Is March, Cambridgeshire a nice place to live?

Is March a nice place to live or is March 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 March meets our criteria.

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

The English Indices of Deprivation has a crime element for March. 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 9 wards nearest to the centre of March. To pass this section, 7 out of 9 of these wards need to be above the English national average rank of 16422.5

#WardCrime Rank
1Downham Villages27432
2Doddington & Wimblington25126
3Benwick, Coates & Eastrea22841
4March West20321
5Ramsey20132
6March East18108
7March North17651
8Elm & Christchurch16338
9Slade Lode13039
crime
PASSED

Reader Opinion:

Downham Market: from ex-cons in the flats by the train tracks to the Retreat Estate

Is March a healthy place to live?

If you are thinking of moving to March, 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 March 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%
East Cambridgeshire4.14
Peterborough5.11
King's Lynn and West Norfolk5.93
Fenland (March)6.38

The English Indices of Deprivation also has health statistics for March. 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 9 wards nearest to the centre of March. To pass this section, 7 out of 9 of these wards need to be above the English national average rank of 16422.5.

#WardHealth Rank
1Downham Villages (Best)28150
2Ramsey19696
3Doddington & Wimblington13959
4Benwick, Coates & Eastrea12553
5Slade Lode10631
6March West9747
7March East8626
8March North7642
9Elm & Christchurch7299
Health
FAILED
Reader Opinion:

Wisbech, knows as Wizzybekhistan by the locals

Is March rough?

Using the English Indices of Deprivation statistics, we've collated the average rank for 9 wards in and around March. 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, 7 out of 9 wards must have a ranking higher than the English average of 16422.5

#WardDeprivation Rank
1Doddington & Wimblington20637
2Downham Villages20531
3Ramsey18422
4Benwick, Coates & Eastrea14717
5March West14530
6Slade Lode12139
7March North11840
8March East11139
9Elm & Christchurch8774
Deprivation
FAILED



How affordable are the rents in March?

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, March rents for each size property have to be less than 5% more than the median rent for Cambridgeshire.

BedsFenlandCambridgeshire
1£500£795
2£650£850
3£750£1050
4£1000£1500
Affordable Rents
PASSED



How much can I earn in March per week?

If you are thinking of moving to March, 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 March's local authority needs to be in first or second place compared to the three nearest local authorities.

#Local AuthorityMedian Pw
1East Cambridgeshire£704.40
2Fenland (March)£679.00
3Peterborough UA£667.70
4King's Lynn and West Norfolk£650.60
Wages
PASSED



So, is March a nice place to live?

March has passed our core town assesment with a score of 3/5.  However, March does more pockets of deprivation than the average town.

Is March a nice place to live?
YES
* Probably.