County ranking

Best places to live in Essex

30 towns ranked by overall liveability score, from official UK data.

30 Towns listed of 71 that qualify
74 Top score Buckhurst Hill
53 County median UK median 54
3 Above 65 roughly the UK top eighth

This ranking covers the 71 Essex towns above 3,000 people that we can score in at least 8 of 9 categories, with the best 30 listed. Buckhurst Hill leads on 74/100, five points clear of Chigwell on 69. Above 65/100, which roughly one in eight UK towns this size reaches, Essex has three: Buckhurst Hill (74), Chigwell (69) and Chelmsford (68).

The top five span £381,000 in Chelmsford to £730,000 in Chigwell on median house price. Healthcare is what puts Buckhurst Hill first: 84/100 against a 18/100 national town median, well beyond the gap any of its other categories manage. The steepest fall in the ranking comes after first place, where Buckhurst Hill on 74 gives way to Chigwell on 69. Full breakdowns for the leaders: Buckhurst Hill, Chigwell and Chelmsford.

The top 30 places to live in Essex, ranked by overall score out of 100
# Town Score Strongest categories Population Median price
1 Buckhurst Hill 74 Healthcare 84 Lifestyle 69 11,929 £627,800
2 Chigwell 69 Healthcare 77 Transport 67 11,860 £730,000
3 Chelmsford 68 Lifestyle 77 Schools 72 100,972 £381,000
4 Billericay 64 Healthcare 63 Transport 51 33,376 £490,000
5 Loughton 64 Healthcare 73 Lifestyle 65 32,930 £537,500
6 Southend-on-Sea 64 Healthcare 83 Transport 74 179,485 £350,000
7 Grays 63 Healthcare 81 Lifestyle 80 44,442 £350,500
8 South Ockendon 62 Lifestyle 77 Healthcare 72 18,383 £341,000
9 Thundersley and South Benfleet 62 Schools 63 Healthcare 58 49,504 £395,000
10 Ashingdon 61 Healthcare 55 Broadband 95 5,985 £380,000
11 Braintree 61 Transport 65 Healthcare 57 42,026 £300,000
12 Brentwood 60 Healthcare 63 Transport 54 48,857 £460,000
13 Chafford Hundred and West Thurrock 60 Lifestyle 93 Healthcare 62 20,214 £310,000
14 Colchester 60 Transport 74 Lifestyle 67 99,631 £305,000
15 Great Notley 60 Transport 53 Broadband 92 7,347 £460,000
16 Rayleigh 60 Healthcare 65 Schools 55 31,971 £425,000
17 Harlow 59 Schools 75 Healthcare 58 85,742 £336,908
18 Hockley and Hawkwell 59 Healthcare 52 Schools 50 15,505 £442,500
19 Saffron Walden 59 Healthcare 50 Lifestyle 52 16,487 £409,500
20 Wickford 58 Healthcare 62 Schools 56 26,546 £377,500
21 Witham 58 Healthcare 57 Schools 54 28,130 £316,500
22 Writtle 58 Healthcare 48 Lifestyle 47 4,442 £497,575
23 Aveley 57 Lifestyle 67 Healthcare 58 9,327 £382,500
24 Lawford 57 Broadband 96 Transport 47 4,386 £343,750
25 Stanford-le-Hope 57 Healthcare 61 Schools 51 28,606 £360,000
26 Basildon 56 Healthcare 75 Transport 63 109,531 £325,000
27 Runwell 56 Healthcare 56 Schools 54 7,674 £420,000
28 South Woodham Ferrers 56 Schools 45 Transport 37 15,738 £368,000
29 Canvey Island 55 Healthcare 74 Schools 54 38,285 £320,000
30 Maldon 55 Lifestyle 53 Transport 52 23,310 £347,500

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 Essex

The ranking above uses one weighting. Change any control below to re-rank all 71 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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Also in Essex, below the top 30: Stansted MountfitchetTheydon BoisBerechurchGalleywoodKirby CrossRochfordSouthminsterTilbury
33 moreShow fewerCoggeshallElsenhamFrinton-on-SeaHullbridgeWivenhoeClacton-on-SeaGreat DunmowHatfield PeverelMaylandWaltham AbbeyDoddinghurstPurfleet-on-ThamesChadwell St MaryDanburyGreat WakeringBurnham-on-CrouchEarls ColneSible HedinghamChipping OngarEppingHalstead (Braintree)IngatestoneKelvedon and FeeringSilver EndHarwichJaywickLower NazeingNorth Weald BassettWalton-on-the-NazeTiptreeBrightlingseaEast TilburyWest Mersea

How this ranking was built

Every settlement in Essex 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:

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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