My Area UK

Saffron Walden

Saffron Walden is a town in Essex, England, with a population of around 16,610. It has 3 schools, around 2 GP surgeries, 2 pharmacies, and around 15 restaurants and cafés, with 42 bus stops and Audley End Miniature Railway station 2 km away. The average sold house price is around £546,404, and there were around 80 recorded street crimes in June 2026, most commonly violence & sexual offences. This page gathers weather, crime, food hygiene, transport, flood risk, house prices, population, deprivation and your local MP for the Saffron Walden area — all from official UK open data.

On deprivation, the Uttlesford area is among the least deprived areas in England (IoD2025). The wider council area has around 91,341 residents at roughly 142 people per km².

Council
Uttlesford
County
Essex
Constituency
Saffron Walden
Police force
Essex
73/ 100

My Area Score

Excellent

Ranked 10th of 294 English council areas — better than 97% of them.

Low crime78
Home affordability13
Affordable rents37
Good schools81
Life expectancy96
Low deprivation91
Employment94
Low council tax75

A percentile blend of eight open measures (100 = best in England); bars show this area’s England-wide percentile on each. See the rankings · methodology

Weather

8°CPatchy rain nearby

  • Today: 12° / 6° · 57% rain
  • Tomorrow: 11° / 7° · Patchy rain nearby

Source: WeatherAPI

Daylight

Sunrise 06:54Sunset 16:31

9h 37m of daylight today

Next bank holiday: Christmas Day, Fri 25 Dec

Source: sunrise-sunset.org · gov.uk

Air quality

48US AQI · Good

Main pollutant: fine particles (PM2.5)

Source: WAQI · Bexley - Belvedere West, United Kingdom

Air pollution (PM2.5)

  • 6.9 µg/m³ average fine-particle (PM2.5) concentration
  • 5.2% of adult (30+) deaths estimated attributable to fine-particle pollution

Lower is better for both figures.

Source: OHID Fingertips · 2024

Crime

78 reported · August 2026▲ 8% YoY

  • Violence & sexual offences32
  • Anti-social behaviour14
  • Criminal damage & arson7
  • Shoplifting7

Neighbourhood team: Saffron Walden · Essex

Local policing priorities

  • Concerns from residents about vehicle nuisance in hotspot locations across the district, including town centres and retail/leisure parks,…
  • Concerns about antisocial behaviour and shoplifting in key hotspot locations including town centres, retail areas and public spaces acros…

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

Road safety

157 reported road collisions (2025)

62 killed or seriously injured · 205 casualties · 17.2 collisions per 10,000 residents

Source: DfT reported road collisions (STATS19)

Food hygiene

147 food businesses within 2 miles

  • 108 rated 4–5 ★ (97 top)
  • 1 rated 0–2 (poor)

Source: Food Standards Agency

Flood risk

No active flood warnings nearby.

Buses & trains

  • Nearest station: Audley End Miniature Railway (1.8 km)
  • 28 bus stops within ~½ mile

Live trains from Audley End (3.2 km):

Loading live departures…

Source: OpenStreetMap, National Rail

House prices

£468,166 average▲ 0.1% YoY

Across Uttlesford · to 2026-08

Detached£716,088
Semi-detached£439,513
Terraced£364,693
Flat£203,116

Source: UK House Price Index (HM Land Registry)

Private rents

£1,289 average monthly rent▲ 0.4% YoY

  • 1 bed £905
  • 2 bed £1,142
  • 3 bed £1,442

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

Affordability

11.7× house price to earnings

A typical home costs 11.7 times median annual pay (12.2× for cheaper homes vs lower pay).

Source: ONS house price to workplace earnings ratio · 2025

Property sales

1,300 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

EV charging

10 charging locations within ~8 km

  • 3 with rapid charging (50 kW+)
  • Fastest nearby: 50 kW
  • Nearest: The Common Car Park, Common Hill (0.1 km)

Source: Open Charge Map

Sport & leisure

  • Sports centres1
  • Gyms1
  • Swimming pools5
  • Sports pitches33
  • Golf courses1
  • Playgrounds9

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

Population

91,341 residents in Uttlesford · 142/km²

  • Under 16: 20%
  • 16–64: 60%
  • 65+: 20%

Source: ONS Census 2021 (local authority)

Internal migration

  • Moves in from elsewhere in the UK7,298
  • Moves out to elsewhere in the UK5,498
  • Net moves+1,800

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

Deprivation

Among the least deprived areas in England

Ranked 269 of 296 English local authorities (1 = most deprived)

Source: English Indices of Deprivation 2025

Council tax

£2,334 a year · Band D, 2026-27

Most homes here are Band C (22% of 40,760)

A £1,556
B £1,815
C £2,075
D £2,334
E £2,852
F £3,371
G £3,890
H £4,668

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

Schools

44 schools · 13,200 pupils

37 primary · 3 secondary · 4 other

Ofsted: 18 of 19 graded schools rated Good or Outstanding (95%)

