Is Poole, Dorset a nice place to live?

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

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

The English Indices of Deprivation has a crime element for Poole. 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 Poole. 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
1Broadstone29818
2Creekmoor25928
3South East Purbeck24603
4Canford Heath24178
5Oakdale23101
6Lytchett Matravers & Upton22696
7Parkstone22211
8Hamworthy19605
9Poole Town17056
10Newtown & Heatherlands14426
crime
PASSED

Reader Opinion:

Bournemouth, quite possibly the biggest lie ever conceived.

Is Poole a healthy place to live?

If you are thinking of moving to Poole, 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 Poole 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%
New Forest4.79
Southampton4.97
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (Poole)5.24
Isle of Wight6.74

The English Indices of Deprivation also has health statistics for Poole. 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 Poole. 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
1Broadstone (Best)27085
2Parkstone23682
3South East Purbeck22376
4Oakdale19618
5Lytchett Matravers & Upton19491
6Creekmoor19021
7Canford Heath16292
8Poole Town15706
9Newtown & Heatherlands14889
10Hamworthy (Worst)13435
Health
FAILED
Reader Opinion:

Poole - a downward curve of roller-coaster proportions

Is Poole rough?

Using the English Indices of Deprivation statistics, we've collated the average rank for 10 wards in and around Poole. 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
1Broadstone30867
2Parkstone25572
3Oakdale20962
4Lytchett Matravers & Upton20235
5Creekmoor19151
6Poole Town18082
7Canford Heath17368
8South East Purbeck17181
9Newtown & Heatherlands14864
10Hamworthy13690
Deprivation
PASSED



How affordable are the rents in Poole?

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

BedsBournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
1£675£
2£875£
3£1200£
4£1720£
Affordable Rents
FAILED



How much can I earn in Poole per week?

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

#Local AuthorityMedian Pw
1Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole UA (Poole)£674.90
2New Forest£674.10
3Southampton UA£651.60
4Isle of Wight UA£639.40
Wages
PASSED



So, is Poole a nice place to live?

Poole has passed our core town assesment with a score of 3/5.  However, the rents in Poole are more expensive than other parts of .

Is Poole a nice place to live?
YES
* Probably.