12 Safest Places To Live In Scotland (2022 Update)

Observe: This article’s stats come from third-celebration resources and do not depict the opinions of this site.

Total, criminal offense in Scotland has fallen 24% given that 2010 and whilst there was a nominal increase in recorded criminal offense costs in 2019-2020, charges have remained in close proximity to their lowest figures at any time. In 2019/twenty, there ended up a complete of approximately 250,000 crimes documented, noticeably reduce than the 570,000 that ended up documented in the peak year of 1991.

Crimes of dishonesty account for forty five% of reported crimes, and these include theft and fraud. Sexual crimes account for five% of all reported crimes, with 4% being non-sexual violent crimes. In 2020/21, just 55 homicides ended up recorded in the place, which is the cheapest determine recorded considering that data began. With a populace of 5.four million, the homicide charge is equivalent to one.01 homicides for each a hundred,000 men and women, creating Scotland a risk-free country total.

However, as with any country, there are some cities and locations that are regarded far more unsafe than others. Glasgow is historically the most unsafe city in Scotland, with a crime price of 6,800 per one hundred,000, such as all described crimes. Beneath are 12 of the most secure locations to reside in Scotland, which includes some large metropolitan areas, as nicely as scaled-down rural communities. Usually talking, the Highlands and Islands are regarded the most secure communities in which to dwell, but there are some large towns and metropolitan areas that are also risk-free.

The 12 Safest Places in Scotland

1. North Berwick

12 Safest Places To Live In Scotland (2022 Update)
Image Credit: Dav8, Pixabay
Population: 7,000
Average House Price: £475,000

20 miles from Edinburgh is the seaside city of North Berwick. It turned common in the 19th century, as a holiday getaway vacation resort, and its golf courses, seashores, yacht club, and close by Tantallon Castle imply that it continues to be a well-known vacationer place. It is the golfing programs and attractive properties that have observed its residence rates continue being on par with the well-liked metropolis of Edinburgh.

Criminal offense charges are reduced and North Berwick has a nicely-respected high faculty, while the 20-mile commute into Edinburgh signifies that it is also well-liked with those that function in the town but want a far more secluded house. Creator Robert Louis Stevenson holidayed in the spot and the nearby Island of Fidra is considered to have been the inspiration for his function, Treasure Island.


2. Bearsden

Population: 28,000
Average House Price: £380,000

Though Glasgow town centre has a substantial crime rate, there are some neighbourhoods and locations of the metropolis that are regarded safe and are considerably a lot more appealing as locations to stay. Bearsden, for instance, is on the edge of Increased Glasgow. It has a populace of 28,000 individuals and is common as a commuting town for those that operate in the metropolis. Most houses are detached homes, and the area is regarded affluent.

The town has two large colleges, which are graded properly over average, and eight primary faculties. Soccer manager David Moyes, musician Edwyn Collins, and Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits were all born or went to school in Bearsden.


3. Dunkeld

12 Safest Places To Live In Scotland (2022 Update)
Image Credit: Botond Horvath, Shutterstock
Population: 1,300
Average House Price: £280,000

Dunkeld is a small city with a population of one,three hundred but it is a historically and normally important city. The spot has been settled considering that historical occasions, has a historical cathedral, and was even declared the cash of the Scottish country by Kenneth MacAlpin, the initial King of Scots, in the ninth Century.

Despite its abundant background, Dunkeld has by no means really grown in population, and, in truth, it took the intervention of the Nationwide Have faith in for Scotland (NTS) to assist revive the town in the forties right after the opening of a railroad to the north. As nicely as getting two stores in the city centre, the NTS is also liable for 20 homes in the town. Their intervention implies that Dunkeld is regarded 1 of the most intact 18th Century Scottish cities. Regular property prices are less than £300,000.


4. Orkney Islands

12 Safest Places To Live In Scotland (2022 Update)
Image Credit: Stevieraith, Pixabay
Population: 22,000
Average House Price: £160,000

The Orkney Islands are an archipelago of approximately 70 islands off the North coastline of Scotland. 20 of these islands are inhabited, with an common house cost of just £160,000 and extremely lower recorded crime charges. Locals, known as Orcadians, converse their personal dialect of the Scots language, and the islands are recognized for becoming a generally happy area to reside.

However, relocating to a remote island that receives battered by temperature and endures some quite extended evenings for the duration of winter season, isn’t for every person. The islands are historically essential and have been selected a UNESCO Entire world Heritage Web site for their brilliantly preserved Neolithic internet sites, and the islands make more wind and photo voltaic energy than they use, making them very special among countries.