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

Secondary schools:

  • Saffron Walden County High SchoolOutstanding
  • Forest Hall SchoolGood
  • Joyce Frankland Academy, NewportGood

Source: DfE Get Information about Schools · Ofsted · Uttlesford

Care & health services

1,574 CQC-registered services

  • Care homes408
  • GP practices229
  • Dentists312
  • Homecare agencies474
  • Hospitals & hospices40

CQC ratings: 88% of rated services Good or Outstanding · 17 Inadequate

Source: Care Quality Commission · Essex

Heritage & planning

  • In a conservation area (Saffron Walden 1)
  • Not in the Green Belt
  • 340 listed buildings within ~1.5 km

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

Planning decisions

279 applications decided

74.9% granted · 209 granted, 70 refused

Source: MHCLG planning statistics (PS2) · 2026 Q2

Your MP

Mrs Kemi Badenoch

Conservative

North West Essex

Recent votes:

  • NoWithdrawal Agreement (Windsor Framework and Governance) (Amendment) Regulations 2026
  • NoDraft Code of Practice on Access and Unfair Practices During the Recognition and Derecognition Process
  • NoDraft Railways (Interoperability in Northern Ireland) (Convention on International Carriage by Rail) (Amendment) Regulations 2026
  • AyeNorthern Ireland Troubles Bill Committee: New Clause 21

Source: UK Parliament

Council control

Independent majority

  • Con 12
  • LD 3
  • Ref 3
  • Oth 21

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

Amenities nearby

  • Schools9
  • GPs & clinics2
  • Pharmacies2
  • Supermarkets4
  • Parks & greens38
  • Restaurants & cafés17

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

Local businesses

6,145 active business enterprises in the area

Source: ONS UK Business Counts (2026)

Jobs

221 jobs advertised · £38,806 avg

e.g. Electrician, Lifestyle coordinator, FLT Driver- Cambridge

Source: Adzuna

Local economy

£958 median full-time weekly pay

2.1% of residents aged 16–64 claim unemployment-related benefits

£33,494 disposable income per head (2024)

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

Energy efficiency

52% of homes rated EPC C or above

Most common band: D · 40,772 certificates

9.4% of households were in fuel poverty (2023)

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

Grid electricity

62% low-carbon electricity

Gas 37% · Wind 30% · Nuclear 20% · Biomass 12%

160 gCO₂/kWh · moderate intensity

Latest estimate for East England · National Grid ESO

Health

Life expectancy: 86 yrs women · 82.9 yrs men

Healthy life expectancy (Essex): 62.4 women · 62.7 men

63% of adults overweight or obese

Source: OHID Fingertips · 2025

Wellbeing

  • Life satisfaction7.1
  • Feeling worthwhile7.5
  • Happiness yesterday7.3
  • Anxiety yesterday (lower is better)3.5

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

Health services

2 GP surgeries · 3 pharmacies in CB10

  • Saffron Walden Medical Centre
  • The Gold Street Surgery

Source: NHS Organisation Data Service

Local petitions

Open UK Parliament petitions most signed in North West Essex:

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

Notable places nearby

  • Saffron Walden Town Hall · 0.1 km

    Saffron Walden Town Hall is a municipal building in the Market Place, Saffron Walden, Essex, England. The structure, which is the headquarters of Saffron Walden Town Council, is a Grade II listed building.

  • Barclays Bank, Saffron Walden · 0.1 km

    Barclays Bank, Market Place, Saffron Walden, Essex, England has been designated a Grade II* listed building by Historic England. It was first listed in 1972.

  • Corn Exchange, Saffron Walden · 0.1 km

    The Corn Exchange is a commercial building in the Market Place in Saffron Walden, Essex, England. The structure, which is currently used as a library, is a Grade II listed building.

  • Walden Abbey · 0.1 km

    Walden Abbey was a Benedictine monastery in Saffron Walden, Essex, England, founded by Geoffrey de Mandeville, 1st Earl of Essex, between 1136 and 1143. Originally a priory, it was elevated to the status of an abbey i…

  • Saffron Walden · 0.2 km

    Saffron Walden is a market town and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England, 12 miles (19 km) north of Bishop's Stortford, 15 miles (24 km) south of Cambridge and 43 miles (69 km) north of London. It…

  • Walden Castle · 0.2 km

    Walden Castle was a medieval castle in Essex, England, built during the Anarchy of the 12th century. Only the ruined core of the structure remains today.

Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA)

Compare Uttlesford with nearby areas

Frequently asked questions

Where is Saffron Walden?
Saffron Walden is a town in Essex, England, in the Uttlesford local authority.
What is the population of Saffron Walden?
Saffron Walden has an approximate settlement population of 16,610.
How deprived is Saffron Walden?
The Uttlesford local authority, which includes Saffron Walden, is among the least deprived areas in England on the IoD2025.