United Kingdom · West Midlands · Local Authority
Wolverhampton
Metropolitan district · West Midlands, England · population ~264k · 111 state-funded schools
Affordable to buy into, but expensive to rent and live in. Wolverhampton’s median house price is 6x median annual pay, well below the West Midlands median multiple, and its house prices are lower than 19% of England authorities. However, rent takes a high 30.1% of gross median earnings, and council tax is higher than 77% of England authorities. Crime and deprivation are also significantly above the West Midlands median, with recorded crime per 1,000 at 91.9. The genuine bright spot is education, with 97.1% of pupils in Good or Outstanding schools, the best rate in the region. This suits a buyer prioritising school quality and housing affordability over lower living costs and career prospects.
Written from the indicators on this page, 2026-08 data.
The signature
How Wolverhampton ranks across 361 UK Local Authorities
Pay
£36,972/yr
Low
Worse than 75% of UK LAs
House price
£220,000
Affordable
Better than 73% of UK LAs
Rent
£928/mo
Mid-range
Better than 58% of UK LAs
Council tax
£2,539/yr
Expensive
Worse than 78% of UK LAs
Crime
91.9/1k
High
Worse than 77% of UK LAs
Deprivation
32.1
Most deprived
Worse than 92% of UK LAs
Schools
97.2%
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
110 state-funded schools · Ofsted Feb 2026
103 of 106 (97.2%) rated Good or Outstanding under Ofsted's legacy framework. 4 schools are on the post-2024 report-card framework and don't roll up into the legacy total. How we count →
The map
111 schools · pins coloured by Ofsted grade
Grades, phase and pupil numbers for all 111 schools, sortable and filterable.
Schools in Wolverhampton →Places with similar signatures
Nearest by quintile position across pay · housing · tax · crime · IMD · schools
Wolverhampton 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.