Watford

8°COvercast

• Today: 10° / 8° · 24% rain
• Tomorrow: 10° / 5° · Overcast

Source: WeatherAPI

Sunrise 07:02Sunset 16:27

9h 25m of daylight today

Next bank holiday: Christmas Day, Fri 25 Dec

Source: sunrise-sunset.org · gov.uk

17US AQI · Good

Main pollutant: fine particles (PM2.5)

Source: WAQI · Brent - Ikea, United Kingdom

• 7.8 µg/m³ average fine-particle (PM2.5) concentration
• 5.8% of adult (30+) deaths estimated attributable to fine-particle pollution

Lower is better for both figures.

Source: OHID Fingertips · 2024

623 reported · August 2026▲ 6% YoY

• Anti-social behaviour169
• Violence & sexual offences157
• Shoplifting85
• Public order37

46 stop & searches · mostly controlled drugs

Neighbourhood team: Watford Outer · Hertfordshire

Source: data.police.uk (within ~1 mile)

150 reported road collisions (2025)

29 killed or seriously injured · 181 casualties · 14.7 collisions per 10,000 residents

Source: DfT reported road collisions (STATS19)

500+ food businesses within 2 miles

• 408 rated 4–5 ★ (346 top)
• 4 rated 0–2 (poor)

Source: Food Standards Agency · split of the nearest 500

• Nearest station: Watford Junction (0.5 km)
• 73 bus stops within ~½ mile

Source: OpenStreetMap, TfL, National Rail

£408,659 average▼ 0.4% YoY

Across Watford · to 2026-08

Source: UK House Price Index (HM Land Registry)

£1,829 average monthly rent▲ 2.6% YoY

• 1 bed £1,266
• 2 bed £1,599
• 3 bed £1,825

Source: ONS Price Index of Private Rents · to 2026-08

11.0× house price to earnings

A typical home costs 11.0 times median annual pay (10.7× for cheaper homes vs lower pay).

Source: ONS house price to workplace earnings ratio · 2025

911 property sales in the last 12 months

12 months to May 2026

A busier or quieter market is not by itself good or bad. Monthly counts are small and volatile, so only the annual total is shown.

Source: HM Land Registry UK HPI, 12 months to 2026-05

• Cheapest petrol: 153.9p · Esso (0.3 km)
• Cheapest diesel: 186.9p · Esso (0.3 km)

15 stations within ~8 miles

Source: CMA fuel price scheme

92 charging locations within ~8 km

• 19 with rapid charging (50 kW+)
• Fastest nearby: 175 kW
• Nearest: Church Road, Watford (0.1 km)

Source: Open Charge Map

• Sports centres4
• Gyms1
• Swimming pools13
• Sports pitches47
• Playgrounds20

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

• Watford residents to recycle soft plastics from home· 4 Nov 2026
• Coming soon to a screen near you: Hertfordshire Film and TV Festival· 4 Nov 2026
• BIG SKATE IS BACK! Watford’s festive ice rink returns this Christmas (5 Dec to 3 Jan)· 3 Nov 2026
• Popular local operator chosen for Watford's new Town Hall café· 2 Nov 2026
• Government’s latest decision on Local Government reorganisation· 29 Oct 2026

Source: Watford Council

102,247 residents in Watford · 4,772/km²

• Under 16: 21%
• 16–64: 67%
• 65+: 13%

Source: ONS Census 2021 (local authority)

• Moves in from elsewhere in the UK9,379
• Moves out to elsewhere in the UK9,571
• Net moves−192

Residential moves between local authorities (counts of moves, not people) · ONS Internal migration, YE Jun 2025

Around the average in England

Ranked 175 of 296 English local authorities (1 = most deprived)

Source: English Indices of Deprivation 2025

£2,447 a year · Band D, 2026-27

Most homes here are Band C (37% of 43,260)

Source: VOA council-tax stock · MHCLG band levels 2026-27

42 schools · 15,323 pupils

30 primary · 4 secondary · 8 other

Ofsted: 17 of 19 graded schools rated Good or Outstanding (89%)

38 inspected under Ofsted’s 2024+ framework (graded by area, no single overall grade)

Source: DfE Get Information about Schools · Ofsted · Watford

1,176 CQC-registered services

• Care homes257
• GP practices171
• Dentists296
• Homecare agencies330
• Hospitals & hospices34

