Living in Kirkcaldy

In Kirkcaldy, unemployment is 3.3% (2025).

Kirkcaldy is a city in the United Kingdom.

Last checked 2026-10-0720 sources

Median gross salary (region)3,044EUR/month31 Dec 2024Official source · www.ons.gov.uk

Average rent971.9EUR/month31 Aug 2026Regional figureOfficial source · ONS Price Index of Private Rents, UK: monthly price statistics, Table 1, Rental price

Unemployment rate3.3%country median 3.4% — 3% belowOfficial source · www.nomisweb.co.uk

Recorded crime5,453incidents per 100,00031 Dec 2025District figureOfficial source · Recorded Crime in Scotland 2025-26, Table 4

PM2.5, annual mean4.36µg/m³31 Dec 2024Official source · uk-air.defra.gov.uk

Which United Kingdom-wide rules apply when you move to Kirkcaldy?

National rules stay on the country page instead of being relabelled as city data.

Visa and entry rulesPassport-specific entry and national residence context.BenefitsCountry-wide eligibility and official application routes.Taxes in United KingdomNational rates and thresholds that apply in Kirkcaldy.Healthcare eligibilityCountry-wide insurance and residence conditions.

Housing and cost

No city-level rent figure is published for Kirkcaldy. The available city-level cost figures remain below.

What recurs every month2 published recurring costs, € per month

€ / month

Internet, 60 Mbps€24

Mobile plan, 10 GB€13

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Internet, 60 Mbps unlimited	24.02 EUR/month	30 Sept 2026	BT Full Fibre 150¹Official · national market
Mobile plan, 10 GB	12.87 EUR/month	30 Sept 2026	Three 100GB one-month data pack⁸Official · national market
Average monthly rent (whole dwelling)	971.9 EUR/month	31 Aug 2026	ONS Price Index of Private Rents, UK: monthly price statistics, Table 1, Rental price²Official · regional context

Is Kirkcaldy a good place to live?

There is no universal answer. The profile scores below show who the available published evidence may suit; they are a decision aid, not a personal recommendation.

Try your profile

Remote worker54%strong on work, weak on safety · range 43–65%

Skilled employee66%strong on work, weak on safety · range 56–76%

Student43%strong on education, weak on work · range 33–53%

Family63%strong on family, weak on cost · range 52–74%

Retirement53%strong on air quality, weak on admin · range 39–67%

Work and income

What is the unemployment rate in Kirkcaldy?

The unemployment rate is 3.3 % (2025-2026). Source: www.nomisweb.co.uk¹⁰

Unemployment across cities in United KingdomUnemployment in Kirkcaldy is 3.3%. Of 999 cities with data, 652 have unemployment of 2 to under 4%.

652

263

0–22–44–66–88–1010–1216–18

Kirkcaldy 3.3%

Unemployment rate (%)

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Median gross salary (regional)	3,044 EUR/month	31 Dec 2024	www.ons.gov.uk¹¹Official
Unemployment rate	3.3 %country median 3.4%	31 Dec 2025	www.nomisweb.co.uk¹⁰Official

What does a salary buy in Kirkcaldy?

Take-home pay after tax, minus rent and the everyday bills this city publishes. Each line names its source.

Left over each month€1,523of €2,531 take-home

Rent
Internet
Mobile
Left over

Line-by-line breakdown and sources

Each month	€
Take-home payOECD Taxing Wages 2025, single, no children. Includes central and local income tax and employee social contributions; euro amounts at the ECB average for 2026-08.	€2,531
Rentaverage rent of a whole dwelling · official · ONS Price Index of Private Rents, UK: monthly price statistics, Table 1, Rental price · 2026-08-31	− €972
Internet€24 · official · BT Full Fibre 150 · 2026-09-30	− €24
Mobile plan€13 · official · Three 100GB one-month data pack · 2026-09-30	− €13
Other everyday billsnot published for this city: public transport pass, utilities	—
Left overbefore the bills this city does not publish	€1,523

Take-home pay for other salaries and households Compare with another city Check a job offer in Kirkcaldy Salary needed to live in Kirkcaldy

Public employment service

No exact public employment office is currently linked to Kirkcaldy. The verified national service may still offer online registration, job search or an official office finder.