The islands depend on farming with agriculture getting the most important economic climate, although fishing remains an crucial sector, way too. There are two whiskey distilleries, and pre-Covid, tourism was regarded as a quite critical economic contributor.


5. Broughty Ferry

Population: 13,000
Average House Price: £240,000

Broughty Ferry is a suburb of the town of Dundee with a inhabitants of thirteen,000 people. It commenced out as a whaling city and grew to become common with jute barons in the 19th century. The barons developed their mansions in the area and modern day house charges typical £240,000 in the location.

Most citizens that live in Broughty Ferry work in Dundee metropolis, Broughty Ferry brings together the classic with the modern day and is property to numerous of Dundee’s and Scotland’s top dining places, as nicely as a collection of fashionable bars.

As effectively as the Broughty Ferry Gala Week, which is a weeklong sequence of occasions and family enjoyable routines, the suburb also sees the New Year’s Dook. On New Year’s Day, locals gown up in fancy dress and enter the harbour waters. Originally very a tiny event, the occasion now appeals to around three hundred Dookers every year and has by no means been cancelled since it started in 1891, even in spite of needing pickaxes to crack the ice in 1989.


6. Shetland Islands

12 Safest Places To Live In Scotland (2022 Update)
Image Credit: Peggychoucair, Pixabay
Population: 23,000
Average House Price: £180,000

The Shetland Islands is an archipelago of one hundred islands, though significantly less than twenty are inhabited, that are a hundred and forty miles off the coastline of Norway. There is a whole inhabitants 23,000 people and houses price an common of £180,000. The islands have a quite powerful Norse website link and their own Shetland dialect. Shetland was under Norwegian possession until the 14th century, and in 1471, the islands grew to become part of the Crown of Scotland.

The Shetland Islands depend on agriculture, fishing, and renewable vitality, as well as the collection of crude oil and natural gasoline, for their economic climate. Shetland is house to a rocket start website and there are plans to launch a hydrogen run spacecraft from the website in 2023. The islands have 22 major faculties, 5 junior substantial and two high faculties.


7. Stirling

12 Safest Places To Live In Scotland (2022 Update)
Image Credit: ShenXin, Pixabay
Population: 38,000
Average House Price: £200,000

Stirling is identified as the gateway to the Highlands and is positioned in central Scotland. It has a populace of 38,000 so is a reasonably little metropolis. Despite the fact that once a marketplace city, Stirling is now a hub for government and general public providers, retail, tourism, and greater schooling.

The College of Stirling, situated just outdoors the town, has a population of approximately eleven,000 college students and the city is notably busier throughout the educational 12 months. Stirling Castle is an important element of the town that was voted the most secure city in the Uk in 2019. The regular home fees £200,000, key companies are the college and nearby authorities, and it has simple rail hyperlinks to Glasgow and Edinburgh, producing them very easily commutable.


8. Dennistoun

Population: 10,000
Average House Price: £275,000

Though Glasgow is regarded one of the the very least risk-free spots to stay in Scotland, it is a vivid city with plenty to offer you, and not all places or neighbourhoods are uninviting. Dennistoun is a Glasgow neighbourhood in the east of the city.

The location was proven in the 18th century and became a component of Glasgow in 1846. Though the authentic intention was to create the location as a middle-course neighbourhood, it grew to become a common region for respectable working-course people. Victorian buildings had been largely replaced by modern blocks following the war, and subsequent gentrification has observed it grow to be a popular location with college students and specialists. The average home price tag is £275,000, even though most homes marketed are flats, which have an typical price tag of £160,000. The singer Lulu grew up on Garfield Street in Dennistoun.


9. Isle of Eigg

12 Safest Places To Live In Scotland (2022 Update)
Isle of Eigg (Image Credit: Tom Parnell, Wikimedia Commons CC SA 2.0 Generic)
Population: 100
Average House Price: £300,000

The Isle of Eigg is a 12 square mile island in the Inner Hebrides with a small populace of just in excess of one hundred people. Residences seldom come up for sale, with most islanders remaining for a long time.

The island is owned by the Eigg Heritage Trust and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, and the island is operate as a nature reserve. The Believe in adopted the island in 1997 right after the prior estate owner allow the island become run down and derelict. Despite possessing this kind of a little inhabitants, Eigg is well-liked with site visitors, and around ten,000 people a yr go to its organic shores. The island is quiet and employment possibilities are scarce, but it has reduced crime rates and delivers a laid-again way of daily life.