CQC ratings: 86% of rated services Good or Outstanding · 7 Inadequate

Source: Care Quality Commission · Hertfordshire

• In a conservation area (Nascot)
• Not in the Green Belt
• 62 listed buildings within ~1.5 km

Source: planning.data.gov.uk (England)

118 applications decided

77.1% granted · 91 granted, 27 refused

Source: MHCLG planning statistics (PS2) · 2026 Q2

Matt Turmaine

Labour

Watford

Source: UK Parliament

Liberal Democrat majority · directly-elected mayor

• Lab 4
• LD 32

Source: Open Council Data UK (CC BY-SA)

• Schools16
• GPs & clinics12
• Pharmacies7
• Supermarkets4
• Parks & greens18
• Restaurants & cafés93

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

5,875 active business enterprises in the area

Source: ONS UK Business Counts (2026)

1,405 jobs advertised · £44,621 avg

e.g. Delivery Driver - Park Royal, Market Research Interviewer – Car Required – Full Time, Delivery Driver (Part Time 24 hours) - Luton

Source: Adzuna

£872 median full-time weekly pay

4.6% of residents aged 16–64 claim unemployment-related benefits

£26,924 disposable income per head (2024)

Source: ONS / Nomis (claimant count · ASHE) · ONS regional GDHI

50% of homes rated EPC C or above

Most common band: D · 47,520 certificates

9.1% of households were in fuel poverty (2023)

Source: MHCLG EPC statistics · DESNZ sub-regional fuel poverty

74% low-carbon electricity

Wind 45% · Gas 25% · Nuclear 19% · Biomass 10%

109 gCO₂/kWh · moderate intensity

Latest estimate for East England · National Grid ESO

Life expectancy: 83.6 yrs women · 79.6 yrs men

Healthy life expectancy (Hertfordshire): 65.5 women · 65.4 men

62% of adults overweight or obese

Source: OHID Fingertips · 2025

• Life satisfaction7.1
• Feeling worthwhile7.5
• Happiness yesterday6.9
• Anxiety yesterday (lower is better)3.3

Average rating out of 10 · ONS personal well-being 2022-23

7 GP surgeries · 5 pharmacies in WD17

• Suthergrey House Medical Centre
• The Elms Surgery
• Rennie Grove Peace Hospice

Source: NHS Organisation Data Service

Open UK Parliament petitions most signed in Watford:

• Ensure fair and transparent faith security funding for all faith communities257 local signatures · 20,440 nationwide
• Protect legal right to support for children with SEND157 local signatures · 111,357 nationwide
• Raise Human Rights Issues in Azad Kashmir with the Government of Pakistan 157 local signatures · 20,508 nationwide
• Change surrogacy law to recognise intended parents from birth129 local signatures · 113,305 nationwide
• Remove sentence reductions for guilty pleas in controlling and coercive cases124 local signatures · 105,832 nationwide

Source: petition.parliament.uk · as of 2026-10-05

• 
  Watford railway station (1837–1858) · 0.1 km

  Watford railway station was a railway station in Watford, Hertfordshire in the UK. It was opened by the London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) and it was the first railway station to open in Watford. It closed in 1858 w…

• Watford Rural District · 0.3 km

  Watford Rural District was a rural district in Hertfordshire from 1894 to 1974. It initially surrounded but did not include the town of Watford, which was a separate urban district. It gradually ceded territory to oth…

• Watford Junction Motive Power Depot · 0.3 km

  Watford Junction Motive Power Depot was a traction maintenance depot located in Watford, Hertfordshire, England. The depot was situated on the Watford DC line and was near Watford Junction station.

• 
  Watford Junction railway station · 0.5 km

  Watford Junction is a railway station serving the town of Watford, in Hertfordshire, England. It is on the West Coast Main Line (WCML), 17 miles 34 chains (28 km) down the line from London Euston. It is also the north…

• 
  Cassiobury · 0.8 km

  The Cassiobury Estate is a suburban residential area of Watford in Hertfordshire, England. It is bounded to the south by Cassiobury Park, the main public park in the town, to the west by playing fields next to the Riv…

• West Herts College · 0.9 km

  West Herts College (WHC) is a further education college in West Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. Established in 1991 through the amalgamation of Watford College, Cassio College and Dacorum College, WHC has campuses in W…

Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA)