Is Sheerness, Kent a nice place to live?

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

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

The English Indices of Deprivation has a crime element for Sheerness. 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 Sheerness. 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
1Peninsula15490
2Queenborough and Halfway13796
3Minster Cliffs13257
4Kemsley12359
5Bobbing, Iwade and Lower Halstow12246
6Sheppey Central9959
7Murston8132
8Sheppey East3811
9Sheerness3116
Crime
FAILED

Reader Opinion:

Sittingbourne - a bleak wasteland between the M2 & the Isle of Sheppey

Is Sheerness a healthy place to live?

If you are thinking of moving to Sheerness, 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 Sheerness 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%
Medway5.1
Castle Point5.47
Southend-on-Sea5.57
Swale (Sheerness)5.69

The English Indices of Deprivation also has health statistics for Sheerness. 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 Sheerness. 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
1Bobbing, Iwade and Lower Halstow (Best)19673
2Kemsley16077
3Peninsula12705
4Minster Cliffs12681
5Sheppey Central12391
6Queenborough and Halfway12279
7Murston10541
8Sheppey East6474
9Sheerness3703
Health
FAILED
Reader Opinion:

Sheerness: industrial eyesore & the ‘crapital’ of the Isle of Sheppey

Is Sheerness rough?

Using the English Indices of Deprivation statistics, we've collated the average rank for 9 wards in and around Sheerness. 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
1Bobbing, Iwade and Lower Halstow21426
2Kemsley16356
3Peninsula13549
4Minster Cliffs12280
5Sheppey Central11050
6Queenborough and Halfway10323
7Murston9121
8Sheppey East4064
9Sheerness1233
Deprivation
FAILED



How affordable are the rents in Sheerness?

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

BedsSwaleKent
1£675£685
2£825£860
3£950£1050
4£1300£1498
Affordable Rents
FAILED



How much can I earn in Sheerness per week?

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

#Local AuthorityMedian Pw
1Southend-on-Sea UA£730.60
2Swale (Sheerness)£702.80
3Medway UA£683.40
4Castle Point£681.00
Wages
PASSED



So, is Sheerness a nice place to live?

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