Is Royston, Hertfordshire a nice place to live?

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

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

The English Indices of Deprivation has a crime element for Royston. 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 Royston. 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
1Royston Heath29827
2Royston Meridian26690
3Royston Palace24743
4Melbourn24114
5Barrington23392
6Harston & Comberton22186
7Bassingbourn21113
8Foxton21073
9Buntingford20045
10Ermine15069
crime
PASSED

Reader Opinion:

Hitchin - one of life’s delusions

Is Royston a healthy place to live?

If you are thinking of moving to Royston, 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 Royston 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%
Uttlesford3.22
Cambridge3.24
South Cambridgeshire3.43
North Hertfordshire (Royston)3.86

The English Indices of Deprivation also has health statistics for Royston. 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 Royston. 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
1Buntingford (Best)31669
2Foxton31199
3Harston & Comberton30696
4Barrington30495
5Royston Meridian30186
6Ermine28557
7Royston Heath28287
8Bassingbourn24553
9Royston Palace23341
10Melbourn (Worst)23231
health
PASSED
Reader Opinion:

Baldock: better than the surrounding areas but still not the best

Is Royston rough?

Using the English Indices of Deprivation statistics, we've collated the average rank for 10 wards in and around Royston. 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
1Royston Heath30644
2Royston Meridian29530
3Foxton26349
4Harston & Comberton26327
5Buntingford25127
6Barrington24219
7Royston Palace23693
8Ermine23018
9Melbourn21367
10Bassingbourn19481
Deprivation
PASSED



How affordable are the rents in Royston?

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

BedsNorth HertfordshireHertfordshire
1£750£850
2£950£1100
3£1200£1350
4£1550£1850
Affordable Rents
PASSED



How much can I earn in Royston per week?

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

#Local AuthorityMedian Pw
1North Hertfordshire (Royston)£824.70
2South Cambridgeshire£811.80
3Uttlesford£791.50
4Cambridge£780.30
Wages
PASSED



So, is Royston a nice place to live?

Royston has passed our core town assesment with flying colours with a score of 5/5. It doesn't get any better than that!

Is Royston a nice place to live?
YES
* Probably.