United Kingdom · South East · Local Authority
Portsmouth
Unitary authority · South East, England · population ~215k · 61 state-funded schools
Affordable to buy, but expensive to rent and with high crime. Portsmouth’s median house price is 7.1 times median annual pay, a lower multiple than many parts of the South East, but rent takes a substantial 44.7% of gross median earnings. Recorded crime is the highest in the South East, and deprivation scores are also very high, ranking among the worst in the region. While council tax is below the regional median, this location suits those prioritising lower property purchase prices and prepared to accept higher living costs and crime rates.
Written from the indicators on this page, 2026-08 data.
The signature
How Portsmouth ranks across 361 UK Local Authorities
Pay
£36,457/yr
Low
Worse than 79% of UK LAs
House price
£260,000
Mid-range
Better than 57% of UK LAs
Rent
£1,357/mo
Expensive
Worse than 76% of UK LAs
Council tax
£2,292/yr
Cheapest
Better than 82% of UK LAs
Crime
112.9/1k
Highest
Worse than 93% of UK LAs
Deprivation
26.9
Most deprived
Worse than 81% of UK LAs
Schools
92.9%
Mid
Around UK average
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
60 state-funded schools · Ofsted Feb 2026
52 of 56 (92.9%) 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
61 schools · pins coloured by Ofsted grade
Grades, phase and pupil numbers for all 61 schools, sortable and filterable.
Schools in Portsmouth →Places with similar signatures
Nearest by quintile position across pay · housing · tax · crime · IMD · schools
Portsmouth 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.