Is Pontefract, Yorkshire a nice place to live?

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

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

The English Indices of Deprivation has a crime element for Pontefract. 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 Pontefract. 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	Monk Fryston	23897
2	Byram & Brotherton	19993
3	Ackworth, North Elmsall and Upton	12682
4	Altofts and Whitwood	12091
5	Featherstone	10900
6	Airedale and Ferry Fryston	8816
7	Pontefract North	7934
8	Pontefract South	7788
9	Castleford Central and Glasshoughton	5320
10	Knottingley	3228

Is Pontefract a healthy place to live?

If you are thinking of moving to Pontefract, 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 Pontefract 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	%
Selby	4.35
East Riding of Yorkshire	5.38
Wakefield (Pontefract)	6.55
Barnsley	7.51

The English Indices of Deprivation also has health statistics for Pontefract. 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 Pontefract. 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	Monk Fryston (Best)	25963
2	Byram & Brotherton	23004
3	Ackworth, North Elmsall and Upton	11294
4	Altofts and Whitwood	9899
5	Pontefract South	9379
6	Featherstone	8022
7	Pontefract North	7754
8	Airedale and Ferry Fryston	7420
9	Castleford Central and Glasshoughton	7390
10	Knottingley (Worst)	6288

Is Pontefract rough?

Using the English Indices of Deprivation statistics, we've collated the average rank for 10 wards in and around Pontefract. 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	Monk Fryston	24670
2	Byram & Brotherton	20354
3	Ackworth, North Elmsall and Upton	14632
4	Altofts and Whitwood	12851
5	Pontefract South	11887
6	Pontefract North	9936
7	Featherstone	9919
8	Airedale and Ferry Fryston	9466
9	Castleford Central and Glasshoughton	8239
10	Knottingley	6514

How affordable are the rents in Pontefract?

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

Beds	Wakefield	West Yorkshire
1	£475	£500
2	£550	£575
3	£650	£650
4	£850	£1100

How much can I earn in Pontefract per week?

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

#	Local Authority	Median Pw
1	East Riding of Yorkshire UA	£660.00
2	Barnsley	£639.70
3	Wakefield (Pontefract)	£613.70

So, is Pontefract a nice place to live?

* Probably.