Hertford grades A− overall against UK towns: better than 79% of UK towns, and #22 of 50 in Hertfordshire. Its strongest subject is jobs & income (A): mean household income £72,256; 2.3% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Its weakest is hazard risk (D): 5.2% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. The median home sold for £445,000 in the last three years, 6.4 times what households in the East Hertfordshire council area earn in a year.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Hertford is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Hertford.
Work & commuteJobs & income grade A
Hertford is more walkable than 90% of UK towns
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 45% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Working mainly from home: 45% of workers, above both Hertfordshire’s towns (39%) and England’s towns (31%). 37% of commuters travelled under 5 km to work.
Department for Education · GIAS, Key Stage 2 and GCSE resultsSee all 11 schools →
History
318 listed buildings, 5 of them Grade I
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Hertford has 318 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 5 Grade I, 27 Grade II*. Hertford has 110 listed buildings for every 10,000 residents, above both Hertfordshire’s towns (53) and England’s towns (39). Hertford’s listed buildings include Balls Park, Grade I.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Health
87% of people in Hertford say their health is good or very good, more than in Hertfordshire’s towns or across England’s towns
That puts Hertford above both Hertfordshire’s towns (85%) and England’s towns (82%). The nearest A&E to Hertford is The Princess Alexandra Hospital, 7.3 miles away. 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.
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
Safety
Hertford records more violent crime per resident than Hertfordshire’s towns or England’s towns, at 29.8 per 1,000 a year
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
On this, Hertford is above both Hertfordshire’s towns (21.1) and England’s towns (22). Police recorded 1,975 crimes inside Hertford’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 500 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences were 42% of the crimes; the police category includes harassment and stalking.
29.8violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a yearCSafety Grade
Compared with UK towns its sizeLess crime per resident than 56% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people: about the middle for its size. Context only, not part of the grade.
More crimeLess crime
Reports by type · Sep 2025 to Aug 2026
Violence & sexual823
Shoplifting286
Other theft199
Damage & arson154
Public order123
Vehicle crime115
Burglary87
Drugs76
Anti-social500
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.
29.8
violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
12.1
burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
17.8
anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 (not graded)
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Who lives here
More people in Hertford hold a degree than in Hertfordshire’s towns or England’s towns: 44%
In the comparison, Hertford comes above both Hertfordshire’s towns (39%) and England’s towns (34%). People aged 15 to 24 make up 9.2% of the town. Half the people of Hertford are older than 40.5.
40.5median age
HertfordHertfordshireEngland
Ages · share of residents
16%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications12%
Apprenticeship4%
A levels or similar16%
Degree level44%
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
WomenEnglandMen
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Catherine of Lancaster: AnonymousUnknown author, Public domain · George Ezra: Raph_PH, CC BY 2.0 · Gilbert de Clare, 5th Earl of Gloucester: Henry Shaw, Public domain · Matthew Waterhouse: Mark Garland, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Ashley Eden: Messrs. Bourne and Shepherd, Public domain · John George Howard: John Bridgman and John Forster, Public domain
Great Amwell has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Questions about Hertford
How many listed buildings are there in Hertford?
That is 4.5 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include Gatehouse to Hertford Castle (Hertford Castle Demolished). It also has 2 scheduled monuments.
Does Hertford flood?
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Is Hertford expensive to live in?
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £445,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £307,000, terraced houses £450,000, semi-detached houses £575,000 and detached houses £819,975.
Are schools in Hertford good?
Primary results beat 69%.
About Hertford
Large town in Hertfordshire, England
Hertford is a built-up area of 28,807 people, in the East Hertfordshire 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
Population
28,807 (Census 2021)
Council
East Hertfordshire
County
Hertfordshire
Region
East of England
Area
2.6 sq mi (6.7 km²)
ONS code
E63004358
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.