Country-level information

Jobcentre Plus — Public employment service

Department for Work and Pensions

Job SearchUnemployment Claim

Open official service

Open the United Kingdom service overview

Country-level service information is not treated as proof of a physical office in Kirkcaldy. Sources checked through 10 Aug 2026.

Family and education

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Primary schools	16 count	3 Aug 2026	Scottish Government⁷Official
Schools	19 count	3 Aug 2026	Scottish Government⁷Official

School for children who move here. School is compulsory from age 5 to 16, and public school is free.

A country-wide rule for United Kingdom; Kirkcaldy's school authority applies it locally.

Sources: legislation.gov.uk · 1996–2026.

Safety

How safe is Kirkcaldy?

Police recorded about 5,453 incidents per 100,000 (2025-26). This counts all offences, so it is not comparable with a violent-crime-only rate from another source. Source: Recorded Crime in Scotland 2025-26, Table 4⁵

Recorded crime across major citiesKirkcaldy highlighted among comparable cities

recorded incidents per 100k residents

Manchester14,267

Bristol13,099

Liverpool12,409

Leeds11,462

Birmingham11,416

Leicester11,001

Sheffield9,693

Cardiff9,379

Belfast9,156

Coventry8,836

Glasgow757

Edinburgh549

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Recorded incidents per 100,000 residents	5,453 incidents per 100,000	31 Dec 2025	Recorded Crime in Scotland 2025-26, Table 4⁵Official · county

Mobility and administration

Kirkcaldy's nearest airport was EDI, 23 km away and offered 88 direct destinations.

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Direct destinations from the nearest major airport	88 count	3 Aug 2026	OpenFlights³Official
Distance to the nearest major airport	23 km	3 Aug 2026	OurAirports⁴Official
Nearest major airport (IATA code)	EDI	3 Aug 2026	OurAirports⁴Official

Climate and air quality

Is the air quality good in Kirkcaldy?

The annual PM2.5 mean is about 4.4 µg/m³ (2024) — within the WHO 2021 guideline.

Annual mean at the measuring site(s) serving the city; current-day readings differ.

PM2.5 — annual mean: 4.36 µg/m³ · uk-air.defra.gov.uk⁹

Air quality vs health guidelinesAnnual means against WHO 2021 guidelines and EU legal limits

Within WHO 2021 guidelineAbove WHO, within EU limitAbove EU legal limitCity annual mean · µg/m³

PM2.54.4WHO 5 · EU 25

City values from the published air-quality observations. WHO 2021 guidelines and EU limit values are published constants.

PM2.5 across cities in United KingdomAnnual PM2.5 in Kirkcaldy is 4.4 µg/m³. Of 941 cities with data, 487 have annual PM2.5 of 6 to under 7 µg/m³.

211

487

200

3–44–55–66–77–88–99–1013–14

Kirkcaldy 4.4

Annual PM2.5 (µg/m³)

Metric	Value	Period	Source
PM2.5 — annual mean	4.36 µg/m³	31 Dec 2024	uk-air.defra.gov.uk⁹Official source, approximated value · Supplemental context

Additional context

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Universities	0 count	3 Aug 2026	Scottish Funding Council⁶Official

Alternatives for people set on Kirkcaldy

Three places for the three reasons people leave a city on the shortlist: stay in the region, stay in the country, or keep the budget and change the country. A percentage appears only where both cities publish that metric from the same source, period and grain. Distances are straight lines — travel times are not collected yet.

Livingston as a Kirkcaldy alternative in the same region

33 km away, better on 1 of 3 metrics measured the same way, worse on 1.

Median gross pay, region: €3,266 Livingston vs €3,044 Kirkcaldy+7%
Annual PM2.5: 4.7 µg/m³ Livingston vs 4.4 µg/m³ Kirkcaldy+8%
Recorded crime, per 100k: 5,527 Livingston vs 5,453 Kirkcaldysame level

Full comparison More about Livingston

Cities near Kirkcaldy

Published cities within 25 km, nearest first. Distances are straight-line.

How does Kirkcaldy compare?

Pick a city. The answer appears here and the address bar keeps it, so the comparison can be shared; the page stays Kirkcaldy's.

Open the full comparison

Yes — migrants can receive medical care in Kirkcaldy under the national coverage rules.

Healthcare access follows the country-wide insurance rules; local capacity facts remain city data and are not used as proof of eligibility.

