Is Croydon a good place to live?
Croydon scores 55 out of 100 on our Liveability index, 16th of London's 33 boroughs. It does best on environment (87) and safety (67), and least well on transport (42). The highest-scoring wards are Addiscombe East, Purley Oaks & Riddlesdown and Shirley South.
Each part compares Croydon 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 Croydon safe?
Police recorded about 3,731 crimes a month in Croydon from June to August 2026, about 43 per square kilometre, below the London borough median of 63. The most common were violence and sexual offences (31%), anti-social behaviour (23%) and shoplifting (10%).
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 Croydon flood?
About 2% of Croydon'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. About 1% 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 Croydon?
Croydon has 86 state primary and 24 state secondary schools, plus 16 independent schools. Of the state schools with a current single Ofsted grade, 93% are good or outstanding and 18% are outstanding, against a London borough median of 24% outstanding. Outstanding schools include Beaumont Primary School, Park Hill Infant School and St Joseph's RC Junior 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 Croydon?
Croydon has 40 Underground, Overground, Elizabeth line, DLR or tram stations on the Windrush (Overground), National Rail and Tram, in fare zones 4 and 5. About 6% 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 Croydon?
The average home in Croydon cost £388,821 in March 2026 (HM Land Registry), up 0.9% over five years. The average private rent was £1,565 a month (ONS, May 2026 release), a gross yield of about 4.8%. Homes cost 10.3 times average local earnings.
What is the air quality like in Croydon?
Nitrogen dioxide averaged 18 µg/m³ across Croydon 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 9 µg/m³ against a guideline of 5. Air is usually worst beside main roads.
What are the shops, parks and GPs like in Croydon?
OpenStreetMap lists 48 supermarkets, 29 GP surgeries and 55 pharmacies in Croydon, and 81 public parks covering about 930 hectares. About 5% of the borough is in a conservation area, where outside changes usually need permission.
How deprived is Croydon?
The typical neighbourhood in Croydon is in decile 6 of 10 on the English Indices of Deprivation 2025, where 1 is the most deprived tenth of England and 10 the least. About 16% of the borough is in the most deprived fifth.
Which parts of Croydon score best?
The highest Liveability scores in Croydon are in Addiscombe East, Purley Oaks & Riddlesdown and Shirley South, and the lowest in Selsdon Vale & Forestdale and West Thornton. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Addiscombe East | 61 | 37 | 75 | 71 | 58 | 41 |
| Purley Oaks & Riddlesdown | 59 | 49 | 41 | 55 | 65 | 41 |
| Shirley South | 59 | 76 | 38 | 57 | 59 | 35 |
| South Croydon | 59 | 59 | 51 | 39 | 67 | 61 |
| South Norwood | 59 | 22 | 80 | 55 | 64 | 79 |
| Woodside | 59 | 36 | 58 | 53 | 80 | 67 |
| Addiscombe West | 58 | 16 | 77 | 69 | 31 | 80 |
| Crystal Palace & Upper Norwood | 58 | 39 | 65 | 56 | 81 | 58 |
| Selsdon & Addington Village | 58 | 76 | 42 | 40 | 60 | 21 |
| Fairfield | 57 | 2 | 99 | 88 | 44 | 74 |
| New Addington North | 57 | 50 | 56 | 65 | 64 | 45 |
| Old Coulsdon | 57 | 81 | 26 | 31 | 84 | 37 |
| Park Hill & Whitgift | 57 | 51 | 63 | 26 | 69 | 51 |
| Shirley North | 57 | 69 | 26 | 58 | 53 | 48 |
| Sanderstead | 56 | 84 | 22 | 39 | 58 | 39 |
| Coulsdon Town | 55 | 70 | 32 | 58 | 21 | 40 |
| Norbury Park | 55 | 45 | 42 | 47 | 74 | 56 |
| Kenley | 54 | 86 | 17 | 29 | 73 | 27 |
| New Addington South | 54 | 55 | 46 | 50 | 63 | 35 |
| Thornton Heath | 54 | 20 | 63 | 71 | 64 | 59 |
| Waddon | 54 | 39 | 62 | 50 | 69 | 59 |
| Purley & Woodcote | 53 | 66 | 37 | 46 | 20 | 40 |
| Selhurst | 53 | 14 | 76 | 66 | 48 | 79 |
| Norbury & Pollards Hill | 51 | 26 | 55 | 58 | 58 | 57 |
| Broad Green | 50 | 14 | 73 | 71 | 21 | 58 |
| Bensham Manor | 49 | 14 | 53 | 62 | 35 | 64 |
| Selsdon Vale & Forestdale | 49 | 79 | 29 | 26 | 42 | 27 |
| West Thornton | 46 | 18 | 56 | 65 | 23 | 64 |
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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