United Kingdom · North West · Local Authority
St. Helens
Metropolitan district · North West, England · population ~181k · 70 state-funded schools
Affordable to live in, yet challenged by social indicators. St. Helens offers a housing market where a typical home costs 4.9 times annual pay, significantly lower than the regional median. Rent is equally accessible, consuming 23.9% of gross median earnings. While these costs remain below the North West median, the area faces steeper hurdles elsewhere, with a deprivation score higher than 92% of England authorities and a crime rate of 86.8 per 1,000 residents. Weekly earnings of £747.80 sit above the regional median, providing some economic cushion against these pressures. This location suits those prioritising immediate housing affordability over lower deprivation levels, though the trade-off requires weighing financial savings against the broader social environment.
Written from the indicators on this page, 2026-10 data.
The signature
How St. Helens ranks across 361 UK Local Authorities
Pay
£38,886/yr
Mid
Around UK average
House price
£189,998
Most affordable
Better than 86% of UK LAs
Rent
£774/mo
Affordable
Better than 79% of UK LAs
Council tax
£2,403/yr
Mid
Better than 59% of UK LAs
Crime
86.8/1k
High
Worse than 70% of UK LAs
Deprivation
31.5
Most deprived
Worse than 92% of UK LAs
Schools
87.1%
Concerning
Worse than 86% 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
61 of 70 (87.1%) rated Good or Outstanding under Ofsted's legacy framework. 18 schools are on the post-2024 report-card framework and don't roll up into the legacy total. How we count →
The map
70 schools · pins coloured by Ofsted grade
Grades, phase and pupil numbers for all 70 schools, sortable and filterable.
Schools in St. Helens →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.