Is Blackheath a nice place to live or is Blackheath 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 Blackheath meets our criteria.
How likely are you to a victim of crime in Blackheath?
The English Indices of Deprivation has a crime element for Blackheath. 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 Blackheath. 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 | Belle Vale | 21382 |
| 2 | Halesowen South | 18719 |
| 3 | Halesowen North | 16816 |
| 4 | Quarry Bank and Dudley Wood | 15006 |
| 5 | Blackheath | 14205 |
| 6 | Cradley Heath and Old Hill | 13889 |
| 7 | Netherton, Woodside and St Andrews | 13133 |
| 8 | Tividale | 13039 |
| 9 | Langley | 11216 |
| 10 | Rowley | 10557 |
FAILED
Northfield, Birmingham, the worst place anybody could wish to live
Is Blackheath a healthy place to live?
If you are thinking of moving to Blackheath, 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 Blackheath 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 | % |
|---|---|
| Birmingham | 5.99 |
| Dudley | 6.07 |
| Wolverhampton | 6.34 |
| Sandwell (Blackheath) | 6.64 |
The English Indices of Deprivation also has health statistics for Blackheath. 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 Blackheath. 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 | Halesowen South (Best) | 19337 |
| 2 | Halesowen North | 14585 |
| 3 | Belle Vale | 13319 |
| 4 | Quarry Bank and Dudley Wood | 10462 |
| 5 | Tividale | 9686 |
| 6 | Blackheath | 8783 |
| 7 | Rowley | 7991 |
| 8 | Netherton, Woodside and St Andrews | 7338 |
| 9 | Cradley Heath and Old Hill | 7188 |
| 10 | Langley (Worst) | 6693 |
FAILED
St Johns – The pretentious part of Lewisham in reality is just a fugly train station
Is Blackheath rough?
Using the English Indices of Deprivation statistics, we've collated the average rank for 10 wards in and around Blackheath. 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 | Halesowen South | 21669 |
| 2 | Halesowen North | 15328 |
| 3 | Belle Vale | 14506 |
| 4 | Tividale | 10833 |
| 5 | Blackheath | 9283 |
| 6 | Quarry Bank and Dudley Wood | 8950 |
| 7 | Cradley Heath and Old Hill | 8893 |
| 8 | Rowley | 8365 |
| 9 | Langley | 6243 |
| 10 | Netherton, Woodside and St Andrews | 5462 |
FAILED
How affordable are the rents in Blackheath?
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, Blackheath rents for each size property have to be less than 5% more than the median rent for West Midlands.
| Beds | Sandwell | West Midlands |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | £480 | £595 |
| 2 | £625 | £675 |
| 3 | £725 | £775 |
| 4 | £900 | £1100 |
PASSED
How much can I earn in Blackheath per week?
If you are thinking of moving to Blackheath, 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 Blackheath's local authority needs to be in first or second place compared to the three nearest local authorities.
| # | Local Authority | Median Pw |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Birmingham | £624.40 |
| 2 | Dudley | £622.90 |
| 3 | Sandwell (Blackheath) | £613.30 |
| 4 | Wolverhampton | £613.00 |
FAILED
Leisure & Entertainment
Is Blackheath a cultural mecca or a boring backwater. We’ve done the internet leg work for you!
Pools & Gyms
Just three miles up the road in Smethwick is the Sandwell Aquatic Centre one of the better Swimming Pools, that was built to host the swimming events of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. Quite impressive is the general consensus. However, you should probably give “swim! Oldbury” a wide birth given the reviews over the last year. Lots of mummies who’ve booked a taster session for their kiddiewinks, and all they’ve tasted is disappointment… allegedly.
You’re spoilt for choice for Gyms quite frankly in this area. If you looking for a ‘Do you even lift Bro?’ type place, we’d go for Pro Fitness. If you’re looking for more o fa middle class mummy, “Do you do Pilates classes?” type place, then The Works Health Club gets good reviews and looks pretty impressive.
