United Kingdom · North West · Local Authority
Wigan
Metropolitan district · North West, England · population ~331k · 127 state-funded schools
Affordable living comes at the cost of higher crime rates in Wigan. Housing is accessible, with a median house price sitting at 5.2 times median annual gross pay, and monthly rent consumes only 23.2% of earnings. These costs sit comfortably below the North West median, supported by the lowest Band D council tax in the region at £2,153. However, the trade-off is a crime rate of 92.2 per 1,000 residents, which is higher than 78% of England authorities. Education remains a significant strength, with 97.6% of pupils attending Good or Outstanding schools. This location suits those prioritising low housing costs and school quality over a safer environment.
Written from the indicators on this page, 2026-10 data.
The signature
How Wigan ranks across 361 UK Local Authorities
Pay
£37,794/yr
Low
Worse than 66% of UK LAs
House price
£197,500
Most affordable
Better than 81% of UK LAs
Rent
£732/mo
Most affordable
Better than 85% of UK LAs
Council tax
£2,153/yr
Cheapest
Better than 93% of UK LAs
Crime
92.2/1k
High
Worse than 78% of UK LAs
Deprivation
25.7
High
Worse than 76% of UK LAs
Schools
96.9%
Very strong
Better than 81% 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
148 state-funded schools · Ofsted Sep 2026
123 of 127 (96.9%) rated Good or Outstanding under Ofsted's legacy framework. 21 schools are on the post-2024 report-card framework and don't roll up into the legacy total. How we count →
The map
127 schools · pins coloured by Ofsted grade
Grades, phase and pupil numbers for all 127 schools, sortable and filterable.
Schools in Wigan →Places with similar signatures
Nearest by quintile position across pay · housing · tax · crime · IMD · schools
Wigan 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.