Is Colchester, Essex a nice place to live?

Is Colchester a nice place to live or is Colchester a bit rough? For us there are a number of factors that make any town a nice place to live, like a low crime rate, low levels of deprivation, the good health of the residents, rent affordability and excellent wages. In this article we will see if Colchester meets our criteria.

How likely are you to a victim of crime in Colchester?

The English Indices of Deprivation has a crime element for Colchester. They are a measure of how likely you are to be a victim of personal or material crime in an area, such as muggings or burglary. Naturally rural areas have less crime than urban areas, but for this part of our town assessment we've looked at the 10 wards nearest to the centre of Colchester. To pass this section, 8 out of 10 of these wards need to be above the English national average rank of 16422.5

#WardCrime Rank
1Wivenhoe26510
2Highwoods21802
3St Anne's and St John's18739
4Shrub End18533
5Mile End16072
6New Town and Christ Church11623
7Old Heath and The Hythe10748
8Berechurch8599
9Greenstead8582
10Castle6095
Crime
FAILED

Reader Opinion:

Colchester: A Shameful Essex Dump

Is Colchester a healthy place to live?

If you are thinking of moving to Colchester, you want to know if the place is likely to put you on a downward spiral of ill health. For this section of the town assessment, we've examined government health statistics from the 2021 Census General Health question and the Indices of Multiple Deprivation's health element.The table below shows what percentage of Colchester residents answered saying their health was either bad or very bad. To pass this section, the local authority has to have a percentage score less than or equal to 7%.

Local Authority%
Colchester (Colchester)4.18
Babergh4.41
Ipswich5.05
Tendring7.77

The English Indices of Deprivation also has health statistics for Colchester. They measures the risk of premature death and the impairment of quality of life through poor physical or mental health, lovely! We've collated an average LSOA rank for 10 wards nearest to the centre of Colchester. To pass this section, 8 out of 10 of these wards need to be above the English national average rank of 16422.5.

#WardHealth Rank
1Wivenhoe (Best)25471
2Mile End22134
3New Town and Christ Church17375
4Castle17325
5Highwoods15004
6Old Heath and The Hythe13991
7Shrub End13340
8St Anne's and St John's13332
9Berechurch11546
10Greenstead (Worst)10614
Health
FAILED
Reader Opinion:

Jaywick: Drugs have brought this place to its knees

Is Colchester rough?

Using the English Indices of Deprivation statistics, we've collated the average rank for 10 wards in and around Colchester. In layman's terms, this is how rough the ward is based on mutiple measures of deprivation including; employment, income, health, crime, housing and outside space. To pass this section as the town assessment, 8 out of 10 wards must have a ranking higher than the English average of 16422.5

#WardDeprivation Rank
1Wivenhoe26637
2Mile End22330
3Highwoods19433
4New Town and Christ Church17477
5St Anne's and St John's17400
6Castle15603
7Shrub End14074
8Old Heath and The Hythe13494
9Berechurch10617
10Greenstead8999
Deprivation
FAILED



How affordable are the rents in Colchester?

Every six months the Office for National statitics publishes a snapshot of rental costs. These market rental statistics are dated September 2023. We have used the median rental figure for this assessment as we believe this is a more realistic figure than the average (mean) that can be skewed by artificially low and high rents. To pass this section, Colchester rents for each size property have to be less than 5% more than the median rent for Essex.

BedsColchesterEssex
1£650£750
2£795£900
3£1000£1150
4£1350£1500
Affordable Rents
PASSED



How much can I earn in Colchester per week?

If you are thinking of moving to Colchester, you'll want to know how much you can earn in a job in the town. Every year the government publishes statistics on gross weekly pay, these figures are for September 2023. To pass this section Colchester's local authority needs to be in first or second place compared to the three nearest local authorities.

#Local AuthorityMedian Pw
1Colchester (Colchester)£715.90
2Ipswich£642.00
3Babergh£635.20
4Tendring£612.40
Wages
PASSED



So, is Colchester a nice place to live?

Is Colchester a nice place to live?
NO*
* Probably.