Scotland's ‘best and worst' areas to live in 2025 according to new analysis
The analysis, by The Sunday Times, shows huge variation in public service performance across the country.
The data shows that some councils are recycling twice as much as others, while in some areas, residents are half as likely to have their first cancer treatment within 62 days as those in other areas.
The Sunday Times studied geographical areas covered by each council and the public services provided within those regions. The responsibility for some of those services falls under the remit of different bodies - for example, health services are run by NHS boards.
The rankings were compiled using 11 indicators from five key categories – education, health, community, policing and finance. Weighting was applied by population size and the importance of each category, with health and education deemed the most important.
Magnus Llewellin, editor of The Times and The Sunday Times Scotland, said 'We all understand that where you live has a huge bearing on your quality of life. But quantifying those differences across areas such as health, education, community and crime isn't readily available for readers.
'That is why the Sunday Times has carried out this analysis across Scotland. It gives people a measure of the differences which, in a number of cases, are stark.'
Three councils, Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands and the Western Isles, were excluded from the rankings because of a huge variation in population size and different methods of data collection.
Take a look through our gallery to see the huge variation in public service performance across Scotland's local authority areas, as revealed in this analysis by The Sunday Times.
1 . East Renfrewshire - 1st
East Renfrewshire is the best council area in Scotland according to The Sunday Times. Education: 1 Health: 4 Community: 1 Crime: 21 Finance: 4 | Google Photo: Google Photo Sales
2 . East Dunbartonshire - 2nd
East Dunbartonshire comes in second. Education: 2 Health: 4 Community: 18 Crime: 6 Finance: 5 | Google Photo: Google Photo Sales
3 . South Ayrshire - 3rd
Education: 9 Health: 1 Community: 4 Crime: 14 Finance: 9 | Canva/Getty Images Photo Sales
4 . Inverclyde - 4th
Education: 7 Health: 4 Community: 17 Crime: 8 Finance: 3 | James / Adobe Stock Photo Sales
Related topics: ScotlandNHSCrimeCommunityCouncil
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