Brighton and Hove
City · 277,003 people live here · 30 areas
Check Local Score for Brighton and Hove as a whole: 57, good, better than 3 in 10 cities. 60 is typical for the country.
Summary · written from the figures for Brighton and Hove
Terraced Victorian streets running down towards the seafront, converted into flats and shared houses, with independent cafés and vintage shops filling the ground floors rather than chain retail — that's the visual shorthand for Brighton and Hove, and it attracts a similar mix of students, creative freelancers and people who left London but weren't ready to leave a city behind. The energy is unmistakably urban, and the nightlife grade here sits well above the rest of the area's profile, which tells you something real: this is a place built around going out, not just living quietly.
Getting around is one of the stronger arguments for the city. Brighton Rail Station, Hove Rail Station and Preston Park Rail Station between them mean most postcodes have a station within reach, and with eight rail stations across the city the London commute is a genuine option rather than a theoretical one. Schools are a mixed picture worth sitting with: Varndean School posts a solidly positive progress score and Dorothy Stringer and Balfour Primary are both rated Good, but the city-wide average Ofsted score is only middling, so quality varies more by street than the postcode alone suggests. On housing, the market here is dominated by flats sold freehold rather than leasehold, which is slightly unusual for a city this dense — a terraced house median of £500,000 sits well above the national terraced figure, and the overall median of £410,000 places Brighton and Hove among the pricier parts of the country, though it's in line with its own county rather than an outlier within it. Income levels lag the property market, though — a decile 3 income ranking against decile 6 deprivation overall means plenty of people here are house-rich and cash-tight, renting at a median of £1,812 a month against a national figure barely over a thousand.
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Areas ranked overall
Areas are laid out roughly as they sit in Brighton and Hove, north at the top. Scores are out of 100; 60 is typical for the country.
Saltdean
75Ranked 1 of 30 by overall. Strongest on safety (86), weakest on affordability (50).
Is Brighton and Hove a good place to live?
Brighton and Hove scores 57/100 overall, which the scorecard rates as good — 60 is typical for the country.
It stands out for food & drink (78).
It scores lowest on affordability (37).
Scores come from official data on safety, schools, transport, prices, health, food & drink and the local environment, for Brighton and Hove in South East, each measured against the national average.
Summary of Brighton and Hove
Terraced Victorian streets running down towards the seafront, converted into flats and shared houses, with independent cafés and vintage shops filling the ground floors rather than chain retail — that's the visual shorthand for Brighton and Hove, and it attracts a similar mix of students, creative freelancers and people who left London but weren't ready to leave a city behind. The energy is unmistakably urban, and the nightlife grade here sits well above the rest of the area's profile, which tells you something real: this is a place built around going out, not just living quietly.
Getting around is one of the stronger arguments for the city. Brighton Rail Station, Hove Rail Station and Preston Park Rail Station between them mean most postcodes have a station within reach, and with eight rail stations across the city the London commute is a genuine option rather than a theoretical one. Schools are a mixed picture worth sitting with: Varndean School posts a solidly positive progress score and Dorothy Stringer and Balfour Primary are both rated Good, but the city-wide average Ofsted score is only middling, so quality varies more by street than the postcode alone suggests. On housing, the market here is dominated by flats sold freehold rather than leasehold, which is slightly unusual for a city this dense — a terraced house median of £500,000 sits well above the national terraced figure, and the overall median of £410,000 places Brighton and Hove among the pricier parts of the country, though it's in line with its own county rather than an outlier within it. Income levels lag the property market, though — a decile 3 income ranking against decile 6 deprivation overall means plenty of people here are house-rich and cash-tight, renting at a median of £1,812 a month against a national figure barely over a thousand.