County ranking
Best places to live in Derbyshire
30 towns ranked by overall liveability score, from official UK data.
This ranking covers the 52 Derbyshire towns above 3,000 people that we can score in at least 8 of 9 categories, with the best 30 listed. The top two are all but level: Hadfield on 65/100, Derby on 64. Above 65/100, which roughly one in eight UK towns this size reaches, Derbyshire has one: Hadfield (65).
The top five span £211,250 in Sandiacre to £255,000 in New Mills on median house price. Lifestyle is what puts Hilton (South Derbyshire) fourth: 77/100 against a 21/100 national town median, well beyond the gap any of its other categories manage. From top to bottom of this table there are 13 points: 65 at the head, 52 at the foot. Full breakdowns for the leaders: Hadfield, Derby and Sandiacre.
| # | Town | Score | Strongest categories | Population | Median price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hadfield | 65 | Schools 66 Healthcare 58 | 15,625 | £217,750 |
| 2 | Derby | 64 | Schools 78 Transport 76 | 267,624 | £220,000 |
| 3 | Sandiacre | 64 | Healthcare 71 Schools 65 | 9,245 | £211,250 |
| 4 | Hilton (South Derbyshire) | 63 | Lifestyle 77 Healthcare 48 | 8,242 | £232,000 |
| 5 | New Mills | 63 | Healthcare 52 Transport 52 | 7,995 | £255,000 |
| 6 | Wingerworth | 63 | Broadband 96 Transport 56 | 7,158 | £280,000 |
| 7 | Belper | 62 | Transport 70 Lifestyle 53 | 19,062 | £245,000 |
| 8 | Dronfield | 61 | Schools 54 Transport 49 | 20,768 | £300,000 |
| 9 | Gamesley | 61 | Schools 71 Healthcare 62 | 3,022 | £175,000 |
| 10 | Swadlincote | 61 | Transport 66 Lifestyle 64 | 31,200 | £205,000 |
| 11 | Borrowash | 60 | Broadband 96 Transport 52 | 6,954 | £264,500 |
| 12 | Long Eaton | 60 | Lifestyle 67 Transport 63 | 37,751 | £225,000 |
| 13 | Woodville | 60 | Lifestyle 56 Broadband 94 | 4,364 | £205,000 |
| 14 | Ilkeston | 59 | Healthcare 64 Transport 67 | 39,787 | £180,000 |
| 15 | Whaley Bridge | 59 | Lifestyle 58 Healthcare 41 | 4,730 | £300,000 |
| 16 | Glossop | 58 | Healthcare 63 Schools 64 | 17,336 | £265,000 |
| 17 | Kilburn and Horsley Woodhouse | 58 | Broadband 98 Transport 56 | 4,223 | £207,000 |
| 18 | Chesterfield | 57 | Transport 73 Healthcare 64 | 77,307 | £198,000 |
| 19 | West Hallam | 57 | Broadband 97 Transport 49 | 5,573 | £250,000 |
| 20 | Brimington | 56 | Healthcare 59 Transport 53 | 10,431 | £170,000 |
| 21 | Makeney | 56 | Transport 47 Healthcare 40 | 4,956 | £475,000 |
| 22 | Heanor | 55 | Healthcare 58 Broadband 97 | 23,789 | £187,750 |
| 23 | Wirksworth | 55 | Healthcare 36 Lifestyle 39 | 4,377 | £280,000 |
| 24 | Newton and Blackwell | 54 | Healthcare 51 Schools 46 | 3,055 | £166,000 |
| 25 | Overseal and Castle Gresley | 54 | Broadband 96 Transport 51 | 4,129 | £225,000 |
| 26 | Eckington (North East Derbyshire) | 53 | Healthcare 50 Broadband 92 | 7,092 | £200,000 |
| 27 | Pilsley and Lower Pilsley | 53 | Transport 44 Broadband 81 | 3,038 | £200,999 |
| 28 | Somercotes and Swanwick | 53 | Healthcare 55 Schools 52 | 13,954 | £195,000 |
| 29 | South Normanton and Pinxton | 53 | Schools 53 Transport 50 | 15,688 | £174,000 |
| 30 | Alfreton | 52 | Healthcare 58 Schools 61 | 9,041 | £185,500 |
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 Derbyshire
The ranking above uses one weighting. Change any control below to re-rank all 52 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 Derbyshire 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. Derbyshire has 52 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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