January 14 2025

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The best places for families to live in 2025

Property experts predict that the number of people moving house in the UK will continue to increase in 2025, with around 1.15m completions expected over the 12 months.

When looking for a place to settle with your family, there are a range of factors that you must consider, ranging from the quality of local schools to the number of nearby parks, as well as the general safety of the area.

With so much to think about, our experts have used a variety of data sources to rank local authorities across the UK and reveal the best places for families to live in 2025. The research considered factors including overall crime rate, the number of burglaries, access to outdoor space, school performance, house prices and average earnings.

Regardless of where you choose to live, you shouldn’t overlook the importance of home security systems, such as our ADT Smart Home solution with 24/7/365 monitoring by our alarm receiving centre.

To see your local data, visit our Crime in My Area tool.

The 10 best places in the UK for families to live in 2025:

1. West Berkshire

Family Safety Score: 7.49/10

West Berkshire, which includes the towns of Newbury and Thatcham, was crowned the best place for families this year, with the local authority boasting one of the lowest crime rates in the country (57 per 1,000 people).

Properties in West Berkshire also have the largest private outdoor gardens, averaging a giant 625m² - perfect for family life.

2. Cornwall

Family Safety Score: 7.45/10

Cornwall takes second place, largely thanks to having the UK’s lowest burglary rate (1.8 per 1,000 people).

The region, which includes Falmouth and Penzance, also performs well for outdoor space, with almost nine in ten (89%) Cornish homes having access to a garden.

3. Wiltshire

Family Safety Score: 7.38/10

Wiltshire is third on the list, with low crime rates, large gardens and 92% of its schools being classed as either Good or Outstanding.

The average salary in the area, which includes the towns of Swindon and Salisbury, stands at £36,597.

4. Shropshire

Family Safety Score: 7.21/10

Picturesque Shropshire is fourth, mainly due to its large gardens (577m²) and impressively low crime rates (55 per 1,000 people).

Shrewsbury and Telford are the main towns in the authority.

5. Bracknell Forest

Family Safety Score: 6.99/10

Bracknell Forest, lying west of London, completes the top five. This is aided by its fantastic educational options, with 99% of schools rated either Good or Outstanding.

Its burglary rate of 1.9 per 1,000 people is also amongst the UK’s best.

6. Dorset

Family Safety Score: 6.98/10

Dorset has the UK’s second-lowest crime rate per 1,000 people (55) and the third-highest gardens on average (547m²).

Home to Bournemouth and Poole, the region is a great option for families.

7. Cheshire West and Chester

Family Safety Score: 6.98/10

The schools in Cheshire West and Chester helped the local authority finish highly, with 95% receiving Good or Outstanding grades.

With just 2.3 burglaries per 1,000 people, it is also one of the UK’s safest spots.

8. Windsor and Maidenhead

Family Safety Score: 6.98/10

The average salary in Windsor and Maidenhead is £51,741, one of the best across the nation.

Compared to the few local authorities with greater income levels, people in Windsor and Maidenhead enjoy far larger gardens, with 510m² of outdoor space. This is quadruple the average size of gardens within the nine places higher up the salary leaderboard.

9. East Riding of Yorkshire

Family Safety Score: 6.9/10

House prices within the East Riding of Yorkshire, which includes Hull and Bridlington, are considerably lower than anywhere else with such impressively good crime rates.

The local authority has the UK’s fifth-best crime rate, at just 56 per 1,000 people, yet properties cost just £210,000 on average. In contrast, you’d have to pay £100,000 more to buy a property in one of the four places with lower crime rates (average £310,000).

10. Cheshire East

Family Safety Score: 6.79/10

Not too far behind its westerly neighbour, Cheshire East also makes the top ten, with healthy salaries (£41,295), large gardens (408m²) and low burglary rates (2.8 per 1,000 people).

If you’re considering a move to this area, the largest towns are Crewe and Macclesfield.

The 10 worst places in the UK for families to live in 2025:

At the other end of the table, these are the places that scored lowest on our rankings. Eight out of the ten bottom local authorities are found in London. These are joined by Manchester and Salford, mainly due to high crime rates.

1. Hackney
2. Haringey
3. Camden
4. Ealing
5. Tower Hamlets
6. Manchester
7. Salford
8. Newham
9. Southwark
10. Hammersmith and Fulham

If you want to explore more of the safest places in the UK, take a look through our dedicated guide.