, England · population ~152k · 50 state-funded schools
High earnings struggle to keep pace with the extreme cost of living in Oxford. While weekly pay at £827.30 sits above the South East median, the housing market is punishing, with a median house price reaching 10.5 times annual gross pay. Rent is even more restrictive, consuming 54.4% of median gross earnings, the highest share in the region. These financial pressures are compounded by a Band D council tax of £2,678, which is higher than 97% of England authorities. The trade-off for these costs is access to high-quality education, with 97.1% of pupils attending Good or Outstanding schools. This location suits high-earning professionals who prioritise school performance and proximity to the city centre over personal savings or housing affordability.
Written from the indicators on this page, 2026-10 data.
The signature
How Oxford ranks across 361 UK Local Authorities
Pay
£43,020/yr
High
Better than 73% of UK LAs
House price
£450,000
Very expensive
Worse than 84% of UK LAs
Rent
£1,952/mo
Very expensive
Worse than 96% of UK LAs
Council tax
£2,678/yr
Most expensive
Worse than 97% of UK LAs
Crime
97.7/1k
Highest
Worse than 83% of UK LAs
Deprivation
16.7
Mid
Better than 59% of UK LAs
Schools
94.0%
Strong
Better than 61% 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
54 state-funded schools · Ofsted Sep 2026
47 of 50 (94%) rated Good or Outstanding under Ofsted's legacy framework. 4 schools are on the post-2024 report-card framework and don't roll up into the legacy total. How we count →
The map
50 schools · pins coloured by Ofsted grade
Grades, phase and pupil numbers for all 50 schools, sortable and filterable.
Schools in Oxford →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.