Is Berwick upon Tweed, Northumberland a nice place to live?

Is Berwick upon Tweed a nice place to live or is Berwick upon Tweed 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 Berwick upon Tweed meets our criteria.

How likely are you to a victim of crime in Berwick upon Tweed?

The English Indices of Deprivation has a crime element for Berwick upon Tweed. 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 Berwick upon Tweed. 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
1Wooler28829
2Bamburgh28566
3Norham and Islandshires28417
4Berwick West with Ord26020
5Berwick East16564
6Berwick North14650
7Kelso and District5199
8Mid Berwickshire5008
9Jedburgh and District4956
10East Berwickshire4795
Crime
FAILED

Is Berwick upon Tweed a healthy place to live?

If you are thinking of moving to Berwick upon Tweed, 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 Berwick upon Tweed 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%
Northumberland (Berwick upon Tweed)6.22

The English Indices of Deprivation also has health statistics for Berwick upon Tweed. 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 Berwick upon Tweed. 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
1Wooler (Best)22476
2Norham and Islandshires19327
3Bamburgh19167
4Berwick North14437
5Berwick West with Ord14382
6Berwick East11153
7Kelso and District4373
8Jedburgh and District4283
9Mid Berwickshire4126
10East Berwickshire (Worst)3791
Health
FAILED

Is Berwick upon Tweed rough?

Using the English Indices of Deprivation statistics, we've collated the average rank for 10 wards in and around Berwick upon Tweed. 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
1Berwick West with Ord15892
2Berwick North15880
3Bamburgh14129
4Wooler13648
5Berwick East10403
6Norham and Islandshires10073
7Kelso and District4099
8Jedburgh and District3966
9Mid Berwickshire3733
10East Berwickshire3434
Deprivation
FAILED



How affordable are the rents in Berwick upon Tweed?

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

BedsNorthumberland
1£375£
2£450£
3£553£
4£850£
Affordable Rents
FAILED



How much can I earn in Berwick upon Tweed per week?

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

#Local AuthorityMedian Pw
1City of Edinburgh£720.70
2Midlothian£715.70
3East Lothian£667.40
4Northumberland UA (Berwick upon Tweed)£652.10
Wages
FAILED



So, is Berwick upon Tweed a nice place to live?

Is Berwick upon Tweed a nice place to live?
NO*
* Probably.