Best Places to Live in Scotland 2024
Garrington Property Finders are delighted to present the Best Places to Live in Scotland 2024.
2023’s economic reset redrew large swathes of Scotland’s property map.
House prices rose across the nation as a whole, with official data from Registers of Scotland showing that in the 12 months to November, the average Scottish home rose in value by £4,000 (2.2%).
But these national averages mask some wide local disparities. The prices paid in several popular areas either fell or flatlined, and as a result some of Scotland’s most desirable places to live have become better value.
With prices now stabilising and the cost of borrowing coming down as lenders cut interest rates, Scotland’s property market has made a brisk start to 2024.
Finding a home in 2024
Garrington has analysed data to uncover the best places to live in Scotland and has created a tool that enables house hunters the opportunity to compare places they’re considering when shortlisting locations.
Use Garrington’s analysis tool to compare locations in Scotland
See the top 20 Best Places to Live 2024
How to choose the right place for you
If you’re considering a move this year, our Best Places to Live in Scotland 2024 guide can help you identify places in the area you’re interested in that offer the optimum blend of quality of life and strong value.
Our data analysts have identified more than 160 cities, towns, and villages across Scotland that all score highly in at least one of four selection criteria – natural beauty, wellbeing, employment and connectivity plus value for money.
We’re making our national ranking available for free, and you can use the interactive tool below to explore the entire league table – whether you’re curious to see how your current hometown scores or want some suggestions for places with more of what matters most to you.
Top ranked locations 2024
So where are Scotland’s top ranked locations for 2024?
At a glance, these are the locations that ranked highest in this year – these are the Best Places to Live in Scotland 2024:
- Kirkintilloch, East Dumbartonshire
- Blairgowrie and Rattray, Perthshire
- Crieff, Perthshire
- Selkirk, Borders
- Neilston, East Renfrewshire
- Ellon, Aberdeenshire
- Milngavie, East Dunbartonshire
- Ayr, South Ayrshire
- Linlithgow, West Lothian
- Cradlehall, Highlands
Use Garrington’s analysis tool to compare locations in Scotland
See the top 20 Best Places to Live in Scotland 2024
Scotland’s ‘Canal Capital’ crowned
Top of this year’s ranking is Kirkintilloch in East Dunbartonshire, which combines two thousand years of history with stunning countryside, a vibrant town centre, and quick links to Glasgow.
Fringed by the rolling hills of the Campsie Fells and straddling the Forth & Clyde Canal, Kirkintilloch scored highly in three of the four categories that determine the overall ranking.
With a past dating back to Roman times, Kirkintilloch celebrates its status as the ‘Canal Capital of Scotland’ with an annual canal festival.
Despite being an easy nine-mile commute from central Glasgow, its clean air quality helped it secure 10th place in the wellbeing category of our league table.
Meanwhile, the competitiveness of the price of an average home in the area (£276,000) compared to the regional average propelled the town to sixth place in the value for money category.
How they compare: The top 20 best places to live 2024 in Scotland in 2024
If Kirkintilloch offers the perfect blend of country living and easy access to the big city, Blairgowrie and Rattray are a gateway to the Scottish landscape at its most rugged and beautiful.
The twin towns are in Perthshire, just south of the Cairngorms National Park and the UK’s largest ski resort. The location offers residents a bewitching choice of outdoor pursuits and stunning views, earning Blairgowrie and Rattray the top spot in the wellbeing category and 10th place in natural beauty.
The best value places to live in Scotland
This Best Places to Live 2024 index has been updated and expanded to factor in the price correction seen in some areas of Scotland during 2023. Despite the price inflation recorded at a national level, prices in several popular locations fell – making them even better value.
Reflecting this trend, 14 out of the top 20 locations in our league table recorded a price fall in the 12 months to September, making these top spots both the best, and the best value, places to live in Scotland.
Top spot in the value category was shared between the village of Neilston and the nearby commuter town Barrhead, which sits in East Renfrewshire just a mile outside greater Glasgow.
Together they saw average prices dip by 0.7% to £291,000 in the 12 months to September.
Neilston came fifth in the overall ranking, while Barrhead’s strong performance in the employment and connectivity category, which measures proximity to high-paying jobs, transport and broadband connections, powered it to 14th place overall.
One place above it at 13th in the league table is Kirkwall, capital of Orkney, and the place seeing the sharpest price correction in the top 20. The price of an average home in the town, which boasts an iconic harbourfront and what was voted Scotland’s Most Beautiful High Street in 2019, fell by 8.4%.
The fall comes after the Orkneys enjoyed a huge post-pandemic spike in property prices; at one point in 2022, average prices rose by a third in the space of just a year, the fastest rate in Scotland.
Find your perfect place to live
To learn more about individual locations within the Best Places to Live 2024 rankings you can use the tool below to compare the best 161 cities, towns, and villages across Scotland.
Simply type the first three letters of the place you’re looking for into the interactive box. Alternatively, you can view all the locations in a region by selecting ‘browse by region’. Click the ‘Pin me’ button to view scores for two places side by side.
Getting expert help
If you feel you’d benefit from the guidance and expertise of a professional property buying agent, please get in touch for a no obligation discussion about your plans to move and the services we offer.
Tell Garrington about your search for a new home.
Research Methodology
Garrington’s Best Places to Live in Scotland 2024 report is an impartial, objective ranking based on publicly available data. The ranking is not based on subjective or personal opinions.
The research methods used are aligned with the Best Places to Live in 2024 in England and Wales publication. Our data team ranked 161 Scottish locations according to 12 separate criteria, including proximity to National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, air quality, crime figures, availability of high-paying jobs, transport and broadband connections.
Data Sources
A wide range of data sources have been used to create the Best Places to Live in Scotland 2024 report proprietary research methodology. These include:
The Office for National Statistics, Scottish Government, Welsh Government, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Land Registry, Royal Mail, Ordnance Survey, Natural England, Natural Resources Wales, Scottish Natural Heritage, DEFRA, BEIS, NapTAN (Ministry for Transport), PCT, Historic England and Dataloft.
