Is Plymouth, Devon a nice place to live?

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

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

The English Indices of Deprivation has a crime element for Plymouth. 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 Plymouth. 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
1Plymstock Radford24690
2Peverell22715
3Compton18708
4Ham12497
5Efford and Lipson11591
6Devonport10130
7Stoke8815
8Sutton and Mount Gould7937
9Drake7398
10St Peter and the Waterfront5069
Crime
FAILED

Reader Opinion:

Liskeard, Cornwall... moving here is biggest mistake you will ever make

Is Plymouth a healthy place to live?

If you are thinking of moving to Plymouth, 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 Plymouth 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%
South Hams5
West Devon5.35
Plymouth (Plymouth)6.42
Torbay7.33

The English Indices of Deprivation also has health statistics for Plymouth. 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 Plymouth. 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
1Peverell (Best)16570
2Plymstock Radford14650
3Compton12563
4Sutton and Mount Gould7263
5Stoke6681
6Ham5477
7Efford and Lipson4781
8Devonport4009
9Drake4006
10St Peter and the Waterfront (Worst)2992
Health
FAILED
Reader Opinion:

Looe: Tourists are the only thing going for this town

Is Plymouth rough?

Using the English Indices of Deprivation statistics, we've collated the average rank for 10 wards in and around Plymouth. 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
1Peverell22274
2Plymstock Radford21188
3Compton19581
4Drake11342
5Stoke8985
6Sutton and Mount Gould8317
7Efford and Lipson7006
8Ham6359
9St Peter and the Waterfront5103
10Devonport4866
Deprivation
FAILED



How affordable are the rents in Plymouth?

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

BedsPlymouth
1£525£
2£650£
3£775£
4£975£
Affordable Rents
FAILED



How much can I earn in Plymouth per week?

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

#Local AuthorityMedian Pw
1South Hams£669.00
2Plymouth UA (Plymouth)£620.50
3West Devon£599.00
4Torbay UA£574.90
Wages
PASSED



So, is Plymouth a nice place to live?

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