Is Merton a good place to live?
Merton scores 59 out of 100 on our Liveability index, 5th of London's 33 boroughs. It does best on environment (76) and area prosperity (67), and least well on safety (53). The highest-scoring wards are Wimbledon Town & Dundonald, Merton Park and Abbey.
Each part compares Merton 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 Merton safe?
Police recorded about 1,363 crimes a month in Merton from June to August 2026, about 37 per square kilometre, below the London borough median of 63. The most common were violence and sexual offences (32%), anti-social behaviour (22%) and vehicle crime (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 Merton flood?
About 10% of Merton'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 4% 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 Merton?
Merton has 43 state primary and 9 state secondary schools, plus 14 independent schools. Of the state schools with a current single Ofsted grade, 100% are good or outstanding and 31% are outstanding, against a London borough median of 24% outstanding. Outstanding schools include Singlegate Primary School, Wimbledon Park Primary School and Holy Trinity CofE 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 Merton?
Merton has 21 Underground, Overground, Elizabeth line, DLR or tram stations on the Northern, District, Tram and National Rail, in fare zones 3 and 4. About 17% 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 Merton?
The average home in Merton cost £601,401 in March 2026 (HM Land Registry), up 7.9% over five years. The average private rent was £2,097 a month (ONS, May 2026 release), a gross yield of about 4.2%. Homes cost 13.2 times average local earnings.
What is the air quality like in Merton?
Nitrogen dioxide averaged 21 µg/m³ across Merton 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 Merton?
OpenStreetMap lists 26 supermarkets, 19 GP surgeries and 36 pharmacies in Merton, and 65 public parks covering about 639 hectares. About 18% of the borough is in a conservation area, where outside changes usually need permission.
How deprived is Merton?
The typical neighbourhood in Merton is in decile 7 of 10 on the English Indices of Deprivation 2025, where 1 is the most deprived tenth of England and 10 the least. About 3% of the borough is in the most deprived fifth.
Which parts of Merton score best?
The highest Liveability scores in Merton are in Wimbledon Town & Dundonald, Merton Park and Abbey, and the lowest in Village and Longthornton. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wimbledon Town & Dundonald | 68 | 33 | 91 | 75 | 60 | 68 |
| Merton Park | 67 | 54 | 82 | 62 | 59 | 53 |
| Abbey | 66 | 33 | 90 | 77 | 52 | 72 |
| Raynes Park | 65 | 57 | 80 | 77 | 42 | 64 |
| Hillside | 65 | 40 | 86 | 71 | 25 | 64 |
| Wimbledon Park | 62 | 51 | 60 | 76 | 62 | 64 |
| Figge's Marsh | 61 | 22 | 82 | 62 | 72 | 80 |
| St Helier | 61 | 46 | 69 | 69 | 60 | 51 |
| Colliers Wood | 60 | 24 | 85 | 79 | 64 | 56 |
| Lower Morden | 60 | 65 | 44 | 52 | 61 | 45 |
| Ravensbury | 60 | 44 | 67 | 63 | 76 | 52 |
| West Barnes | 60 | 62 | 42 | 65 | 54 | 69 |
| Cannon Hill | 59 | 68 | 46 | 47 | 64 | 34 |
| Pollards Hill | 59 | 52 | 55 | 47 | 92 | 69 |
| Cricket Green | 59 | 52 | 70 | 36 | 75 | 41 |
| Graveney | 58 | 23 | 71 | 60 | 50 | 74 |
| Wandle | 58 | 24 | 66 | 76 | 61 | 70 |
| Lavender Fields | 56 | 22 | 73 | 71 | 66 | 60 |
| Village | 56 | 83 | 24 | 29 | 68 | 25 |
| Longthornton | 55 | 32 | 57 | 59 | 70 | 66 |
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.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right. © OpenStreetMap contributors. Powered by TfL Open Data.