County ranking
Best places to live in Cambridgeshire
30 towns ranked by overall liveability score, from official UK data.
39 towns in Cambridgeshire clear our data thresholds: a population over 3,000 and real scores in 8 or more of 9 categories. The top 30 are ranked below. Top of the list is Cambridge (Cambridge) at 66/100, three points ahead of second-placed Godmanchester (63). Above 65/100, which roughly one in eight UK towns this size reaches, Cambridgeshire has one: Cambridge (Cambridge) (66).
Across all 39 qualifying towns the county median is 48/100, 6 points below the 54/100 median for UK towns of this size. On price, Huntingdon is the top five's cheapest at a median of £270,000. Great Shelford and Stapleford, also in the top five, runs to £637,000. From top to bottom of this table there are 21 points: 66 at the head, 45 at the foot. Full breakdowns for the leaders: Cambridge (Cambridge), Godmanchester and Great Shelford and Stapleford.
| # | Town | Score | Strongest categories | Population | Median price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cambridge (Cambridge) | 66 | Lifestyle 82 Healthcare 78 | 110,407 | £490,750 |
| 2 | Godmanchester | 63 | Broadband 96 Lifestyle 55 | 5,000 | £328,500 |
| 3 | Great Shelford and Stapleford | 61 | Lifestyle 56 Broadband 95 | 5,473 | £637,000 |
| 4 | Histon and Impington | 59 | Healthcare 57 Schools 57 | 7,928 | £525,000 |
| 5 | Huntingdon | 57 | Lifestyle 58 Healthcare 54 | 23,093 | £270,000 |
| 6 | Peterborough | 57 | Healthcare 72 Schools 68 | 166,137 | £235,000 |
| 7 | Sawston | 56 | Healthcare 50 Lifestyle 51 | 7,296 | £390,000 |
| 8 | St Ives (Huntingdonshire) | 56 | Healthcare 53 Lifestyle 52 | 17,309 | £305,000 |
| 9 | St Neots | 55 | Schools 53 Transport 51 | 26,085 | £300,000 |
| 10 | Little Paxton | 53 | Healthcare 51 Broadband 93 | 4,013 | £325,000 |
| 11 | Cambourne | 52 | Lifestyle 47 Broadband 84 | 6,426 | £375,000 |
| 12 | Ely | 52 | Lifestyle 60 Transport 47 | 13,625 | £359,000 |
| 13 | Yaxley (Huntingdonshire) | 52 | Broadband 96 Schools 49 | 9,147 | £275,000 |
| 14 | Milton (South Cambridgeshire) | 51 | Broadband 97 Healthcare 53 | 3,146 | £432,500 |
| 15 | Sutton (East Cambridgeshire) | 51 | Broadband 94 Healthcare 40 | 3,587 | £305,000 |
| 16 | Burwell | 50 | Healthcare 34 Transport 31 | 5,975 | £348,750 |
| 17 | Bar Hill | 49 | Broadband 96 Lifestyle 44 | 3,215 | £330,000 |
| 18 | Papworth Everard | 49 | Healthcare 43 Broadband 81 | 3,667 | £332,000 |
| 19 | Somersham (Huntingdonshire) | 49 | Broadband 97 Lifestyle 32 | 3,362 | £291,000 |
| 20 | Hemingford Grey | 48 | Lifestyle 33 Broadband 70 | 3,204 | £369,000 |
| 21 | Melbourn | 48 | Healthcare 35 Lifestyle 38 | 4,491 | £402,500 |
| 22 | Willingham | 48 | Healthcare 43 Transport 30 | 4,180 | £350,000 |
| 23 | Fulbourn | 47 | Broadband 89 Transport 36 | 4,072 | £457,500 |
| 24 | Soham | 47 | Broadband 79 Healthcare 28 | 10,216 | £265,000 |
| 25 | Wisbech | 47 | Lifestyle 60 Healthcare 52 | 26,315 | £195,000 |
| 26 | Chatteris | 46 | Broadband 79 Lifestyle 35 | 7,027 | £232,500 |
| 27 | Waterbeach | 46 | Lifestyle 38 Transport 37 | 5,239 | £400,000 |
| 28 | March | 45 | Healthcare 52 Transport 46 | 20,825 | £225,000 |
| 29 | Sawtry | 45 | Broadband 93 Healthcare 29 | 5,211 | £290,000 |
| 30 | Whittlesey | 45 | Broadband 94 Lifestyle 37 | 14,169 | £240,000 |
Ranked on the default weighting, out of 100. Strongest categories are the two furthest above the national median for that category, not simply the two highest numbers. Almost every town scores well on safety, so raw highs would say little.
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Eye (Peterborough)How this ranking was built
Every settlement in Cambridgeshire was scored across 9 categories (safety, schools, healthcare, transport, environment, broadband, lifestyle, economic health and bills) from official sources including Police UK, Ofsted, the CQC, Ofcom, the Environment Agency and MHCLG. Two filters then decide who appears here:
- Population above 3,000. Without a floor the list fills with hamlets of a few dozen people. Cambridgeshire has 39 towns above it.
- Real data in at least 8 of 9 categories. Places we can only partly measure are excluded rather than ranked on guesswork.
Counties are ceremonial, and a town belongs to the county its postcodes physically sit in, so border towns land where residents would expect them to.
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