Is Grays, Essex a nice place to live?

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

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

The English Indices of Deprivation has a crime element for Grays. 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 Grays. 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
1Chafford and North Stifford23516
2South Chafford22254
3Little Thurrock Rectory17140
4Stifford Clays16361
5Grays Thurrock14762
6Little Thurrock Blackshots13110
7West Thurrock and South Stifford9150
8Tilbury Riverside and Thurrock Park8753
9Grays Riverside8573
10Tilbury St Chads5444
Crime
FAILED

Reader Opinion:

Dartford: once a thriving market town, now in decline

Is Grays a healthy place to live?

If you are thinking of moving to Grays, 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 Grays 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%
Dartford3.76
Bexley4.33
Thurrock (Grays)4.34
Gravesham4.84

The English Indices of Deprivation also has health statistics for Grays. 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 Grays. 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
1South Chafford (Best)27140
2Chafford and North Stifford25508
3Little Thurrock Rectory24653
4Little Thurrock Blackshots21506
5Grays Riverside19120
6West Thurrock and South Stifford18880
7Grays Thurrock17886
8Stifford Clays16765
9Tilbury Riverside and Thurrock Park13867
10Tilbury St Chads (Worst)10705
health
PASSED
Reader Opinion:

Purfleet, Essex: home to chavs, druggies and jobless layabouts

Is Grays rough?

Using the English Indices of Deprivation statistics, we've collated the average rank for 10 wards in and around Grays. 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
1South Chafford27515
2Chafford and North Stifford25246
3Little Thurrock Rectory23408
4Little Thurrock Blackshots18395
5Stifford Clays16109
6Grays Thurrock15409
7Grays Riverside13618
8West Thurrock and South Stifford11894
9Tilbury Riverside and Thurrock Park7198
10Tilbury St Chads5253
Deprivation
FAILED



How affordable are the rents in Grays?

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

BedsThurrock
1£750£
2£934£
3£1200£
4£1500£
Affordable Rents
FAILED



How much can I earn in Grays per week?

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

#Local AuthorityMedian Pw
1Bexley£789.80
2Gravesham£755.40
3Dartford£753.00
4Thurrock UA (Grays)£711.90
Wages
FAILED



So, is Grays a nice place to live?

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