Is Highland a good place to live?

Highland has an overall liveability score of 70 out of 100 (very good) on TrackPostcode.UK, based on 80% of categories currently loaded. It scores best on cost of living and housing. The score combines cost, affordability, safety, weather and more from open government data.

Highland records about 430 crimes per 10,000 people a year (2025/2026), giving Highland a safety score of 59 out of 100. Figures are from Scottish Government statistics; Police Scotland does not publish street-level data to police.uk.

The weather section shows annual sunshine, rainfall and typical temperatures for Highland from Met Office climate data for the location.

Average private rent in the Highland and Islands area is about £726 a month (Jun-26, ONS), giving Highland a cost-of-living score of 87 out of 100. Use the affordability calculator to estimate what you could comfortably afford here.

The average property price in Highland is about £221,000 (2026-06, HM Land Registry). Prices changed +4.8% over the year. See the affordability section for how that compares to local earnings.

Highland scores 59 out of 100 for safety - good - measured from annual recorded crime per 10,000 residents across the Highland council area (Scottish Government statistics). That puts it in the top 25% of every area in our index. A safety score is a comparison with other areas rather than a guarantee about a street. The figure covers the whole council, so it says nothing about differences between its towns.

The average property in Highland costs about £221,000, which is 5.7 times earnings against assumed full-time earnings of £39,039 a year (ONS ASHE), giving an affordability score of 81 out of 100. Mainstream lenders usually cap borrowing at around four to four and a half times income, so a ratio above that generally means a larger deposit, a second income or a cheaper property than the local average. With a ten per cent deposit, repaying the rest costs about £1,282 a month at 6% over 25 years, £556 more than the £726 average local rent. The affordability calculator on this page estimates it from your own salary and savings.

About 86% of premises in Highland can get superfast broadband of 30 Mbit/s or more, and 62.1% can get a gigabit-capable connection, giving a broadband score of 55 out of 100 (Ofcom Connected Nations). These are council-area availability figures - the share of premises able to order each service, not the speed any single line achieves - so check the exact address with the Ofcom broadband checker before committing to it.

72.6% of 16 to 64 year olds in Highland are in work (NOMIS latest, retrieved Sep 2026, ONS Annual Population Survey via NOMIS), giving an employment score of 48 out of 100. UK local authorities typically range from about 62% to 82%. This is a whole-authority figure, so it describes the local labour market rather than any one town within it.

The intermediate zone around this point records 5.48 on Average highest SCQF qualification score of school leavers (2022/23-2024/25), giving an education score of 51 out of 100. Each nation publishes its own attainment measure and they are not interchangeable, so education scores compare within England, Scotland or Wales and not across them. Scottish attainment is resolved to the intermediate zone around this point, which is finer than the council average used in England and Wales.

For the 1 km grid square containing Highland, fine particulates (PM2.5) average 3.46 µg/m³ against a World Health Organization guideline of 5 and nitrogen dioxide averages 0.83 µg/m³ against a guideline of 10 (2024, Defra Pollution Climate Mapping, Crown copyright). That gives an environment score of 100 out of 100; an area meeting both guideline levels scores 100. These are modelled background concentrations for the square, not a reading taken at the roadside.

The nearest railway station is Garve Rail Station, about 4 km away, and there are 0 bus, tram or metro stops within an 800 metre walk, giving a transport score of 31 out of 100. Stops come from the DfT NaPTAN dataset and are counted for this exact point, so the figure measures access rather than how frequently anything runs.

Highland is in the Highland local authority, Scotland. It falls within the Wester Ross, Strathpeffer and Lochalsh ward and the Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross parliamentary constituency. Cost of living, housing, affordability, employment, broadband and crime figures in this report are published at local-authority level, so every postcode and town inside Highland shares them. Education comes from the surrounding intermediate zone, and weather, amenities, healthcare, transport and air quality are measured for this point.

Highland sits in the top 30% of the 539 UK areas we have scored. The median area in the index scores 67 out of 100. It is furthest above the benchmark for its nation on education and safety. It is furthest below on transport, broadband and affordability. Categories are compared against the area's own nation where the samples allow it, because crime and school attainment are measured differently either side of the border.

Across the twelve category scores, the closest matches elsewhere in Britain are Fort William (Highland, Scotland), Bideford (Torridge, South West, England) and Aberystwyth (Ceredigion, Wales). Similarity is the average gap across every category both areas have data for, with immediate neighbours excluded, so these are places that score alike rather than places that look alike or sit nearby.

Weather, local amenities, healthcare access, transport access and air quality are measured for this exact point. Cost of living, affordability, housing, employment, broadband and crime come from official statistics for the Highland council area, so nearby postcodes and towns in the same council share those figures. Education comes from the surrounding intermediate zone of roughly 2,500 to 6,000 residents. The "How detailed is this report" section explains each level.