Photo: Stephen McKay · CC BY-SA 2.0How Hertfordshire stacks up
Only four areas score higher overall; Hertfordshire grades A with 94 of 100. Only two areas have homes that cost more against local incomes: in Hertfordshire, a typical home costs 6.7 times the average household’s income. It stands out for good health and well-off households.
Each subject puts the official figure for the whole county beside a measure built from our town grades. How this works
Safety
16th of 65A−77/100 Safe nearly everywhere. 51% of town residents live in top-quarter towns such as Oaklands and Watton at Stone, and almost none at the bottom. By police.uk’s count, violent crime here comes to 31.6 offences per 1,000 residents a year, 17% below the England and Wales figure. It leads its neighbours on safety, ahead of Buckinghamshire.
With theft, burglary and the rest counted too, 70 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 29th lowest.
Source: police.uk street-level crime, September 2025 to August 2026 (each crime placed by its LSOA); Census 2021 residents. Greater Manchester Police publishes none.
Measure: recorded crime against residents (violence, burglary, vehicle crime, criminal damage), as in our Safety grades. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,138 graded towns. 50 Hertfordshire towns.
Few weak spots, town by town
At the quiet end sit Moor Park (#105), Hertford Heath (#135) and Harpenden (#236) of 2,138 towns.
| County | Safest quarter | Most-crime quarter | Split |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ards and North Down | 100% | 0% | |
| Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | 100% | 0% | |
| Lisburn and Castlereagh | 100% | 0% | |
| Mid Ulster | 100% | 0% | |
| Antrim and Newtownabbey | 78% | 0% | |
| Hertfordshire | 51% | 0% |
Town centres and the people who live there
police.uk places every crime at a street or public place near where it happened, never an address, and we count it where that point falls. The county figure counts violent and sexual offences everywhere in Hertfordshire, including town centres, stations and shopping streets. Town grades count the crimes that touch residents where they live (violence, burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage), so a town with a busy centre is not marked down for its shoplifting.
Schools
10th of 90A90/100 Schools are a standout. 65% of pupils leave primary school at the expected standard (6th highest), and GCSE pupils average an Attainment 8 score of 51.1 (4th highest). Its best town is Harpenden, #12 of 2,331, and 43% of town residents live in top-quarter towns.
At GCSE, pupils average 51.1 on Attainment 8 (4th highest); the grade counts it as much as the primary results.
Source: DfE key stage 2 results 2024/25 and key stage 4 (Attainment 8), every state school in the county, pupil-weighted. England only.
Measure: our Schools grade: primary and secondary results of the schools in and around each town. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,331 graded towns. 50 Hertfordshire towns.
Cost of living
97th of 98D−1/100 Cost is the price of living here. No town here reaches the top quarter for the UK; its best is Baldock, #1,192. At £450,000 for a typical home and £67,700 of household income, prices run 6.7 times income, the 3rd highest ratio of 98 areas. It trails all of its neighbours on affordability.
The middle home sold for £450,000 over the past year, 3rd highest of the areas.
Private rent £1,657 a month (3rd highest); Band D council tax £2,419 (35th highest). Shown for context.
Source: HM Land Registry Price Paid, standard sales September 2025 to August 2026; ONS small-area income estimates (financial year ending 2023); ONS Price Index of Private Rents (August 2026); council Band D 2026/27.
Measure: our Cost of living grade: prices and rents against local income, plus council tax. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,515 graded towns. 50 Hertfordshire towns.
Health
7th of 98A94/100 Healthy, town after town. 62% of town residents live in top-quarter towns such as Cuffley and Harpenden, and almost none at the bottom. Hertfordshire ranks 4th longest for healthy life expectancy, at 68.8 years. Brookmans Park is among the ten best towns in the UK for health (#2).
Life expectancy at birth: 82.4 years, 5th longest.
Source: ONS life expectancy and healthy life expectancy by small area (MSOA), 2019 to 2023, men and women averaged.
Measure: our Health grade: ONS life and healthy life expectancy, Census health, and OHID indicators in England. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,515 graded towns. 50 Hertfordshire towns.
Jobs & income
7th of 98A94/100 Well off with few exceptions. 54% of town residents live in top-quarter towns such as Harpenden and Brookmans Park, and almost none at the bottom. The average household income is £67,700 a year, 22% above the England and Wales figure. Its standout is Moor Park, #2 in the UK for incomes.
Claimant rate: 3.0% of 16 to 64-year-olds claim out-of-work benefits (August 2026), 43rd lowest. Counted half in the grade.
Source: ONS small-area income estimates (financial year ending 2023), household-weighted; DWP claimant count (August 2026) by council.
Measure: our Jobs & income grade: household income. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,156 graded towns. 50 Hertfordshire towns.
Getting about
22nd of 98A−78/100 Less car-bound than most areas. About 2 in 10 commuters leave the car at home here (18th highest). Its towns mostly sit mid-table; Waltham Cross ranks highest, at #60.
Worked mainly from home at the 2021 Census: 39% of workers (context; they are left out of the commuting share).
Source: ONS Census 2021, method of travel to work (TS061) by council; people working mainly from home left out.
Measure: our Walkability grade: how many everyday places are within reach on foot. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,515 graded towns. 50 Hertfordshire towns.
Flood risk
16th of 87A−83/100 Lower flood risk than most. About one in 100 homes in its towns face a real risk of flooding from rivers or the sea (12th lowest). Among its neighbours it does best on flood risk, with Essex second. Royston leads its towns at #280 of 2,452; 54% of town residents live in top-quarter towns.
