The London Borough of Croydon ranked 289th out of 1,447 locations in the latest Best Places to Live guide, published by Garrington Property Finders.
Within London, Croydon ranked 18th out of the 32 boroughs, and ninth among those located in south London.
The annual report evaluates towns and boroughs across England and Wales based on 18 factors, including education, employment, green space, heritage, house prices, and public health.
Croydon scored particularly well in the category of natural environment – ranking 53rd nationally.
The borough is home to vast green spaces such as Lloyd Park, Addington Hills, and South Norwood Country Park, offering residents easy access to nature despite being in the capital
The borough also scored highly for in the combined category for schools, employment, and connectivity, placing 61st overall.
The borough is served by high-achieving schools like Harris City Academy Crystal Palace and Coloma Convent Girls’ School, benefits from major employers including Croydon Council and the NHS and offers fast transport links to central London via East and West Croydon stations.
However, the borough ranked poorly for wellbeing, placing 1,414th, one of the lowest scores in the study.
This metric includes physical and mental health, life satisfaction and access to wellbeing services.
Croydon also scored 1,126th for house price quality and value.
The average cost of a family home was calculated at £688,507, based on recent sales data and a typical home size of 1,500 square feet.
That figure is nearly three times the average home price in England (£290,564) and nearly four times the average in Wales (£208,197).
The borough’s heritage and cultural offering ranked slightly higher, coming in at 193rd.
Croydon is home to institutions like the Museum of Croydon, the historic Fairfield Halls arts centre, and a thriving street art scene in areas like St George’s Wall.
Garrington’s report is based entirely on publicly available data, with no subjective input, and only includes locations with a population of more than 5,000.
The ranking is intended as a guide to desirable places to live, not a list of worst-performing areas.
No London boroughs made it into the top ten of the rankings.
Croydon ranked higher than its neighbouring borough Sutton.
However, three areas in North Surrey did feature in the top 10, securing the second, eighth, and tenth spots respectively.
Although Croydon did not rank among the highest-rated locations, its strong performance in natural environment, transport, schools, and employment indicates it remains a practical and appealing option – particularly for working families and those commuting into central London.
