Is Leeds, Yorkshire a nice place to live?

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

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

The English Indices of Deprivation has a crime element for Leeds. 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 Leeds. 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	Headingley & Hyde Park	7322
2	Little London & Woodhouse	6175
3	Hunslet & Riverside	5541
4	Chapel Allerton	4476
5	Farnley & Wortley	4167
6	Beeston & Holbeck	3661
7	Middleton Park	3498
8	Burmantofts & Richmond Hill	2819
9	Armley	1181
10	Gipton & Harehills	1031

Is Leeds a healthy place to live?

If you are thinking of moving to Leeds, 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 Leeds 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	%
Leeds (Leeds)	5.01
Kirklees	5.55
Bradford	5.95
Wakefield	6.55

The English Indices of Deprivation also has health statistics for Leeds. 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 Leeds. 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	Farnley & Wortley (Best)	8361
2	Chapel Allerton	8121
3	Beeston & Holbeck	7251
4	Headingley & Hyde Park	6441
5	Hunslet & Riverside	6432
6	Middleton Park	5537
7	Little London & Woodhouse	5277
8	Armley	4561
9	Gipton & Harehills	4251
10	Burmantofts & Richmond Hill (Worst)	4241

Is Leeds rough?

Using the English Indices of Deprivation statistics, we've collated the average rank for 10 wards in and around Leeds. 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	Headingley & Hyde Park	14033
2	Little London & Woodhouse	9053
3	Farnley & Wortley	8688
4	Chapel Allerton	7942
5	Hunslet & Riverside	7185
6	Beeston & Holbeck	5972
7	Middleton Park	4542
8	Armley	4203
9	Burmantofts & Richmond Hill	2898
10	Gipton & Harehills	1800

How affordable are the rents in Leeds?

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

Beds	Leeds	West Yorkshire
1	£650	£500
2	£725	£575
3	£750	£650
4	£1560	£1100

How much can I earn in Leeds per week?

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

#	Local Authority	Median Pw
1	Leeds (Leeds)	£662.90
2	Wakefield	£613.70
3	Bradford	£612.50
4	Kirklees	£612.00

So, is Leeds a nice place to live?

* Probably.