Is Durham, Durham a nice place to live?

Is Durham a nice place to live or is Durham a bit rough? For us there are a number of factors that make any town a nice place to live, like a low crime rate, low levels of deprivation, the good health of the residents, rent affordability and excellent wages. In this article we will see if Durham meets our criteria.

How likely are you to a victim of crime in Durham?

The English Indices of Deprivation has a crime element for Durham. They are a measure of how likely you are to be a victim of personal or material crime in an area, such as muggings or burglary. Naturally rural areas have less crime than urban areas, but for this part of our town assessment we've looked at the 10 wards nearest to the centre of Durham. To pass this section, 8 out of 10 of these wards need to be above the English national average rank of 16422.5

#WardCrime Rank
1West Auckland15552
2Crook15376
3Evenwood14622
4Spennymoor11459
5Tow Law9511
6Willington and Hunwick9067
7Bishop Auckland Town8628
8Coundon5136
9Woodhouse Close4740
10Shildon and Dene Valley3690
Crime
FAILED

Reader Opinion:

Brandon / Meadowfield, you will know that it is truly sh*t!

Is Durham a healthy place to live?

If you are thinking of moving to Durham, you want to know if the place is likely to put you on a downward spiral of ill health. For this section of the town assessment, we've examined government health statistics from the 2021 Census General Health question and the Indices of Multiple Deprivation's health element.The table below shows what percentage of Durham residents answered saying their health was either bad or very bad. To pass this section, the local authority has to have a percentage score less than or equal to 7%.

Local Authority%
Darlington5.88
Stockton-on-Tees6.25
County Durham (Durham)7.5
Hartlepool7.97

The English Indices of Deprivation also has health statistics for Durham. They measures the risk of premature death and the impairment of quality of life through poor physical or mental health, lovely! We've collated an average LSOA rank for 10 wards nearest to the centre of Durham. To pass this section, 8 out of 10 of these wards need to be above the English national average rank of 16422.5.

#WardHealth Rank
1Spennymoor (Best)9316
2Evenwood9202
3West Auckland7851
4Crook7051
5Willington and Hunwick6652
6Bishop Auckland Town6482
7Tow Law5939
8Coundon4497
9Shildon and Dene Valley4337
10Woodhouse Close (Worst)2472
Health
FAILED
Reader Opinion:

Darlington: Town of Brass Bands and Despair

Is Durham rough?

Using the English Indices of Deprivation statistics, we've collated the average rank for 10 wards in and around Durham. In layman's terms, this is how rough the ward is based on mutiple measures of deprivation including; employment, income, health, crime, housing and outside space. To pass this section as the town assessment, 8 out of 10 wards must have a ranking higher than the English average of 16422.5

#WardDeprivation Rank
1Spennymoor14088
2Evenwood12640
3West Auckland12561
4Bishop Auckland Town12223
5Crook10372
6Willington and Hunwick10253
7Tow Law7685
8Coundon4908
9Shildon and Dene Valley4561
10Woodhouse Close4081
Deprivation
FAILED



How affordable are the rents in Durham?

Every six months the Office for National statitics publishes a snapshot of rental costs. These market rental statistics are dated September 2023. We have used the median rental figure for this assessment as we believe this is a more realistic figure than the average (mean) that can be skewed by artificially low and high rents. To pass this section, Durham rents for each size property have to be less than 5% more than the median rent for .

BedsCounty Durham
1£375£
2£425£
3£500£
4£727£
Affordable Rents
FAILED



How much can I earn in Durham per week?

If you are thinking of moving to Durham, you'll want to know how much you can earn in a job in the town. Every year the government publishes statistics on gross weekly pay, these figures are for September 2023. To pass this section Durham's local authority needs to be in first or second place compared to the three nearest local authorities.

#Local AuthorityMedian Pw
1Hartlepool UA£619.90
2Stockton-on-Tees UA£619.50
3County Durham UA (Durham)£613.00
4Darlington UA£599.00
Wages
FAILED



So, is Durham a nice place to live?

Is Durham a nice place to live?
NO*
* Probably.