Is Stevenage, Hertfordshire a nice place to live?

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

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

The English Indices of Deprivation has a crime element for Stevenage. 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 Stevenage. 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
1Chesfield26432
2Symonds Green22928
3Chells17808
4Woodfield15663
5Roebuck14946
6St Nicholas12052
7Pin Green9609
8Old Town8332
9Shephall7500
10Bedwell3976
Crime
FAILED

Reader Opinion:

Stevenage is a town where you keep your head down when walking

Is Stevenage a healthy place to live?

If you are thinking of moving to Stevenage, 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 Stevenage 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%
East Hertfordshire3.31
Welwyn Hatfield3.85
North Hertfordshire3.86
Stevenage (Stevenage)4.68

The English Indices of Deprivation also has health statistics for Stevenage. 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 Stevenage. 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
1Chesfield (Best)25262
2Woodfield20216
3Chells19301
4Old Town18247
5Symonds Green16699
6Roebuck16159
7St Nicholas16068
8Shephall15377
9Pin Green13769
10Bedwell (Worst)12759
Health
FAILED
Reader Opinion:

Hitchin - one of life’s delusions

Is Stevenage rough?

Using the English Indices of Deprivation statistics, we've collated the average rank for 10 wards in and around Stevenage. 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
1Chesfield25620
2Woodfield17845
3Chells17509
4Old Town16607
5Symonds Green15631
6St Nicholas14198
7Roebuck13259
8Pin Green12951
9Shephall12201
10Bedwell8731
Deprivation
FAILED



How affordable are the rents in Stevenage?

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

BedsStevenageHertfordshire
1£750£850
2£975£1100
3£1150£1350
4£1400£1850
Affordable Rents
PASSED



How much can I earn in Stevenage per week?

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

#Local AuthorityMedian Pw
1East Hertfordshire£866.10
2North Hertfordshire£824.70
3Welwyn Hatfield£756.30
4Stevenage (Stevenage)£665.40
Wages
FAILED



So, is Stevenage a nice place to live?

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