Is Blandford Forum, Dorset a nice place to live?

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

How likely are you to a victim of crime in Blandford Forum?

The English Indices of Deprivation has a crime element for Blandford Forum. 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 Blandford Forum. 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
1Puddletown & Lower Winterborne30097
2Winterborne North29220
3Blackmore Vale29024
4Sturminster Newton28783
5Hill Forts & Upper Tarrants27815
6Cranborne Chase26926
7Blandford24565
8Beacon24111
9Stour & Allen Vale23779
10Wimborne Minster18287
crime
PASSED

Reader Opinion:

Sheerness: industrial eyesore & the ‘crapital’ of the Isle of Sheppey

Is Blandford Forum a healthy place to live?

If you are thinking of moving to Blandford Forum, 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 Blandford Forum 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
South Somerset4.96
Dorset (Blandford Forum)5.1
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole5.24

The English Indices of Deprivation also has health statistics for Blandford Forum. 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 Blandford Forum. 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
1Stour & Allen Vale (Best)31219
2Cranborne Chase28633
3Sturminster Newton25319
4Wimborne Minster24785
5Blackmore Vale24714
6Puddletown & Lower Winterborne24658
7Hill Forts & Upper Tarrants23682
8Beacon23040
9Winterborne North22493
10Blandford (Worst)21908
health
PASSED
Reader Opinion:

Why Droylsden is Sh*t: Part 1

Is Blandford Forum rough?

Using the English Indices of Deprivation statistics, we've collated the average rank for 10 wards in and around Blandford Forum. 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
1Stour & Allen Vale23460
2Wimborne Minster23208
3Sturminster Newton20230
4Blandford20146
5Puddletown & Lower Winterborne18852
6Cranborne Chase18360
7Hill Forts & Upper Tarrants17888
8Blackmore Vale17785
9Winterborne North16634
10Beacon15258
Deprivation
PASSED



How affordable are the rents in Blandford Forum?

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

BedsDorset
1£600£
2£750£
3£918£
4£1250£
Affordable Rents
FAILED



How much can I earn in Blandford Forum per week?

If you are thinking of moving to Blandford Forum, 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 Blandford Forum'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£674.90
2New Forest£674.10
3Dorset UA (Blandford Forum)£668.40
Wages
FAILED



So, is Blandford Forum a nice place to live?

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

Is Blandford Forum a nice place to live?
YES
* Probably.