Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The town has 3,503 residents and lies in Hertfordshire, East of England. 15% of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport.
Much to like here, and you pay for it. Its strongest is health: men here can expect to live to 83.8, women to 86. It also does well on jobs & income — mean household income £77,915; 2.5% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. The catch is cost of living (D): homes sell for a median £640,000, about 10.7 times local household income. Safety is weaker too: 28.4 violent and sexual offences and 12.2 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Set beside UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, its crime per resident is higher than in 67%. All told, that adds up to a B+ overall, better than 66% of UK towns. That places it #32 of 50 in Hertfordshire.
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.
The 3 things Goff's Oak does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Goff's Oak is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 9 buildings inside Goff's Oak’s built-up area.
3% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Goff's Oak.
One GP practice serves the town; 71% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. At the census, 13% of people here had a disability, lower than both Hertfordshire’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (17%), and 3.3% of residents report bad or very bad health. The nearest A&E to Goff's Oak is Barnet General Hospital, 6.7 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Goff's Oak | Hertfordshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 85% | 85% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.3% | 3.8% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 13% | 14% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · These answers aren’t adjusted for age, so young towns look healthier; the Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
Goff's Oak’s two primaries have 464 pupils between them. Both of the town’s schools appear below. Attainment 8 at the 4 secondary schools within 3 km averages 46.6, and 46% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goffs Oak Primary & Nursery SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 235 | C+ |
| Woodside Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 229 | A− |
Social housing holds 2% of households, below both Hertfordshire’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (18%). The private rented sector houses 8% of households. The £640,000 median rests on 219 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £779,500 | 116 |
| Semi-detached | £565,000 | 78 |
| Terraced | £542,500 | 10 |
| Flat or maisonette | £404,170 | 15 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Before 1919: that is when 3% of homes were built. Goff's Oak has 26 listed buildings for every 10,000 residents.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 15.1 reports per 1,000, above both Hertfordshire’s towns (14.2) and England’s towns (7.8). In the 12 months to August 2026, police logged 183 crimes and 62 reports of anti-social behaviour inside Goff's Oak’s built-up area. Of all the crimes, 46% were violence and sexual offences.
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.
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.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 37% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
81% of commuters drove, above Hertfordshire’s towns (73%) and England’s towns (70%) alike. About 4% of its commuters stay in Goff's Oak for work. This Hertfordshire town counts 0.4 jobs per working resident.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Degrees are held by 33% of adults. 15% are under 15, lower than both Hertfordshire’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (18%); what’s more, people aged 15 to 24 make up nearly a tenth of the town. Ages in Goff's Oak split evenly at 48.6: half are older, half younger.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Goff's Oak | Hertfordshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.5% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 21% | 27% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 25% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 18% | 15% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.3% | 4.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 33% | 39% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Hertfordshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Goff's Oak. Best known first.
ZooHertfordshire Zoo3.3 km outside town, to the northeast
MuseumForty Hall Museum4.1 km outside town, to the south
GardenMyddelton House Gardens3.6 km outside town, to the southeastAbbey or prioryAbbey or prioryWaltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills4.2 km outside town, to the eastMuseumMuseumWhitewebbs Museum of Transport2.6 km outside town, to the southMuseumMuseumCeltic Harmony Camp4.5 km outside town, to the northPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goff's Oak | 3,503 | — | B+ | D | C | A |
| Cuffley | 4,350 | 1.1 | A | D | B | A+ |
| Cheshunt | 43,694 | 1.9 | C | D | C | C+ |
| Waltham Cross | 11,936 | 3.1 | D | C− | D | C− |
| Potters Bar | 23,394 | 4.3 | B+ | C− | C | B+ |
| Brookmans Park | 4,033 | 4.3 | A | D | B | A+ |
| Hoddesdon | 40,615 | 4.5 | B− | D | C | B |
| Lower Nazeing | 3,631 | 4.8 | B− | D | B− | B+ |
People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £640,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £404,170, terraced houses £542,500, semi-detached houses £565,000 and detached houses £779,500.
Band D council tax in Goff's Oak is £2,306 for 2026–27, less than in 75% of UK towns (council, county, police and fire). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
Town in Hertfordshire, England
Goff's Oak is a built-up area of 3,503 people, in the Broxbourne 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.
Built from ONS geography and Census 2021
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.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.