Is Axminster, Devon a nice place to live?

Is Axminster a nice place to live or is Axminster 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 Axminster meets our criteria.

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

The English Indices of Deprivation has a crime element for Axminster. 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 Axminster. To pass this section, 8 out of 10 of these wards need to be above the English national average rank of 16422.5

#	Ward	Crime Rank
1	Newbridges	31315
2	Dunkeswell & Otterhead	31006
3	Trinity	30700
4	Yarty	28351
5	Marshwood Vale	27606
6	Seaton	27568
7	Lyme & Charmouth	26109
8	Blackdown & Tatworth	25153
9	Axminster	21117
10	Chard Jocelyn	16198

Is Axminster a healthy place to live?

If you are thinking of moving to Axminster, 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 Axminster 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	%
Mid Devon	4.77
East Devon (Axminster)	4.85
Dorset	5.1
Somerset West and Taunton	5.2

The English Indices of Deprivation also has health statistics for Axminster. 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 Axminster. To pass this section, 8 out of 10 of these wards need to be above the English national average rank of 16422.5.

#	Ward	Health Rank
1	Trinity (Best)	31774
2	Dunkeswell & Otterhead	28357
3	Yarty	26872
4	Blackdown & Tatworth	24504
5	Lyme & Charmouth	24500
6	Newbridges	23680
7	Marshwood Vale	20797
8	Axminster	20633
9	Seaton	20532
10	Chard Jocelyn (Worst)	12156

Is Axminster rough?

Using the English Indices of Deprivation statistics, we've collated the average rank for 10 wards in and around Axminster. 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

#	Ward	Deprivation Rank
1	Trinity	24023
2	Lyme & Charmouth	23254
3	Seaton	21767
4	Blackdown & Tatworth	19001
5	Yarty	18102
6	Newbridges	18044
7	Axminster	17592
8	Dunkeswell & Otterhead	16959
9	Marshwood Vale	15756
10	Chard Jocelyn	14799

How affordable are the rents in Axminster?

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, Axminster rents for each size property have to be less than 5% more than the median rent for Devon.

Beds	East Devon	Devon
1	£560	£550
2	£725	£680
3	£875	£850
4	£1195	£1300

How much can I earn in Axminster per week?

If you are thinking of moving to Axminster, 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 Axminster's local authority needs to be in first or second place compared to the three nearest local authorities.

#	Local Authority	Median Pw
1	East Devon (Axminster)	£682.40
2	Dorset UA	£668.40
3	Mid Devon	£636.90

So, is Axminster a nice place to live?

Axminster has passed our core town assesment with a score of 4/5.  However, the rents in Axminster are more expensive than other parts of Devon.

* Probably.