County ranking

Best places to live in Tyne and Wear

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

30 Towns listed of 32 that qualify
71 Top score Whitley Bay
61 County median UK median 54
9 Above 65 roughly the UK top eighth

This ranking covers the 32 Tyne and Wear towns above 3,000 people that we can score in at least 8 of 9 categories, with the best 30 listed. Whitley Bay leads on 71/100, three points clear of East Boldon and West Boldon on 68. Nine of them score 65 or better, something about one in eight comparable UK towns manages: Whitley Bay (71), East Boldon and West Boldon (68) and Hebburn (68), among others.

Tyne and Wear as a whole runs 7 points above the national norm: a median of 61/100 across its 32 qualifying towns, against 54/100 for comparable UK towns. The top five span £155,000 in Gateshead to £336,000 in Whitley Bay on median house price. Across the 30 towns listed, scores run from 71 down to 50, a 21-point spread. Full breakdowns for the leaders: Whitley Bay, East Boldon and West Boldon and Hebburn.

The top 30 places to live in Tyne and Wear, ranked by overall score out of 100
# Town Score Strongest categories Population Median price
1 Whitley Bay 71 Healthcare 76 Transport 74 36,358 £336,000
2 East Boldon and West Boldon 68 Transport 74 Schools 69 6,768 £220,000
3 Hebburn 68 Healthcare 80 Transport 81 22,100 £166,000
4 Cleadon 66 Transport 72 Schools 63 4,537 £242,550
5 Gateshead 66 Transport 91 Healthcare 84 111,727 £155,000
6 Newcastle upon Tyne 66 Transport 91 Healthcare 83 272,074 £200,000
7 Longbenton 65 Transport 80 Healthcare 75 24,139 £215,000
8 Tynemouth 65 Transport 84 Healthcare 77 60,399 £220,000
9 Wideopen 65 Healthcare 62 Broadband 97 7,294 £220,000
10 Jarrow 63 Transport 83 Schools 80 29,310 £160,000
11 South Shields 63 Transport 84 Healthcare 79 70,681 £154,000
12 Sunderland 63 Transport 87 Healthcare 81 164,008 £145,000
13 Wallsend 63 Transport 84 Healthcare 75 45,215 £155,250
14 Washington 62 Schools 75 Transport 72 47,585 £158,975
15 Whickham 62 Transport 77 Schools 69 15,005 £198,750
16 Boldon Colliery 61 Transport 77 Schools 73 5,923 £145,000
17 Shiney Row and Penshaw 61 Healthcare 67 Transport 65 12,990 £165,000
18 Crawcrook and Greenside 59 Transport 59 Broadband 89 7,349 £170,000
19 Killingworth 59 Transport 65 Healthcare 61 13,371 £175,000
20 Shiremoor 58 Healthcare 75 Transport 72 5,333 £179,250
21 Blaydon 57 Transport 79 Lifestyle 67 15,313 £145,750
22 Dudley (North Tyneside) 57 Healthcare 62 Transport 56 5,034 £147,500
23 Ryton 57 Transport 65 Broadband 89 8,578 £195,000
24 Fence Houses 56 Transport 60 Healthcare 50 6,772 £150,000
25 Whitburn (South Tyneside) 55 Transport 55 Healthcare 45 4,717 £200,000
26 Houghton-le-Spring 53 Transport 67 Healthcare 60 12,234 £145,000
27 Rowlands Gill 53 Broadband 98 Transport 50 5,065 £212,500
28 Birtley 52 Transport 71 Schools 64 14,076 £186,000
29 Throckley 51 Healthcare 53 Transport 54 6,274 £190,000
30 Hetton-le-Hole 50 Transport 58 Broadband 87 8,700 £139,000

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 Tyne and Wear

The ranking above uses one weighting. Change any control below to re-rank all 32 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 Tyne and Wear, below the top 30: Easington LaneSunniside

How this ranking was built

Every settlement in Tyne and Wear 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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