Plenty to like here, at a price. Overall, Berkhamsted earns an A: better than 89% of UK towns, and #11 of 50 in Hertfordshire. On health it is strong — life expectancy is 82.3 for men and 86.3 for women. Jobs and pay hold up well (A+): mean household income £78,412; 1.8% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. The drawback is cost of living (D) — homes sell for a median £643,620, about 9.8 times local household income. Its remaining grades are unremarkable: B for safety and C+ for hazard risk.
Figures: life expectancy and income, ONS · claimants, DWP · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · flood risk, Environment Agency.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Berkhamsted is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Berkhamsted.
Health
Is Berkhamsted a healthy place? 88% of its people say their health is good, above Hertfordshire’s towns and England’s towns
88%good or very good healthA+Health Grade
The nearest A&E to Berkhamsted is Luton and Dunstable Hospital, 10.1 miles away. At the census, 13% of people here had a disability, below both Hertfordshire’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (17%). Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 2.9% of the town. 2 GP practices serve the town; 84% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · No age adjustment applies to these census answers, which flatter younger towns; the Health Grade’s measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them, do allow for age.
SchoolsA−
School results in Berkhamsted are better than in 78% of towns in England
A−School Grade
Between them, eight primaries and one secondary teach 3,380 pupils in Berkhamsted. Bridgewater Primary School’s results beat 87% of schools in England like it. Below are three of its 9 schools, each with why it was picked. Key Stage 2 results at the town’s 6 primary schools: 63% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
Department for Education · GIAS, Key Stage 2 and GCSE resultsSee all 9 schools →
Work & commuteJobs & income grade A+
Berkhamsted is more walkable than nine in ten UK towns
27%walk, cycle or ride
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 55% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
For 36% of commuters, work was under 5 km away. 55% of workers worked mainly from home, above Hertfordshire’s towns (39%) and England’s towns (31%) alike. Of the commuters living in Berkhamsted, 32% work in the town itself.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
HousingCost of living grade D
Most households in Berkhamsted own their home: 73%, more than in both Hertfordshire’s towns and England’s towns
£644Kmedian sale
Social housing holds 13% of households. 14% rent privately, below Hertfordshire’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (21%) alike. The £643,620 median rests on 934 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026).
Median sale price · Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
Berkhamsted£644K
Typical UK town£277K
By type
Median
Sales
Detached
£1,100,000
257
Semi-detached
£665,000
189
Terraced
£577,500
264
Flat or maisonette
£327,500
224
73%
of households own their home · England 61%
14%
rent privately · England 21%
£1,594
average private rent a month, Dacorum council area
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
History
2 Grade I buildings among Berkhamsted’s 88 listed
88listed buildingsB+History Grade
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Conservation areas cover 18% of Berkhamsted’s land, above Hertfordshire’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (7%) alike. Its listed buildings include Berkhampstead School Old Building, Grade I. 17% of homes were built before 1919.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Safety
For a town of its size, Berkhamsted is quiet: less crime per resident than nine in ten of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people
16.3violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a yearBSafety Grade
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Each year, 16.3 violent crimes are recorded per 1,000 residents. 931 crimes and 292 reports of anti-social behaviour: that is what police recorded inside Berkhamsted’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026. Violence and sexual offences made up 40% of the total.
Compared with UK towns its sizeLess crime per resident than 91% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people: less crime than most for its size. Context only, not part of the grade.
More crimeLess crime
Reports by type · Sep 2025 to Aug 2026
Violence & sexual372
Shoplifting117
Damage & arson83
Other theft80
Vehicle crime77
Burglary65
Public order57
Other crime26
Anti-social292
Not gradedAnti-social behaviour, shoplifting and other theft are shown but left out of the Safety Grade, which counts violence and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident.
16.3
violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
11.4
burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
12.8
anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 (not graded)
data.police.uk street-level crime · points inside the ONS built-up-area boundary · OGL · The police category of violence and sexual offences includes harassment and stalking.
Who lives here
Degrees are more common in Berkhamsted than in Hertfordshire’s towns or across England’s towns: 53% of adults
44.3median age
20% of residents are 65 or over. The 15-to-24 age group: 8.3%, below Hertfordshire’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (12%) alike. Under-15s account for 19% of the population. Line up the people of Berkhamsted by age and the one in the middle is 44.3.
BerkhamstedHertfordshireEngland
Ages · share of residents
20%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications10%
Apprenticeship3%
A levels or similar13%
Degree level53%
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
WomenEnglandMen
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Graham Greene: FOTO:Fortepan — ID 84697: Adományozó/Donor: Magyar Hírek folyóirat. archive copy at the Wayback Machine, CC BY-SA 3.0 · William Cowper: Lemuel Francis Abbott, Public domain · Sarah Brightman: Bill Ingalls, Public domain · Michael Hordern: Distributed by PBS/Mobil Masterpiece Theatre, Public domain · Horace Smith-Dorrien: Harris & Ewing, Public domain
About Berkhamsted
Large town in Hertfordshire, England
Berkhamsted is a built-up area of 21,236 people, in the Dacorum council area. TownRatings uses ONS’s 2022 built-up areas as towns: the physical town, as people mean the word, rather than a council district, so its figures cover the town itself.
Potten End and Chipperfield have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Questions about Berkhamsted
Is Berkhamsted expensive to live in?
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £643,620, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £327,500, terraced houses £577,500, semi-detached houses £665,000 and detached houses £1,100,000.
Are schools in Berkhamsted good?
Secondary schools stand out: GCSE results beat 91% of towns in England. Primary results are closer to the middle, beating 58%.
Sources: ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area · HM Land Registry Price Paid (standard sales, September 2023 to August 2026) · ONS Price Index of Private Rents (August 2026, by council) · MHCLG and Welsh Government council tax, Band D 2026–27 (with parish precepts in England) · data.police.uk street-level crime, 36 months to August 2026, points inside the built-up-area boundary · ONS small-area life expectancy and healthy life expectancy, 2019 to 2023 (England and Wales), OHID Fingertips small-area indicators (England) and Census 2021 health, adjusted for age · ONS small-area income estimates (financial year ending 2023) · DWP claimant count via Nomis (January to August 2026) · Historic England, National Heritage List for England (listed buildings, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, battlefields, World Heritage Sites), October 2026, inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary · Valuation Office Agency, Council Tax: stock of properties by build period (31 March 2025) · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
