Official statistics · 7 of 9 measures compare directly
Aberdeenshire and Shetland Islands compared
Every measure Civometry publishes for both areas, side by side. Each figure is its publisher’s own for the period named beside it, and the difference between the two is stated in the middle. Neither area is called better: which direction counts as better depends on what you are asking, and the page does not decide that for you. Where the two figures are not comparable — a different period, or nothing published for one side — the row says so instead of showing a difference.
Aberdeenshire
S12000034 · Scotland
Shetland Islands
S12000027 · Scotland
Getting better or worse
+2
Civometry calculation on Home Office, ONS, HM Land Registry and MHCLG figures
The same in both
+2
Civometry calculation on Home Office, ONS, HM Land Registry and MHCLG figures
Population
264,640
National Records of Scotland: Mid-year population estimates time series
241,930 more in Aberdeenshire
22,710
National Records of Scotland: Mid-year population estimates time series
Median annual pay, full-time employees
£43,656
ONS: ASHE Table 8.7a: annual gross pay by place of residence
£2,871 more in Shetland Islands
£46,527
ONS: ASHE Table 8.7a: annual gross pay by place of residence
Average house price
£197,863
HM Land Registry: UK House Price Index: average prices
£10,204 more in Aberdeenshire
£187,659
HM Land Registry: UK House Price Index: average prices
All claimants
2.0%
ONS: Claimant count by sex and age (Nomis)
0.8 percentage points higher in Aberdeenshire
1.2%
ONS: Claimant count by sex and age (Nomis)
All recorded crime and offences
294
Scottish Government: Recorded Crime in Scotland: bulletin tables
91 more in Aberdeenshire
203
Scottish Government: Recorded Crime in Scotland: bulletin tables
House price to pay ratio
4.5 years
HM Land Registry: UK House Price Index: average prices
0.5 years more in Aberdeenshire
4.0 years
HM Land Registry: UK House Price Index: average prices
Annual rent as a share of pay
No published figure
ONS: Price Index of Private Rents, UK: monthly price statistics
No published figure for Aberdeenshire.
No published figure
ONS: Price Index of Private Rents, UK: monthly price statistics
Band D council tax as a share of pay
No published figure
MHCLG: Council tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026 to 2027
No published figure for Aberdeenshire.
No published figure
MHCLG: Council tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026 to 2027
In one sentence
In the latest published figures, population was 264,640 in Aberdeenshire and 22,710 in Shetland Islands (mid-2025); median annual pay, full-time employees was £43,656 in Aberdeenshire and £46,527 in Shetland Islands (2025); and average house price was £197,863 in Aberdeenshire and £187,659 in Shetland Islands (June 2026). (Civometry, from official statistics; each figure is the publisher's own.)
In the latest published figures, population was 264,640 in Aberdeenshire and 22,710 in Shetland Islands (mid-2025); median annual pay, full-time employees was £43,656 in Aberdeenshire and £46,527 in Shetland Islands (2025); and average house price was £197,863 in Aberdeenshire and £187,659 in Shetland Islands (June 2026). (Civometry, from official statistics; each figure is the publisher's own.)
Recorded crime by category
A category-by-category crime comparison needs both areas to have a full, current twelve months in the data.police.uk archive. One of them does not, so it is not shown; the crime rate above, where published, still comes from that archive.
What this comparison rests on
Two figures are only subtracted when they are the same measure over the same period. Populations differ (— and — residents on the latest estimates used here), so counts are shown alongside rates rather than instead of them. Nothing on this page is weighted, indexed or scored: every difference is one published number minus another, and the rows that cannot be compared say why.