10. Portobello

12 Safest Places To Live In Scotland (2022 Update)
Image Credit: Medienservice, Pixabay
Population: 32,000
Average House Price: £300,000

Portobello is a seaside suburb of Edinburgh and has been voted the ideal neighbourhood in the United kingdom to dwell. Several of the actions in the region are concentrated on and close to the Promenade and seafront. Portobello has staged the qualifiers for the Olympic seaside-volleyball opposition. It holds an annual celebration referred to as The Huge Seashore Busk, with hundreds of musicians taking component in the celebration on the very last Saturday in August. It is estimated that the Busk appeals to fifteen,000 guests a yr to Portobellow.

As a component of Edinburgh city, Portobello has several employment options and the common property cost for this affluent and attractive neighbourhood is around £300,000.


11. Melrose

12 Safest Places To Live In Scotland (2022 Update)
Image Credit: Fischb, Pixabay
Population: 2,500
Average House Price: £250,000

Melrose, which signifies bald moor in Gaelic, is a town in the Scottish Borders with a inhabitants of about two,500 people. It has been detailed as 1 of the best spots to dwell in Scotland, in 2020, many thanks to its surrounding countryside and its laid-again atmosphere.

Every single year, the Borders Ebook Pageant draws in hundreds of website visitors to the town and has observed superstar participants such as Michael Palin and Ian Rankin. It also plays host to the Eildon Two Hills Race and the Melrose Pipe Band Championships. King Arthur is said to be buried in the Eildon Hills that forget about the town and Sir Walter Scott, Ivanhoe, and Rob Roy writer, lived in the area.


12. Aberdeen

12 Safest Places To Live In Scotland (2022 Update)
Image Credit: travelphotographer, Pixabay
Population: 200,000
Average House Price: £200,000

Aberdeen is the third premier Scottish metropolis, by population, with 200,000 citizens. The former textile and delivery town has been named greatest Uk metropolis to begin a new enterprise and was categorised as a super metropolis that was partially responsible for supporting generate the UK’s economy.

Regular house cost in the city is £200,000 and Aberdeen is properly-acknowledged for its network of forty five parks and green spaces. It is said to have much more than 2 million roses as well as 3 million crocuses and eleven million daffodils, planted throughout the metropolis. It is a frequent winner of the Scotland in Bloom competitors and has received the big metropolis Scotland in Bloom area every calendar year given that 1968.

How To Stay Safe In Scotland

Scotland is, total, a secure place to visit and live and statistically, you are unlikely to drop sufferer to violent or other criminal offense. Nevertheless, there are some regions that are deemed more harmful than other people. Glasgow has anything of a status for violence, although this tends to be even worse at night and close to bars. To decrease your possibilities of slipping sufferer to crime:

  • Plan And Research – Always research the area you’re visiting or plan to move to. Look for details of local emergency services, plan your travel route, and try to prearrange any public transport you require. Most Scottish cities have extensive taxi services, but it can be difficult to get any type of transport in other areas of the country. Also ensure that you know local laws and regulations.
  • Don’t Advertise Your Valuables – Cities are especially prone to pickpockets and thieves, and the best way to avoid having your valuables stolen is to avoid advertising them. Keep mobile phones and other valuables in a secure bag or inside pocket, although do ensure that your phone is fully charged and ready for use.
  • Avoid Nightclubs And Bars Late At Night – Most crimes, especially violent crimes, occur at night and when people are drunk. Avoid bars and nightclubs when it is late or travel in a group to avoid any confrontation.
  • Stay Safe In The Countryside – Scotland is a beautiful country, but it is rugged and wild outside the cities and main towns. Ensure you know your surroundings, research the area you’re visiting, and follow local guidelines to help stay safe while in mountains, on remote islands, or out in the country.

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Conclusion

Scotland, with a inhabitants of just above 5 million people, is a typically risk-free country to go to. It has a low murder charge and reduce criminal offense charges than England and Wales. Glasgow has the highest crime rate in the country, but even this major town is deemed safer than a whole lot of other towns of a related size. With that explained, if you are looking for somewhere safe to live, the Highlands and islands are likely to have the most affordable crime charges in Scotland, despite the fact that the city of Aberdeen not only has minimal crime costs but is routinely voted and awarded for becoming one of the greatest cities and cities to live in the United kingdom.

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Showcased Picture Credit: dassel, Pixabay

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