Is Middlesbrough a good place to live?

Middlesbrough has an overall liveability score of 79 out of 100 (very good) on TrackPostcode.UK, based on 85% of categories currently loaded. It scores best on broadband and housing. The score combines cost, affordability, safety, weather and more from open government data.

Recorded crime for Middlesbrough is shown in the crime and safety section, from police.uk for England and Wales or Scottish Government statistics for Scotland.

Middlesbrough averages about 701 mm of rain a year, giving an outdoor score of 78 out of 100. Summer highs average 20.2°C and winter lows 2.2°C. The station records no sunshine series, so that score is built from rainfall and temperature alone. Based on the Met Office Durham station, 31 km away.

Average private rent in the Middlesbrough area is about £702 a month (Jun-26, ONS), giving Middlesbrough a cost-of-living score of 88 out of 100. Use the affordability calculator to estimate what you could comfortably afford here.

The average property price in Middlesbrough is about £137,773 (2026-06, HM Land Registry). Prices changed +2% over the year. See the affordability section for how that compares to local earnings.

The average property in Middlesbrough costs about £137,773, which is 3.5 times earnings against assumed full-time earnings of £39,039 a year (ONS ASHE), giving an affordability score of 100 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 £799 a month at 6% over 25 years, £97 more than the £702 average local rent. The affordability calculator on this page estimates it from your own salary and savings.

About 99.3% of premises in Middlesbrough can get superfast broadband of 30 Mbit/s or more, and 97.7% can get a gigabit-capable connection, giving a broadband score of 98 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.

66% of 16 to 64 year olds in Middlesbrough are in work (NOMIS latest, retrieved Sep 2026, ONS Annual Population Survey via NOMIS), giving an employment score of 30 out of 100. Unemployment stands at 8.7%. 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.

Middlesbrough records 42.2 on Attainment 8 average score (202425), giving an education score of 22 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. Attainment is published for the whole council or county rather than for a school catchment, so check individual schools with the inspectorate before deciding.

For the 1 km grid square containing Middlesbrough, fine particulates (PM2.5) average 6.29 µg/m³ against a World Health Organization guideline of 5 and nitrogen dioxide averages 14.8 µg/m³ against a guideline of 10 (2024, Defra Pollution Climate Mapping, Crown copyright). That gives an environment score of 86 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.

Within about two kilometres of this point there are 18 GP surgeries, 10 pharmacies and 4 dentists. 8 hospitals are within about eight kilometres. That gives a healthcare score of 81 out of 100. Facilities are counted from OpenStreetMap and the score describes how close services are, not waiting times, capacity or clinical quality.

The nearest railway station is Middlesbrough Rail Station - main ent, about 0.3 km away, and there are 90 bus, tram or metro stops within an 800 metre walk, giving a transport score of 92 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.

Middlesbrough is in the Middlesbrough local authority, North East, England. It falls within the Central ward and the Middlesbrough and Thornaby East parliamentary constituency. Cost of living, housing, affordability, employment, broadband and education figures in this report are published at local-authority level, so every postcode and town inside Middlesbrough shares them. Weather, crime, amenities, healthcare, transport and air quality are measured for this point instead.

Middlesbrough scores 81 out of 100 on our remote workers profile, which is weighted towards broadband, cost of living, environment and weather. That is close to its general score of 79, so the weighting neither flatters nor penalises this area. Every area we score is ranked on this basis at /best-places-for-remote-workers/.

Middlesbrough sits in the top 1% 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 affordability, healthcare and cost of living. It is furthest below on employment and education. 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.

Of the areas we have scored within about 50 miles of Middlesbrough, the highest are Darlington (77 out of 100, about 13 miles away), Stockton-on-Tees (75 out of 100, about 3 miles away) and Hartlepool (74 out of 100, about 8 miles away). Middlesbrough itself scores 79. Distances are straight-line from this point, and each of those names links to its own full report.

Across the twelve category scores, the closest matches elsewhere in Britain are South Shields (South Tyneside, North East, England), Sunderland (Sunderland, North East, England) and Blackburn (Blackburn with Darwen, North West, England). 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, crime, local amenities, healthcare access, transport access and air quality are measured for this exact point. Cost of living, affordability, housing, employment and broadband come from official statistics for the Middlesbrough council area, so nearby postcodes and towns in the same council share those figures. Education comes from the local authority, or from the county where attainment is only published at county level. The "How detailed is this report" section explains each level.