County ranking
Best places to live in Staffordshire
30 towns ranked by overall liveability score, from official UK data.
37 towns in Staffordshire 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. Two towns tie at the top on 65/100: Newcastle-under-Lyme and Perton. Above 65/100, which roughly one in eight UK towns this size reaches, Staffordshire has two: Newcastle-under-Lyme (65) and Perton (65).
Median score across the 37 towns we rank here is 57/100, 3 points above the 54/100 that UK towns this size typically manage. The top five span £195,000 in Newcastle-under-Lyme to £260,000 in Perton on median house price. From top to bottom of this table there are 16 points: 65 at the head, 49 at the foot. Full breakdowns for the leaders: Newcastle-under-Lyme, Perton and Burntwood.
| # | Town | Score | Strongest categories | Population | Median price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Newcastle-under-Lyme | 65 | Healthcare 81 Lifestyle 71 | 76,867 | £195,000 |
| 2 | Perton | 65 | Schools 62 Broadband 99 | 8,736 | £260,000 |
| 3 | Burntwood | 64 | Transport 66 Schools 62 | 25,575 | £257,000 |
| 4 | Cannock | 64 | Healthcare 73 Transport 76 | 59,865 | £219,000 |
| 5 | Stafford | 64 | Transport 68 Healthcare 62 | 66,427 | £227,250 |
| 6 | Uttoxeter | 63 | Healthcare 56 Schools 60 | 13,790 | £237,500 |
| 7 | Codsall | 62 | Schools 63 Healthcare 56 | 11,376 | £325,000 |
| 8 | Great Wyrley and Cheslyn Hay | 62 | Healthcare 63 Transport 62 | 17,726 | £265,000 |
| 9 | Harriseahead, Mow Cop and Newchapel | 62 | Transport 54 Schools 53 | 3,574 | £245,500 |
| 10 | Tamworth | 62 | Transport 72 Schools 65 | 78,051 | £249,950 |
| 11 | Stretton (East Staffordshire) | 61 | Transport 68 Schools 57 | 4,623 | £255,000 |
| 12 | Burton upon Trent | 59 | Transport 72 Healthcare 63 | 77,915 | £202,000 |
| 13 | Essington | 59 | Healthcare 62 Transport 56 | 3,318 | £270,500 |
| 14 | Kidsgrove | 59 | Transport 64 Schools 64 | 16,346 | £180,000 |
| 15 | Norton Canes | 59 | Healthcare 71 Transport 62 | 7,846 | £252,000 |
| 16 | Huntington (South Staffordshire) | 58 | Transport 56 Healthcare 51 | 4,050 | £255,000 |
| 17 | Leek | 58 | Healthcare 59 Schools 56 | 19,085 | £175,000 |
| 18 | Rugeley | 58 | Transport 60 Broadband 98 | 24,319 | £215,000 |
| 19 | Stoke-on-Trent | 57 | Healthcare 76 Schools 70 | 249,022 | £160,000 |
| 20 | Stone (Stafford) | 57 | Broadband 94 Schools 50 | 17,586 | £259,000 |
| 21 | Talke and Talke Pits | 57 | Broadband 99 Healthcare 55 | 3,385 | £190,500 |
| 22 | Tutbury | 57 | Healthcare 57 Transport 44 | 3,655 | £280,000 |
| 23 | Biddulph | 55 | Transport 53 Schools 54 | 16,944 | £204,500 |
| 24 | Blythe Bridge and Forsbrook | 53 | Schools 55 Transport 45 | 6,432 | £220,000 |
| 25 | Lichfield | 53 | Transport 57 Schools 58 | 32,608 | £333,000 |
| 26 | Wombourne | 52 | Healthcare 48 Schools 43 | 12,971 | £317,500 |
| 27 | Penkridge | 50 | Transport 47 Broadband 84 | 7,953 | £308,500 |
| 28 | Barton-under-Needwood | 49 | Healthcare 42 Economic health 85 | 3,973 | £315,250 |
| 29 | Cheadle (Staffordshire Moorlands) | 49 | Healthcare 54 Schools 47 | 10,331 | £220,000 |
| 30 | Handsacre and Armitage | 49 | Broadband 99 Bills 58 | 3,502 | £255,000 |
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 Staffordshire
The ranking above uses one weighting. Change any control below to re-rank all 37 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 Staffordshire 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. Staffordshire has 37 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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