Is Camden a good place to live?
Camden scores 58 out of 100 on our Liveability index, 11th of London's 33 boroughs. It does best on transport (90) and shops and services (82), and least well on safety (11). The highest-scoring wards are Camden Town, Hampstead Town and Kentish Town North.
Each part compares Camden with the rest of London, where 100 is the best. The score uses our default weights; on the map you can set your own.
Is Camden safe?
Police recorded about 4,425 crimes a month in Camden from June to August 2026, about 198 per square kilometre, above the London borough median of 63. The most common were violence and sexual offences (20%), anti-social behaviour (19%) and other theft (14%).
Recorded crime follows footfall: busy town centres and transport hubs record more, which says little about quiet residential streets. Check the exact street with an area report.
Does Camden flood?
About 0% of Camden's land is in Flood Zone 2 or 3, the Environment Agency's zones for flooding from rivers or the sea, against 13% across London. Almost none sits in Flood Zone 3, the highest risk band. The zones ignore flood defences and do not cover surface water flooding.
Are there good schools in Camden?
Camden has 37 state primary and 10 state secondary schools, plus 28 independent schools. Of the state schools with a current single Ofsted grade, 100% are good or outstanding and 37% are outstanding, against a London borough median of 24% outstanding. Outstanding schools include Edith Neville Primary School, Rhyl Community Primary School and Richard Cobden Primary School.
Ofsted stopped giving a single overall grade in September 2024, so recently inspected schools have none. Always check admissions and catchment rules with the school or council.
How good is public transport in Camden?
Camden has 26 Underground, Overground, Elizabeth line, DLR or tram stations on the Northern, Central, Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan and Victoria and more, in fare zones 1 and 2. About 62% of the borough has good or better access (TfL PTAL 4 to 6b), against 15% of London.
How much does it cost to live in Camden?
The average home in Camden cost £772,336 in March 2026 (HM Land Registry), down 3% over five years. The average private rent was £2,724 a month (ONS, May 2026 release), a gross yield of about 4.2%. Homes cost 17.9 times average local earnings.
What is the air quality like in Camden?
Nitrogen dioxide averaged 25 µg/m³ across Camden in 2022 (London Atmospheric Emissions Inventory), against a London median of 20 and a World Health Organization guideline of 10. Fine particles (PM2.5) averaged 10 µg/m³ against a guideline of 5. Air is usually worst beside main roads.
What are the shops, parks and GPs like in Camden?
OpenStreetMap lists 41 supermarkets, 52 GP surgeries and 60 pharmacies in Camden, and 77 public parks covering about 392 hectares. About 52% of the borough is in a conservation area, where outside changes usually need permission.
How deprived is Camden?
The typical neighbourhood in Camden is in decile 5 of 10 on the English Indices of Deprivation 2025, where 1 is the most deprived tenth of England and 10 the least. About 19% of the borough is in the most deprived fifth.
Which parts of Camden score best?
The highest Liveability scores in Camden are in Camden Town, Hampstead Town and Kentish Town North, and the lowest in Bloomsbury and South Hampstead. Every ward is below, with its scores for safety, transport, shops, green space and schools out of 100.
| Ward | Liveability | Safety | Transport | Shops | Green | Schools |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Camden Town | 61 | 2 | 98 | 92 | 64 | 81 |
| Hampstead Town | 61 | 59 | 44 | 50 | 100 | 51 |
| Kentish Town North | 61 | 11 | 94 | 87 | 32 | 89 |
| Kentish Town South | 61 | 6 | 94 | 91 | 53 | 87 |
| King's Cross | 60 | 1 | 99 | 90 | 66 | 72 |
| St Pancras & Somers Town | 60 | 1 | 99 | 90 | 55 | 91 |
| Regent's Park | 59 | 3 | 97 | 89 | 85 | 79 |
| Fortune Green | 59 | 14 | 80 | 73 | 52 | 68 |
| Frognal | 58 | 35 | 64 | 66 | 45 | 62 |
| Haverstock | 58 | 7 | 90 | 84 | 53 | 82 |
| Kilburn | 58 | 6 | 94 | 84 | 45 | 81 |
| Belsize | 57 | 13 | 96 | 83 | 22 | 56 |
| Primrose Hill | 57 | 18 | 77 | 76 | 75 | 50 |
| West Hampstead | 57 | 10 | 96 | 85 | 36 | 61 |
| Holborn & Covent Garden | 56 | 1 | 100 | 93 | 58 | 45 |
| Camden Square | 55 | 8 | 77 | 80 | 42 | 84 |
| Highgate | 55 | 28 | 47 | 56 | 62 | 58 |
| Gospel Oak | 55 | 13 | 86 | 77 | 39 | 70 |
| Farringdon Without | 54 | 5 | 100 | 87 | 31 | 27 |
| Bloomsbury | 54 | 0 | 99 | 91 | 49 | 54 |
| South Hampstead | 52 | 9 | 97 | 71 | 30 | 52 |
Nearby areas
Where these numbers come from
- Crime: police.uk street-level crime, June to August 2026, averaged per month.
- Flood zones and conservation areas: Environment Agency Flood Map for Planning and local authority conservation areas, via planning.data.gov.uk.
- Schools: Department for Education Get Information About Schools, with Ofsted grades.
- Transport: TfL stations and PTAL 2023. Air quality: London Atmospheric Emissions Inventory 2022.
- Prices: HM Land Registry UK House Price Index (March 2026) and ONS private rents (May 2026 release) and affordability ratios.
- Shops, GPs and parks: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Deprivation: English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG).
- Liveability: our score for each ~500 m square of London, built from the sources above; borough and ward figures are medians of their squares.
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