Open the official coverage guide

Country rule verified 2026-08-03.

Put Kirkcaldy's key facts on your site — a card with this page's figures and a link back, free under CC BY 4.0.

Common questions

Answered from the published values on this page, each with its source and date.

Is the air quality good in Kirkcaldy?

The annual PM2.5 mean is about 4.4 µg/m³ (2024) — within the WHO 2021 guideline. Source: uk-air.defra.gov.uk.

How safe is Kirkcaldy?

What is the unemployment rate in Kirkcaldy?

The unemployment rate is 3.3 % (2025-2026). Source: www.nomisweb.co.uk.

What is the typical salary around Kirkcaldy?

The median gross salary is 3,044 EUR/month. Source: www.ons.gov.uk.

Is Kirkcaldy a good place to live?

Kirkcaldy may suit different people for different reasons. The page's profile scores compare published cost, work, housing, safety, healthcare and other available factors; they are a decision aid, not a universal recommendation.

Which cities are near Kirkcaldy?

Burntisland, Lochgelly, Glenrothes, Cowdenbeath, Ballingry are near Kirkcaldy. Typed relationship labels are shown where published; other rows use straight-line distance from admitted coordinates.

Cite this page

Open a format to select or copy this ImmigrationDB compilation citation. The native disclosure and text fallback work without JavaScript.

APA citation

ImmigrationDB. (2026, October 16). Kirkcaldy, United Kingdom: rent, salary, cost of living [ImmigrationDB compilation; version 52d7dced1b08e9053720d039daa2891a]. ImmigrationDB. https://immigrationdb.com/cities/uk/kirkcaldy/ Retrieved 2026-10-16. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

BibTeX citation

@misc{immigrationdb_immigrationdb_kirkcaldy-united-kingdom-rent-salary-cost-of-living_e7cd04ac3890,
  author = {ImmigrationDB},
  title = {Kirkcaldy, United Kingdom: rent, salary, cost of living},
  publisher = {ImmigrationDB},
  year = {2026},
  date = {2026-10-16},
  version = {52d7dced1b08e9053720d039daa2891a},
  url = {https://immigrationdb.com/cities/uk/kirkcaldy/},
  note = {Retrieved 2026-10-16. ImmigrationDB compilation. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/},
}

Markdown citation

[Kirkcaldy, United Kingdom: rent, salary, cost of living](https://immigrationdb.com/cities/uk/kirkcaldy/) — ImmigrationDB; ImmigrationDB; version 52d7dced1b08e9053720d039daa2891a; retrieved 2026-10-16; built 2026-10-16.

This citation identifies the ImmigrationDB compilation/page. Underlying source publishers and datasets retain their own terms; inspect the Sources section and cite those records separately. View the underlying source records.

Sources

JSON Markdown

BT Full Fibre 150 bt.com · checked 2026-09-15
ONS Price Index of Private Rents, UK: monthly price statistics, Table 1, Rental price ons.gov.uk · checked 2026-09-25
OpenFlights raw.githubusercontent.com · checked 2026-08-03
OurAirports davidmegginson.github.io · checked 2026-08-03
Recorded Crime in Scotland 2025-26, Table 4 gov.scot · checked 2026-10-05
Scottish Funding Council sfc.ac.uk · checked 2026-08-03
Scottish Government gov.scot · checked 2026-08-03
Three 100GB one-month data pack three.co.uk · checked 2026-09-15
uk-air.defra.gov.uk uk-air.defra.gov.uk · checked 2026-08-26
www.nomisweb.co.uk nomisweb.co.uk · checked 2026-08-26

Show 10 more sources

www.ons.gov.uk ons.gov.uk · checked 2026-08-27
Coordinate identity evidence wikidata.org · checked 2026-09-06
Coordinate identity evidence wikidata.org · checked 2026-09-06
Coordinate identity evidence wikidata.org · checked 2026-09-06
Coordinate identity evidence wikidata.org · checked 2026-09-06
Coordinate identity evidence wikidata.org · checked 2026-09-06
Coordinate identity evidence wikidata.org · checked 2026-09-06
Coordinate identity evidence wikidata.org · checked 2026-09-06
Coordinate identity evidence wikidata.org · checked 2026-09-06
Coordinate identity evidence wikidata.org · checked 2026-09-06

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