My Area UK

Harpenden

Harpenden is a town in Hertfordshire, England, with a population of around 30,674. It has around 1 pharmacy, 1 supermarket, and 20 restaurants and cafés, with 35 bus stops and Harpenden railway station nearby. The average sold house price is around £961,597, and there were around 106 recorded street crimes in June 2026, most commonly anti-social behaviour. This page gathers weather, crime, food hygiene, transport, flood risk, house prices, population, deprivation and your local MP for the Harpenden area — all from official UK open data.

On deprivation, the St Albans area is among the least deprived areas in England (IoD2019). The wider council area has around 148,165 residents at roughly 919 people per km².

Council
St Albans
County
Hertfordshire
Constituency
Hitchin and Harpenden
Police force
Hertfordshire
69/ 100

My Area Score

Excellent

Ranked 25th of 294 English council areas — better than 91% of them.

Low crime85
Home affordability2
Affordable rents8
Good schools95
Life expectancy92
Low deprivation96
Employment78
Low council tax56

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

18°CLight rain shower

  • Today: 22° / 12° · 58% rain
  • Tomorrow: 21° / 17° · Patchy rain nearby

Source: WeatherAPI

Daylight

Sunrise 06:29Sunset 19:25

12h 56m of daylight today

Next bank holiday: Christmas Day, Fri 25 Dec

Source: sunrise-sunset.org · gov.uk

Air quality

38US AQI · Good

Main pollutant: fine particles (PM2.5)

Source: WAQI · Brent - Ikea, United Kingdom

Crime

108 reported · July 2026 2% YoY

  • Violence & sexual offences28
  • Anti-social behaviour26
  • Other theft12
  • Shoplifting12

2 stop & searches · mostly article for use in theft

Neighbourhood team: Harpenden and Rural · Hertfordshire

Local policing priorities

  • During our last survey members of the public asked us to focus on speeding in Harpenden and Sandridge.
  • During our last survey members of the public asked us to focus on anti-social behaviour in local parks, including drinking alcohol, smoki…

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

Road safety

200 reported road collisions (2024)

39 killed or seriously injured · 287 casualties · 13.5 collisions per 10,000 residents

Source: DfT reported road collisions (STATS19)

Food hygiene

164 food businesses within 2 miles

  • 136 rated 4–5 ★ (107 top)
  • 5 rated 0–2 (poor)

Source: Food Standards Agency

Flood risk

No active flood warnings nearby.

Buses & trains

  • Nearest station: Harpenden (0.4 km)
  • 31 bus stops within ~½ mile

Live trains from Harpenden (0.4 km):

Loading live departures…

Source: OpenStreetMap, National Rail

House prices

£651,448 average 4.3% YoY

Across St Albans · to 2026-06

Detached£1,255,059
Semi-detached£771,814
Terraced£579,924
Flat£332,768

Source: UK House Price Index (HM Land Registry)

Private rents

£1,931 average monthly rent 3% YoY

  • 1 bed £1,271
  • 2 bed £1,632
  • 3 bed £2,018

Source: ONS Price Index of Private Rents · to 2026-07

Affordability

15.0× house price to earnings

A typical home costs 15.0 times median annual pay (13.9× for cheaper homes vs lower pay).

Source: ONS house price to workplace earnings ratio · 2025

Fuel prices

  • Cheapest petrol: 161.9p · Asda (7.7 km)
  • Cheapest diesel: 145.8p · AppleGreen (7.5 km)

15 stations within ~8 miles

Source: CMA fuel price scheme

EV charging

58 charging locations within ~8 km

  • 8 with rapid charging (50 kW+)
  • Fastest nearby: 250 kW
  • Nearest: Bowers Way Car Park (0.2 km)

Source: Open Charge Map

Sport & leisure

  • Sports centres3
  • Gyms3
  • Swimming pools30
  • Sports pitches44
  • Playgrounds7

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

Population

148,165 residents in St Albans · 919/km²

  • Under 16: 22%
  • 16–64: 61%
  • 65+: 17%

Source: ONS Census 2021 (local authority)

Deprivation

Among the least deprived areas in England

Ranked 306 of 317 English local authorities (1 = most deprived)

Source: English Indices of Deprivation 2019

Council tax

£2,419 a year · Band D, 2026-27

Most homes here are Band D (26% of 63,450)

A £1,613
B £1,882
C £2,150
D £2,419
E £2,957
F £3,494
G £4,032
H £4,838

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

Schools

79 schools · 34,051 pupils

50 primary · 12 secondary · 17 other

Ofsted: 29 of 29 graded schools rated Good or Outstanding (100%)

