United Kingdom · East of England · Local Authority
Southend-on-Sea
Unitary authority · East of England, England · population ~183k · 52 state-funded schools
Affordable council tax comes at the cost of high crime and significant deprivation in Southend-on-Sea. While the Band D council tax of £2,265 is among the lowest in the East of England, the local environment is challenging, with a crime rate of 95.6 per 1,000 residents that sits well above the regional median. Housing remains a heavy financial commitment, with a median price reaching 8.1 times median annual gross pay and rent consuming 36.4% of typical earnings. Although weekly pay of £810.20 is slightly above the regional median, the trade-off is a lower proportion of pupils in top-rated schools compared to the rest of the region. This location suits those prioritising lower annual tax bills over local safety and educational performance.
Written from the indicators on this page, 2026-10 data.
The signature
How Southend-on-Sea ranks across 361 UK Local Authorities
Pay
£42,130/yr
High
Better than 69% of UK LAs
House price
£340,000
Expensive
Worse than 65% of UK LAs
Rent
£1,278/mo
Expensive
Worse than 70% of UK LAs
Council tax
£2,265/yr
Cheapest
Better than 86% of UK LAs
Crime
95.6/1k
Highest
Worse than 80% of UK LAs
Deprivation
22.4
High
Worse than 65% of UK LAs
Schools
90.4%
Weak
Worse than 69% 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
59 state-funded schools · Ofsted Sep 2026
47 of 52 (90.4%) rated Good or Outstanding under Ofsted's legacy framework. 7 schools are on the post-2024 report-card framework and don't roll up into the legacy total. How we count →
The map
52 schools · pins coloured by Ofsted grade
Grades, phase and pupil numbers for all 52 schools, sortable and filterable.
Schools in Southend-on-Sea →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.