United Kingdom · North West · Local Authority
Preston
Non-metropolitan district · North West, England · population ~144k · 68 state-funded schools
Affordable to rent but expensive to police, Preston presents a stark contrast between housing costs and social outcomes. While the median house price sits at 5.1 times annual earnings and rent consumes 24.9% of gross pay, these figures are lower than the regional medians. However, the trade-off is a high tax and safety burden. Band D council tax is £2,576, which is higher than 83% of England authorities, and the recorded crime rate of 96.6 per 1,000 residents is significantly above the regional median. With deprivation scores also higher than 85% of England authorities, the area suits those specifically seeking lower entry costs for housing who are prepared to navigate a challenging local environment.
Written from the indicators on this page, 2026-10 data.
The signature
How Preston ranks across 361 UK Local Authorities
Pay
£37,565/yr
Low
Worse than 70% of UK LAs
House price
£192,000
Most affordable
Better than 85% of UK LAs
Rent
£778/mo
Affordable
Better than 77% of UK LAs
Council tax
£2,576/yr
Most expensive
Worse than 84% of UK LAs
Crime
96.6/1k
Highest
Worse than 82% of UK LAs
Deprivation
29.5
Most deprived
Worse than 85% of UK LAs
Schools
95.6%
Strong
Better than 72% 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
88 state-funded schools · Ofsted Sep 2026
65 of 68 (95.6%) rated Good or Outstanding under Ofsted's legacy framework. 20 schools are on the post-2024 report-card framework and don't roll up into the legacy total. How we count →
The map
68 schools · pins coloured by Ofsted grade
Grades, phase and pupil numbers for all 68 schools, sortable and filterable.
Schools in Preston →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.