70inspected under Ofsted’s 2024+ framework (graded by area, no single overall grade)

Secondary schools:

  • Nicholas Breakspear Catholic SchoolOutstanding
  • Roundwood Park SchoolOutstanding
  • Sandringham SchoolOutstanding
  • Sir John Lawes SchoolOutstanding
  • Katherine Warington SchoolGood
  • The Marlborough Science AcademyGood
  • Beaumont School
  • Loreto College
  • St Albans Girls' School
  • St George's School
  • Townsend Church of England School
  • Verulam School

Source: DfE Get Information about Schools · Ofsted · St Albans

Care & health services

1,172 CQC-registered services

  • Care homes257
  • GP practices170
  • Dentists295
  • Homecare agencies329
  • Hospitals & hospices34

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

Source: Care Quality Commission · Hertfordshire

Heritage & planning

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

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

Planning decisions

333 applications decided

85.9% granted · 286 granted, 47 refused

Source: MHCLG planning statistics (PS2) · 2026 Q1

Your MP

Victoria Collins

Liberal Democrat

Harpenden and Berkhamsted

Recent votes:

  • AyeTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill: Second Reading
  • AyeClosure motion
  • AyeHealth Bill: Report Stage: Amendment 1
  • NoHealth Bill: Report Stage: New Clause 142

Source: UK Parliament

Council control

Liberal Democrat majority

  • Lab 2
  • Con 5
  • LD 43
  • Grn 3
  • Oth 3

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

Amenities nearby

  • Schools15
  • GPs & clinics4
  • Pharmacies4
  • Supermarkets4
  • Parks & greens20
  • Restaurants & cafés52

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

Local businesses

9,145 active business enterprises in the area

Source: ONS UK Business Counts (2025)

Jobs

282 jobs advertised · £35,942 avg

e.g. Quantity Surveyor, Chef, Mobile Vehicle Technician

Source: Adzuna

Local economy

£1,135 median full-time weekly pay

2.4% of residents aged 16–64 claim unemployment-related benefits

£40,492 disposable income per head (2024)

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

Energy efficiency

46% of homes rated EPC C or above

Most common band: D · 66,877 certificates

7.2% of households were in fuel poverty (2023)

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

Grid electricity

87% low-carbon electricity

Wind 60% · Nuclear 20% · Gas 12% · Biomass 7%

57 gCO₂/kWh · low intensity

Latest estimate for East England · National Grid ESO

Health

Life expectancy: 85.7 yrs women · 82.4 yrs men

63% of adults overweight or obese

Source: OHID Fingertips · 2025

Wellbeing

  • Life satisfaction8.0
  • Feeling worthwhile8.0
  • Happiness yesterday7.6
  • Anxiety yesterday (lower is better)3.0

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

Local petitions

Open UK Parliament petitions most signed in Harpenden and Berkhamsted:

Source: petition.parliament.uk · as of 2026-08-06

Notable places nearby

  • St Nicholas Church, Harpenden · 0.1 km

    The church of St Nicholas in Harpenden is a parish church in the Church of England. It is a Grade II* listed building.

  • Lydekker Park · 0.3 km

    Lydekker Park is a 3-acre (1.2 ha) park in Harpenden, Hertfordshire. The land was formerly part of the garden of Harpenden Lodge, built in 1803, home for many years to the Lydekkers, one of the town's oldest families.…

  • Harpenden · 0.3 km

    Harpenden is a town and civil parish in the City and District of St Albans in the county of Hertfordshire, England. The population of the built-up area was 30,674 in the 2021 census, while the population of the civil…

  • Harpenden railway station · 0.4 km

    Harpenden railway station is on the Midland Main Line in England, serving the town of Harpenden, Hertfordshire. It is 24 miles 51 chains (39.7 km) down the line from London St Pancras and is situated between St Albans…

  • Harpenden Town Hall · 0.4 km

    Harpenden Town Hall is a municipal building in Leyton Road in Harpenden, a town in Hertfordshire, in England. It accommodates the offices and meeting place of Harpenden Town Council.

  • Harpenden Town F.C. · 0.5 km

    Harpenden Town Football Club is a football club based in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, England. They are currently members of the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division and play at Rothamsted Park.

Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA)

Frequently asked questions

Where is Harpenden?
Harpenden is a town in Hertfordshire, England, in the St Albans local authority.
What is the population of Harpenden?
Harpenden has an approximate settlement population of 30,674.
How deprived is Harpenden?
The St Albans local authority, which includes Harpenden, is among the least deprived areas in England on the IoD2019.