Source: Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales flood-risk maps (rivers and the sea), homes in every town of the county.
Measure: our Hazard risk grade: the share of homes at high or medium flood risk. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,452 graded towns. 50 Hertfordshire towns.
Growth
24th of 98A−76/100 Healthy growth. Hertfordshire grew 10.4% from 2011 to 2024, against 10.0% for England and Wales. 27% of town residents live in a top-quarter town, 12% in a bottom-quarter one; Buntingford ranks highest.
From 2021 to 2024 alone, +2.9% (45th fastest).
Source: ONS mid-year population estimates, 2011 and 2024.
Measure: population change from 2011 to 2024 (ONS estimates for built-up areas). The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 1,579 graded towns. 34 Hertfordshire towns. Covers 92% of residents of Hertfordshire’s graded towns.
How Hertfordshire compares to its neighbours
Next to Bedfordshire, Essex, London, Buckinghamshire and Cambridgeshire, it comes out ahead on safety, health and jobs and income and behind on cost of living.
| Hertfordshire | Bedfordshire | Essex | London | Buckinghamshire | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | A 945th of 65 | B− 5331st of 65 | A− 7716th of 65 | B+ 6623rd of 65 | A− 8411th of 65 |
| Safety | A− 7722nd official · 51% in top towns | B+ 6625th official · 33% in top towns | B− 4845th official · 33% in top towns | C 2740th official · 15% in top towns | B+ 7223rd official · 39% in top towns |
| Schools | A 906th official · 43% in top towns | D 844th official · 0% in top towns | A− 806th official · 23% in top towns | A+ 981st official · 79% in top towns | A− 843rd official · 19% in top towns |
| Cost of living | D− 196th official · 0% in top towns | C− 2183rd official · 14% in top towns | C− 1588th official · 11% in top towns | D 798th official · 6% in top towns | C− 1690th official · 13% in top towns |
| Health | A 944th official · 62% in top towns | B+ 6828th official · 28% in top towns | A− 7817th official · 41% in top towns | B+ 6929th official · 31% in top towns | A 894th official · 39% in top towns |
| Jobs & income | A 944th official · 54% in top towns | B 6410th official · 30% in top towns | B+ 7411th official · 36% in top towns | B+ 721st official · 43% in top towns | A− 775th official · 34% in top towns |
| Getting about | A− 7818th official · 5% in top towns | C+ 4445th official · 0% in top towns | A− 7525th official · 4% in top towns | A+ 1001st official · 100% in top towns | C 3159th official · 0% in top towns |
| Flood risk | A− 8312th official · 54% in top towns | B+ 719th official · 18% in top towns | A− 8011th official · 36% in top towns | B 5919th official · 21% in top towns | B+ 7310th official · 24% in top towns |
| Growth | A− 7627th official · 27% in top towns | A+ 1001st official · 92% in top towns | A− 8017th official · 24% in top towns | B+ 7423rd official · 23% in top towns | A+ 974th official · 73% in top towns |
Each cell: the subject’s grade and score, the county’s rank on the official figure (1st = the better end), and the share of its town residents living in a top-quarter town for the UK. Neighbour names open their report cards.
How this report card works
Two measures, side by side. The left card is an official figure for the whole county, its towns, villages and countryside together, built from the small areas and councils that make it up and ranked against the other counties. The right card is built from our town grades: of everyone living in the county’s graded towns of 2,500 or more, the share whose town is in the top quarter for the UK. Quarters are of people, not towns: the top quarter is the best-placed towns that together hold a quarter of everyone living in graded towns, so a county of big cities is not marked down just for being urban. A county can do well on one measure and not the other; that difference is often the story.
Scores and grades. Each subject’s score (0–100) is the area’s standing in one UK league of 98: the ceremonial counties of England (London counts as one), Wales’s eight preserved counties, and Scotland’s 32 and Northern Ireland’s 11 council areas, each called by its own name. The two measures’ percentiles are averaged, then ranked again, the same method as our town grades. Where a nation publishes its own kind of figure, the official figure is ranked within that nation: school results everywhere, health in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and flood risk in Scotland. Each area’s figures are set beside its own nation’s. 100 is the best county, 0 the last. Letters use the town-grade scale (A+ from 95, A from 85, A− from 75 … D below 15). The overall score weighs safety 18, cost of living 18, schools 16, health 14, jobs & income 12, getting about 8, growth 8, flood risk 6 (out of 100), over the subjects a county has. Counties with fewer than 5 graded towns (Rutland, Bristol) are graded on the official figures alone.
What it is not. A county figure averages everyone, so it cannot show whether a county is evenly good or a mix of very good and struggling places. The town measure shows the mix but leaves out villages and towns under 2,500. Neither says anything about any one street.
Gaps. Wales publishes no school results that compare with England’s, so Welsh counties have no Schools grade. Greater Manchester Police publishes no street-level crime, so Greater Manchester has no Safety grade and, as for its towns, no overall grade. Nor does Police Scotland, so Scotland’s council areas have no Safety grade or overall grade yet. Scotland and Northern Ireland have no small-area income figures, so their household income is estimated from ONS household income per head. Flood risk has no county-wide official figure; it is the share of homes in the county’s towns at high or medium risk. Sources are named under each figure. How grades work
Sources: 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.