A town of contrasts. On schools it is strong: primary results beat three quarters of towns in England; secondary results beat 92% of towns in England. It is strong on walkability as well — on the way to work, 32% walk, cycle or take a bus or train. Buying the median home, at £425,000, takes 6.6 years of household income in the Watford council area. The weak point is safety: 36.1 violent and sexual offences and 16.6 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Against UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, it has more crime per resident than 29%. All told, that adds up to a B− overall and a rank of #38 of 50 in Hertfordshire. Nationally, it does better than 51% of UK towns.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · incomes, ONS.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Watford is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Watford.
Work & commuteJobs & income grade B
Benefit claims run higher in Watford, 4.4% of 16 to 64s, than in Hertfordshire’s towns or across England’s towns
32%walk, cycle or ride
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 33% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
There are 1.1 jobs in Watford for each resident in work. About 41% of its commuters stay in Watford for work. Nearly two thirds of commuters took the car to work at the census. Household income came to £64K a year before tax, below Hertfordshire’s towns (£70K) but above England’s towns (£55K).
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
SchoolsA
Exam results at Watford’s schools top 88% of towns in England
ASchool Grade
Secondary results at the town’s 7 secondary schools: an Attainment 8 score of 54.9, with 61% at grade 5 or above in English and maths. Nascot Wood Junior School’s results beat 97% of schools in England like it. Of its 52 schools, three are shown below, each with the reason. Key Stage 2 results at the town’s 32 primary schools: nearly two thirds 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 52 schools →
Safety
More crimes per resident in Watford than in 82% of UK towns
36.1violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a yearC−Safety Grade
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Violence and sexual offences accounted for 42% of recorded crime. Police figures for Watford’s built-up area: 11,340 crimes and 2,891 anti-social behaviour reports in the 12 months to August 2026. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 23 reports per 1,000, higher than both Hertfordshire’s towns (14.2) and England’s towns (7.8). Also worth knowing: for its size, Watford records less crime per resident than 71% of the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more.
Compared with UK towns its sizeLess crime per resident than 71% of the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more: 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 & sexual4,720
Shoplifting1,277
Other theft1,072
Damage & arson855
Public order839
Vehicle crime738
Drugs576
Burglary368
Anti-social2,891
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.
36.1
violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
16.6
burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
23
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.
HousingCost of living grade C−
The median home in Watford sells for £425K, against £530K in Hertfordshire’s towns and £308K in England’s towns
£425Kmedian sale
Owners make up 57% of households, below Hertfordshire’s towns (64%) and England’s towns (61%) alike. Private tenants account for 24% of households. That is the middle of 3,884 standard sales inside Watford’s built-up area over three years, against £277,000 in the typical UK town.
Median sale price · Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
Watford£425K
Typical UK town£277K
By type
Median
Sales
Detached
£819,070
386
Semi-detached
£535,000
918
Terraced
£425,000
1,190
Flat or maisonette
£290,000
1,390
57%
of households own their home · England 61%
24%
rent privately · England 21%
£1,828
average private rent a month, Watford council area
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Health
Fewer people in Watford live with a disability than in Hertfordshire’s towns or across England’s towns: 13%
86%good or very good healthC+Health Grade
11 GP practices serve the town; four in five patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. At the census, 86% of people in Watford called their health good or very good, about level with Hertfordshire’s towns (85%) and above England’s towns (82%). Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 3.9% of the town.
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · A young population flatters these answers, which are not age-adjusted; the Health Grade instead uses measures that allow for age, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
History
Watford has 96 listed buildings, 2 of them Grade I
96listed buildingsB−History Grade
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Homes built before 1919 account for 18% of the housing. Watford has 7 listed buildings for every 10,000 residents, below both Hertfordshire’s towns (57) and England’s towns (39). Its listed buildings include the Church of St Mary, Grade I. At the top of the list, 2 are Grade I and 5 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Who lives here
A younger town: only 13% of people in Watford are 65 or over, fewer than in Hertfordshire’s towns and across England’s towns
37.4median age
Children under 15 make up 20%, above Hertfordshire’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. The middle age in Watford is 37.4. Graduates make up 40% of adults.
WatfordHertfordshireEngland
Ages · share of residents
11%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications16%
Apprenticeship4%
A levels or similar15%
Degree level40%
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
WomenEnglandMen
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Geri Halliwell: Photograph by Richard Goldschmidt, www.piqtured.com Derivative by Keraunoscopia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Gareth Southgate: Number 10, CC BY 2.0 · Vinnie Jones: 5 CREATIVE, CC BY 3.0 · Anthony Joshua: Jumeirah, CC BY 3.0 · Tom Carroll: CFCUnofficial (Chelsea Debs), CC BY-SA 2.0 · Jack Collison: Egghead06, CC BY-SA 3.0
About Watford
City in Hertfordshire, England
Watford is a built-up area of 131,336 people, in the Watford 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.
Secondary schools stand out: GCSE results beat 92% of towns in England. Primary results beat 75%.
Is Watford safe?
Against all UK towns, most of them far smaller, it grades C−.
Is Watford expensive to live in?
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £425,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £290,000, terraced houses £425,000, semi-detached houses £535,000 and detached houses £819,070.
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.
