Is Southend on Sea, Essex a nice place to live?

Is Southend on Sea a nice place to live or is Southend on Sea 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 Southend on Sea meets our criteria.

How likely are you to a victim of crime in Southend on Sea?

The English Indices of Deprivation has a crime element for Southend on Sea. 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 Southend on Sea. 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
1Hawkwell West26700
2Hawkwell East24728
3Blenheim Park18021
4St Laurence15881
5Roche North and Rural14147
6Westborough13675
7Prittlewell13131
8St. Luke's11498
9Roche South10862
10Victoria5458
Crime
FAILED

Reader Opinion:

Southend-on-Sea, a sorry little grief hole on the Essex coast

Is Southend on Sea a healthy place to live?

If you are thinking of moving to Southend on Sea, 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 Southend on Sea 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%
Rochford (Southend on Sea)4.24
Maldon4.77
Castle Point5.47
Southend-on-Sea5.57

The English Indices of Deprivation also has health statistics for Southend on Sea. 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 Southend on Sea. 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
1Hawkwell West (Best)30061
2Hawkwell East27334
3Roche North and Rural21656
4Roche South20882
5Prittlewell17259
6St Laurence16615
7St. Luke's15349
8Blenheim Park15007
9Westborough12635
10Victoria (Worst)6820
Health
FAILED
Reader Opinion:

Southend-on-sea: Face to face with the missing link

Is Southend on Sea rough?

Using the English Indices of Deprivation statistics, we've collated the average rank for 10 wards in and around Southend on Sea. 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
1Hawkwell West28004
2Hawkwell East25082
3Prittlewell18276
4Blenheim Park16546
5Roche North and Rural16018
6Roche South15324
7St Laurence14498
8St. Luke's11998
9Westborough11972
10Victoria5097
Deprivation
FAILED



How affordable are the rents in Southend on Sea?

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, Southend on Sea rents for each size property have to be less than 5% more than the median rent for Essex.

BedsRochfordEssex
1£685£750
2£925£900
3£1200£1150
4£1500£1500
Affordable Rents
FAILED



How much can I earn in Southend on Sea per week?

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

#Local AuthorityMedian Pw
1Rochford (Southend on Sea)£827.60
2Southend-on-Sea UA£730.60
3Castle Point£681.00
4Maldon£664.20
Wages
PASSED



So, is Southend on Sea a nice place to live?

Is Southend on Sea a nice place to live?
NO*
* Probably.