Best places to live & work as a security guards and related occupations in North West
Every local authority in North West ranked by the Gera Settle Score for a family with two children — ONS regional pay of £31,003 joined to real house prices, Ofsted school quality, crime and GP access.
Where is the best place to live and work as a security guards and related occupations in North West?
As of June 2026, the best place in North West to live and work as a security guards and related occupations for a family with two children is Blackburn with Darwen, with a Gera Settle Score of 86.8/100. The ONS ASHE full-time median pay for this occupation in North West is £31,003, against an average home price of £165,813 and 92.9% Good/Outstanding schools. Gera recomputes this quarterly.
| # | Local authority | Settle Score | Regional pay | Avg price | Years to buy | Good+ schools |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blackburn with Darwen | 86.8 | £31,003 | £165,813 | 5.3 | 92.9% |
| 2 | Wigan | 83.1 | £31,003 | £190,802 | 6.2 | 96.2% |
| 3 | Cumberland | 81.9 | £31,003 | £172,186 | 5.6 | 88.9% |
| 4 | Warrington | 80.4 | £31,003 | £253,219 | 8.2 | 100% |
| 5 | Westmorland and Furness | 78.7 | £31,003 | £223,414 | 7.2 | 90.7% |
| 6 | Bolton | 78.6 | £31,003 | £199,946 | 6.4 | 92.3% |
| 7 | Halton | 72.0 | £31,003 | £193,435 | 6.2 | 82.9% |
| 8 | Sefton | 70.0 | £31,003 | £218,893 | 7.1 | 85.1% |
| 9 | Knowsley | 69.1 | £31,003 | £192,756 | 6.2 | 80.8% |
| 10 | Cheshire West and Chester | 68.7 | £31,003 | £264,715 | 8.5 | 88.3% |
| 11 | Liverpool | 68.0 | £31,003 | £183,615 | 5.9 | 78.4% |
| 12 | Tameside | 65.8 | £31,003 | £212,609 | 6.9 | 79.5% |
| 13 | St Helens | 65.7 | £31,003 | £184,470 | 6.0 | 75.9% |
| 14 | Salford | 64.9 | £31,003 | £232,391 | 7.5 | 81% |
| 15 | Cheshire East | 64.0 | £31,003 | £296,091 | 9.6 | 87% |
| 16 | Wirral | 63.7 | £31,003 | £216,862 | 7.0 | 77.8% |
| 17 | Oldham | 63.7 | £31,003 | £212,066 | 6.8 | 77.1% |
| 18 | Rochdale | 62.4 | £31,003 | £211,558 | 6.8 | 75.6% |
| 19 | Blackpool | 59.7 | £31,003 | £134,732 | 4.3 | 58.3% |
| 20 | Bury | 58.9 | £31,003 | £233,630 | 7.5 | 74.4% |
| 21 | Manchester | 58.7 | £31,003 | £247,344 | 8.0 | 76% |
| 22 | Trafford | 54.7 | £31,003 | £381,052 | 12.3 | 88.6% |
| 23 | Stockport | 49.8 | £31,003 | £311,307 | 10.0 | 74.1% |
Find your own best area
Change occupation or family size — the ranking recomputes live from real data.
Your best places to live and work as a security guards and related occupations (UK median £33,832/yr), ranked by Gera Settle Score for a family with two children:
| # | Local authority | Settle Score | Local pay | Avg price | Yrs to buy | Good+ schools |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GatesheadNorth East | 91.0 | £28,837 | £158,885 | 5.5 | 96.9% |
| 2 | RutlandEast Midlands | 90.8 | £29,563 | £305,174 | 10.3 | 100% |
| 3 | SunderlandNorth East | 90.3 | £28,837 | £145,293 | 5.0 | 95.7% |
| 4 | WarringtonNorth West | 90.0 | £31,003 | £253,219 | 8.2 | 100% |
| 5 | DoncasterYorkshire and The Humber | 89.9 | £33,916 | £173,624 | 5.1 | 95.5% |
| 6 | MiddlesbroughNorth East | 89.4 | £28,837 | £139,005 | 4.8 | 95.8% |
| 7 | CalderdaleYorkshire and The Humber | 89.4 | £33,916 | £190,555 | 5.6 | 94.4% |
| 8 | Blackburn with DarwenNorth West | 89.1 | £31,003 | £165,813 | 5.3 | 92.9% |
| 9 | Bracknell ForestSouth East | 88.6 | £34,523 | £397,667 | 11.5 | 100% |
| 10 | Stoke-on-TrentWest Midlands | 87.4 | £34,488 | £152,101 | 4.4 | 88.1% |
| 11 | WiganNorth West | 87.4 | £31,003 | £190,802 | 6.2 | 96.2% |
| 12 | WolverhamptonWest Midlands | 87.1 | £34,488 | £215,264 | 6.2 | 90% |
| 13 | Milton KeynesSouth East | 86.9 | £34,523 | £318,038 | 9.2 | 95.3% |
| 14 | South TynesideNorth East | 86.9 | £28,837 | £156,931 | 5.4 | 92.3% |
| 15 | SandwellWest Midlands | 86.4 | £34,488 | £212,547 | 6.2 | 89.1% |
Salary is the ONS ASHE full-time regional median for your occupation; every other figure is the real Land Registry, Ofsted, Home Office and NHS value for the area. See the Gera Settle Score methodology.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the best place to live and work as a security guards and related occupations in England?
- Blackburn with Darwen (North West) tops the Gera Settle Score at 86.8/100, combining £31,003 regional pay, £165,813 average home price (5.3 years of pay) and 92.9% Good/Outstanding schools. Source: ONS ASHE + Land Registry + Ofsted, June 2026.
- What is the median salary for a security guards and related occupations in the UK?
- The ONS ASHE 2025 full-time median gross annual pay for security guards and related occupations is £33,832 (25th–75th percentile £27,982–£39,194), reference period April 2025, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- How is the Gera Settle Score calculated?
- It joins the ONS ASHE regional salary for your occupation to four real area datasets — affordability (Land Registry price ÷ regional pay), school quality (Ofsted % Good/Outstanding), safety (Home Office crime per 1,000) and GP access (NHS England) — each normalised 0–100, then weighted by your family size. Full method at /methodology/gera-settle-score.
- Which area scores lowest for a security guards and related occupations?
- Stockport (North West) has the lowest Gera Settle Score in this ranking at 49.8/100, mainly because a home there costs 10.0 years of local pay. All figures are real government data, June 2026.
Find a home in Blackburn with Darwen
Browse rentals and homes in Blackburn with Darwen and the rest of North West — the top Settle Score areas for your work and family.
Other regions for this occupation
Contains public sector information published by Gera Systems and licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Gera Settle Score — ONS ASHE salary joined to HM Land Registry, Ofsted, Home Office and NHS England area data (June 2026, published 19 June 2026).