County ranking
Best places to live in Cumbria
18 towns ranked by overall liveability score, from official UK data.
This ranking covers the 18 Cumbria towns above 3,000 people that we can score in at least 8 of 9 categories, with the best 18 listed. Top of the list is Kendal at 64/100, three points ahead of second-placed Barrow-in-Furness (61). On price, Dalton-in-Furness is the top five's cheapest at a median of £158,500. Kendal, also in the top five, runs to £242,500.
Tenth to 11th is the table's widest single gap: 52 to 47. The listed towns cover 25 points in all, from Kendal on 64 to Cleator Moor on 39. See the detailed scores for Kendal, Barrow-in-Furness and Ulverston.
| # | Town | Score | Strongest categories | Population | Median price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kendal | 64 | Lifestyle 74 Healthcare 63 | 26,287 | £242,500 |
| 2 | Barrow-in-Furness | 61 | Healthcare 74 Schools 73 | 51,853 | £160,000 |
| 3 | Ulverston | 61 | Healthcare 51 Lifestyle 54 | 11,154 | £230,000 |
| 4 | Dalton-in-Furness | 59 | Broadband 94 Schools 52 | 7,151 | £158,500 |
| 5 | Carlisle | 58 | Transport 69 Lifestyle 63 | 73,765 | £160,000 |
| 6 | Penrith | 57 | Lifestyle 69 Healthcare 55 | 16,500 | £190,000 |
| 7 | Whitehaven | 55 | Healthcare 52 Transport 55 | 23,202 | £157,000 |
| 8 | Millom | 54 | Lifestyle 76 Broadband 98 | 5,542 | £121,000 |
| 9 | Cockermouth | 52 | Lifestyle 52 Environment 75 | 8,777 | £269,500 |
| 10 | Grange-over-Sands | 52 | Healthcare 45 Lifestyle 34 | 4,058 | £253,750 |
| 11 | Maryport | 47 | Schools 56 Broadband 83 | 8,841 | £140,000 |
| 12 | Seaton (Allerdale) | 47 | Broadband 93 Schools 45 | 4,767 | £200,000 |
| 13 | Workington | 47 | Transport 55 Schools 56 | 21,641 | £126,500 |
| 14 | Wigton | 46 | Schools 37 Healthcare 29 | 5,626 | £142,000 |
| 15 | Brampton (Carlisle) | 45 | Broadband 90 Healthcare 42 | 3,861 | £185,000 |
| 16 | Appleby-in-Westmorland | 43 | Healthcare 44 Lifestyle 33 | 3,132 | £241,000 |
| 17 | Egremont | 41 | Schools 49 Healthcare 29 | 5,925 | £125,000 |
| 18 | Cleator Moor | 39 | Environment 79 Schools 31 | 5,405 | £138,000 |
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.
Find your own best place in Cumbria
The ranking above uses one weighting. Change any control below to re-rank all 18 qualifying towns around what you actually care about — who's moving, a minimum on one category, a price ceiling for the type of home you'd buy.
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How this ranking was built
Every settlement in Cumbria 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. Cumbria has 18 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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