Overall score
Read Edinburgh as a high-amenity, services-led capital where heritage and quality of life balance housing pressure.
Overall85/100
Affordability62/100
Air quality82/100
Energy80/100
United Kingdom / Western Europe
Edinburgh City Intelligence
Edinburgh combines deep cultural heritage, a strong financial-services sector, and a walkable historic core in a temperate maritime climate. Edinburgh is a western europe city of about 0.9M metro in United Kingdom. On the composite city-intelligence score, Edinburgh sits comfortably above the indexed median (85/100).
- Last updated
- 2026-05-10
- Data year
- 2025
- Population
- 0.9M metro
Overall city intelligence
Strong85/100
Composite directional score across affordability, air quality, clean energy, and resilience.
Cultural heritage
Globally cited
Heritage and creative ecosystems shape urban identity.
Services depth
High
Finance, tourism, and academic services support opportunity.
Edinburgh data table
The table is part of the initial server-rendered HTML and mirrors the key city score cards.
| Metric | Value | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Overall score | 85/100 | Composite score across major city intelligence modules. |
| Cost of Living | 62/100 | Edinburgh is expensive for rent during festival peaks, more moderate off-season; services costs are in line with UK peers. |
| Air Quality | 82/100 | Edinburgh performs solidly on air-quality benchmarks, with traffic-related pollutants the main focus. |
| Energy | 80/100 | Edinburgh benefits from Scotland's strong wind resource and active retrofit and electrification work. |
| Safety | 88/100 | Edinburgh scores well on safety, with stable institutional response and steady public-safety perception. |
| Internet Speed | 84/100 | Edinburgh offers reliable broadband and mobile networks supporting digital services and remote work. |
| Climate Risk | 80/100 | Edinburgh carries moderate climate risk centered on coastal storm exposure and heavy-rain stormwater pressure. |
| Resilience | 80/100 | Climate adaptation and infrastructure continuity context. |
Emergency and public safety in Edinburgh
Local public safety guidance for Edinburgh, with the country-level emergency contacts that apply when calling for police, fire, or ambulance.
| Service | Number | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Universal emergency | 99924/7 | 999 is the primary UK emergency number; 112 also connects to the same service from any phone. |
For the universal emergency contacts that apply in Edinburgh, including police, fire, and ambulance, see the United Kingdom emergency profile.
Public safety sources
Each emergency contact above is attributed to an official emergency service or government publisher. Confirm current numbers directly with these sources.
- European Commission: 112 — The European emergency number
Used as the primary attribution for the EU-wide 112 universal emergency number on European country profiles.
Last verified: 2026-05-10
Methodology and the wider source registry are documented on the scoring methodology and data sources pages.
Healthcare and hospitals in Edinburgh
Healthcare context for Edinburgh, with national-level information from United Kingdom where city-specific data is not yet verified. This is informational only and does not provide medical advice.
For the national healthcare and public-health context that applies in Edinburgh, see the United Kingdom healthcare profile.
Official hospital registry
NHS England service finder for locating hospitals and other NHS services by postcode.
Last verified: 2026-05-10
Healthcare sources
Each entry above is attributed to an official government, public health, or recognised health-system publisher. Confirm current information directly with these sources.
- National Health Service (UK): National Health Service
Used as the primary attribution for United Kingdom public-health and hospital information.
- National Health Service (UK): Find a hospital — NHS
Used as the official England hospital registry reference for verified facility lookups.
Last verified: 2026-05-10
Related sections: emergency and public safety, scoring methodology, and data sources.
Transport and mobility in Edinburgh
Local mobility context for Edinburgh, with national-level context from United Kingdom where city-specific data is not yet verified. This is informational only.
For national transport authorities and operators that apply in Edinburgh, see the United Kingdom transport profile.
Transport sources
Each entry above is attributed to an official transport authority, national operator, airport publisher, or government source. Confirm current information directly with these publishers.
- UK Government: Department for Transport
Used as the primary attribution for United Kingdom national transport context.
- UK Civil Aviation Authority: Civil Aviation Authority
Used as the primary attribution for United Kingdom aviation authority information.
- Network Rail: Network Rail
Used as the primary attribution for Great Britain rail infrastructure information.
Last verified: 2026-05-10
Related sections: emergency and public safety, healthcare and hospitals, cities directory, countries directory, scoring methodology, data sources.
Explore Edinburgh modules
City pages link to module and ranking pages so crawlers can move through the topic cluster naturally.
Cost of Living in Edinburgh
Edinburgh is expensive for rent during festival peaks, more moderate off-season; services costs are in line with UK peers.
Air Quality in Edinburgh
Edinburgh performs solidly on air-quality benchmarks, with traffic-related pollutants the main focus.
Energy in Edinburgh
Edinburgh benefits from Scotland's strong wind resource and active retrofit and electrification work.
Safety in Edinburgh
Edinburgh scores well on safety, with stable institutional response and steady public-safety perception.
Internet Speed in Edinburgh
Edinburgh offers reliable broadband and mobile networks supporting digital services and remote work.
Climate Risk in Edinburgh
Edinburgh carries moderate climate risk centered on coastal storm exposure and heavy-rain stormwater pressure.
City rankings
Compare this city against other indexed cities in crawlable ranking tables.
Interpretation
Read Edinburgh as a high-amenity, services-led capital where heritage and quality of life balance housing pressure. Its standout dimensions are safety (88/100) and internet speed (84/100). The area most worth watching is cost of living (62/100), where the model registers practical gaps. Data year 2025; last updated 2026-05-10. Drawn from 4 institutional references.
Country context is available on the United Kingdom country page. Related rankings include Overall Intelligence, Quality of Life, Remote Work. See where Edinburgh appears in global rankings or read the scoring methodology.
Structured indicators on this page are directional and intended for orientation. Verified datasets are being integrated; official sources should be used for critical decisions.
Sources
4 institutional references inform this view, listed below with reliability notes. Structured indicators on this page are directional and intended for orientation; verified datasets are being integrated and official sources should be used for critical decisions.
- UN-Habitat: World Cities Report 2024
Used as a policy and methodology reference for urban exposure and resilience signals.
- NASA: NASA POWER
Used as an energy-resource and weather-normalization reference.
- European Environment Agency: Air Quality Status Report
Used where European city comparisons need monitored air-quality context.
- IPCC: AR6 WGII Chapter 6: Cities, settlements and key infrastructure
Used to explain urban climate vulnerability and adaptation scoring logic.