County ranking

Best places to live in Northamptonshire

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

26 Towns listed of 26 that qualify
63 Top score Northampton
50.5 County median UK median 54
0 Above 65 roughly the UK top eighth

We score 26 Northamptonshire towns with a population above 3,000 and data in at least 8 of our 9 categories. Here are the top 26, ranked by overall score. Northampton finishes first with 63/100, but only just: Brackley is one point back on 62. Median score across the 26 towns we rank here is 50.5/100, 3.5 points below the 54/100 that UK towns this size typically manage.

On price, Wellingborough is the top five's cheapest at a median of £240,000. Brackley, also in the top five, runs to £327,500. Lifestyle is what puts Brackley second: 78/100 against a 21/100 national town median, well beyond the gap any of its other categories manage. 25th to 26th is the table's widest single gap: 45 to 41. Category-by-category detail is on the pages for Northampton, Brackley and Kettering.

The top 26 places to live in Northamptonshire, ranked by overall score out of 100
# Town Score Strongest categories Population Median price
1 Northampton 63 Lifestyle 91 Healthcare 78 230,219 £260,000
2 Brackley 62 Lifestyle 78 Broadband 96 11,448 £327,500
3 Kettering 60 Schools 70 Lifestyle 68 61,983 £245,000
4 Wellingborough 59 Schools 69 Transport 66 50,270 £240,000
5 Burton Latimer 56 Broadband 99 Transport 46 5,529 £260,000
6 Moulton (West Northamptonshire) 53 Broadband 95 Healthcare 52 5,407 £340,000
7 Towcester 53 Healthcare 51 Lifestyle 46 11,606 £322,000
8 Higham Ferrers 52 Broadband 98 Healthcare 49 8,493 £282,500
9 Irchester 52 Broadband 99 Healthcare 46 4,039 £230,000
10 Oundle 52 Broadband 82 Lifestyle 39 6,152 £338,500
11 Rushden 52 Lifestyle 59 Healthcare 53 28,221 £238,500
12 Thrapston 52 Broadband 95 Healthcare 42 4,103 £280,000
13 Raunds 51 Healthcare 51 Broadband 93 10,271 £257,000
14 Rothwell (North Northamptonshire) 50 Broadband 96 Lifestyle 46 5,185 £236,500
15 Daventry 49 Lifestyle 52 Healthcare 48 20,775 £250,000
16 Desborough 49 Broadband 90 Lifestyle 45 10,456 £257,500
17 Irthlingborough 49 Broadband 86 Healthcare 43 8,946 £222,500
18 Corby 48 Schools 61 Healthcare 50 62,594 £215,000
19 Earls Barton 48 Broadband 85 Lifestyle 29 5,964 £325,500
20 Long Buckby 48 Broadband 98 Healthcare 35 3,694 £340,000
21 Brixworth 47 Broadband 98 Economic health 82 5,164 £390,000
22 Deanshanger 47 Broadband 96 Economic health 76 3,557 £350,000
23 Finedon 47 Broadband 95 Healthcare 44 3,834 £240,000
24 Roade 46 Broadband 98 Economic health 73 3,131 £287,000
25 Middleton Cheney 45 Economic health 82 Schools 33 3,427 £362,500
26 Woodford Halse 41 Broadband 82 Schools 25 3,831 £300,000

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 Northamptonshire

The ranking above uses one weighting. Change any control below to re-rank all 26 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.

Pick a persona or set a filter to re-rank 26 towns in place.

How this ranking was built

Every settlement in Northamptonshire 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.

Check your exact postcode

Get a personalised score for any UK postcode, tailored to what matters most to you.

Score my postcode