Is Rochester a nice place to live or is Rochester 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 Rochester meets our criteria.
How likely are you to a victim of crime in Rochester?
The English Indices of Deprivation has a crime element for Rochester. 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 Rochester. 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 | Strood Rural | 14361 |
| 2 | Rochester South and Horsted | 12266 |
| 3 | Strood North | 12046 |
| 4 | Strood South | 8500 |
| 5 | River | 7986 |
| 6 | Rochester East | 5339 |
| 7 | Rochester West | 5062 |
| 8 | Luton and Wayfield | 3300 |
| 9 | Gillingham North | 3097 |
| 10 | Chatham Central | 2313 |
FAILED
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Is Rochester a healthy place to live?
If you are thinking of moving to Rochester, 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 Rochester 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 | % |
|---|---|
| Dartford | 3.76 |
| Tonbridge and Malling | 4 |
| Gravesham | 4.84 |
| Medway (Rochester) | 5.1 |
The English Indices of Deprivation also has health statistics for Rochester. 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 Rochester. 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 | Rochester South and Horsted (Best) | 19230 |
| 2 | Strood Rural | 19044 |
| 3 | Rochester West | 18250 |
| 4 | Strood North | 16679 |
| 5 | Rochester East | 13775 |
| 6 | Strood South | 13571 |
| 7 | River | 11043 |
| 8 | Gillingham North | 9879 |
| 9 | Luton and Wayfield | 8421 |
| 10 | Chatham Central (Worst) | 8025 |
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Is Rochester rough?
Using the English Indices of Deprivation statistics, we've collated the average rank for 10 wards in and around Rochester. 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 | Rochester South and Horsted | 19775 |
| 2 | Strood Rural | 19603 |
| 3 | Strood North | 15505 |
| 4 | Rochester West | 15081 |
| 5 | Rochester East | 10889 |
| 6 | River | 10527 |
| 7 | Strood South | 9583 |
| 8 | Gillingham North | 5730 |
| 9 | Luton and Wayfield | 5326 |
| 10 | Chatham Central | 4752 |
FAILED
How affordable are the rents in Rochester?
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, Rochester rents for each size property have to be less than 5% more than the median rent for .
| Beds | Medway | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | £690 | £ |
| 2 | £850 | £ |
| 3 | £950 | £ |
| 4 | £1350 | £ |
FAILED
How much can I earn in Rochester per week?
If you are thinking of moving to Rochester, 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 Rochester's local authority needs to be in first or second place compared to the three nearest local authorities.
| # | Local Authority | Median Pw |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tonbridge and Malling | £766.60 |
| 2 | Gravesham | £755.40 |
| 3 | Dartford | £753.00 |
| 4 | Medway UA (Rochester) | £683.40 |
FAILED
So, is Rochester a nice place to live?
NO*
