Is Richmond upon Thames a good place to live?
Richmond upon Thames scores 56 out of 100 on our Liveability index, 15th of London's 33 boroughs. It does best on area prosperity (78) and environment (76), and least well on schools (39). The highest-scoring wards are Twickenham Riverside, South Twickenham and Tudor.
Each part compares Richmond upon Thames 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 Richmond upon Thames safe?
Police recorded about 1,346 crimes a month in Richmond upon Thames from June to August 2026, about 23 per square kilometre, below the London borough median of 63. The most common were violence and sexual offences (27%), anti-social behaviour (26%) and vehicle crime (11%).
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 Richmond upon Thames flood?
About 23% of Richmond upon Thames'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 16% 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 Richmond upon Thames?
Richmond upon Thames has 46 state primary and 13 state secondary schools, plus 22 independent schools. Of the state schools with a current single Ofsted grade, 100% are good or outstanding and 40% are outstanding, against a London borough median of 24% outstanding. Outstanding schools include East Sheen Primary School, Hampton Junior School and Hampton Infant School and Nursery.
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 Richmond upon Thames?
Richmond upon Thames has 14 Underground, Overground, Elizabeth line, DLR or tram stations on the District, Mildmay (Overground) and National Rail, in fare zones 3 and 4. About 3% 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 Richmond upon Thames?
The average home in Richmond upon Thames cost £785,897 in March 2026 (HM Land Registry), up 13.7% over five years. The average private rent was £2,307 a month (ONS, May 2026 release), a gross yield of about 3.5%. Homes cost 14.6 times average local earnings.
What is the air quality like in Richmond upon Thames?
Nitrogen dioxide averaged 20 µg/m³ across Richmond upon Thames 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 Richmond upon Thames?
OpenStreetMap lists 22 supermarkets, 27 GP surgeries and 44 pharmacies in Richmond upon Thames, and 94 public parks covering about 2008 hectares. About 53% of the borough is in a conservation area, where outside changes usually need permission.
How deprived is Richmond upon Thames?
The typical neighbourhood in Richmond upon Thames is in decile 8 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 Richmond upon Thames score best?
The highest Liveability scores in Richmond upon Thames are in Twickenham Riverside, South Twickenham and Tudor, and the lowest in Kew and East Sheen. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Twickenham Riverside | 71 | 44 | 79 | 83 | 80 | 68 |
| South Twickenham | 65 | 65 | 51 | 66 | 55 | 78 |
| Tudor | 65 | 67 | 35 | 54 | 81 | 74 |
| Mortlake & Barnes Common | 64 | 51 | 71 | 65 | 77 | 59 |
| Fulwell & Hampton Hill | 63 | 70 | 52 | 66 | 23 | 50 |
| West Twickenham | 63 | 67 | 53 | 65 | 67 | 70 |
| Heathfield | 59 | 55 | 37 | 60 | 71 | 53 |
| St Margarets & North Twickenham | 59 | 44 | 66 | 60 | 54 | 74 |
| North Richmond | 57 | 48 | 67 | 58 | 94 | 22 |
| Hampton Wick & South Teddington | 56 | 51 | 46 | 58 | 73 | 56 |
| Hampton | 56 | 78 | 39 | 35 | 74 | 20 |
| South Richmond | 56 | 55 | 37 | 57 | 72 | 30 |
| Teddington | 55 | 78 | 9 | 49 | 90 | 20 |
| Whitton | 55 | 52 | 48 | 60 | 37 | 61 |
| Barnes | 53 | 59 | 53 | 62 | 56 | 53 |
| Hampton North | 53 | 57 | 41 | 56 | 45 | 27 |
| Ham, Petersham & Richmond Riverside | 52 | 83 | 0 | 27 | 81 | 34 |
| Kew | 51 | 52 | 60 | 57 | 33 | 35 |
| East Sheen | 50 | 84 | 0 | 28 | 70 | 22 |
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.