United Kingdom · London · Local Authority
Tower Hamlets
Local Authority · London, England · population ~332k · 92 state-funded schools
High earnings meet extreme housing costs in Tower Hamlets. While weekly pay is strong at £996.60, residents face a steep affordability hurdle as rent consumes 55.5% of gross median earnings. Buying is equally demanding, with a median house price reaching 9.6 times annual pay. These financial pressures are compounded by a high deprivation score of 27.91 and a crime rate of 106.4 per 1,000 residents, both sitting well above the London median. The primary trade-off here is access to a high-paying labour market against a significant cost of living and elevated social challenges. This location suits high-earning professionals who prioritise proximity to the city centre over immediate housing affordability or lower crime rates.
Written from the indicators on this page, 2026-10 data.
The signature
How Tower Hamlets ranks across 361 UK Local Authorities
Pay
£51,823/yr
Very high
Better than 98% of UK LAs
House price
£500,000
Very expensive
Worse than 91% of UK LAs
Rent
£2,396/mo
Very expensive
Worse than 98% of UK LAs
Council tax
£1,838/yr
Cheapest
Better than 98% of UK LAs
Crime
106.4/1k
Highest
Worse than 88% of UK LAs
Deprivation
27.9
Most deprived
Worse than 84% of UK LAs
Schools
97.8%
Very strong
Better than 87% 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
104 state-funded schools · Ofsted Sep 2026
89 of 91 (97.8%) rated Good or Outstanding under Ofsted's legacy framework. 13 schools are on the post-2024 report-card framework and don't roll up into the legacy total. How we count →
The map
92 schools · pins coloured by Ofsted grade
Grades, phase and pupil numbers for all 92 schools, sortable and filterable.
Schools in Tower Hamlets →Places with similar signatures
Nearest by quintile position across pay · housing · tax · crime · IMD · schools
Tower Hamlets 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.