London commuter townsColchester vs Ipswich

Colchester vs Ipswich: which commuter town suits you?

Colchester is 16 minutes closer to London, but Ipswich is £65k cheaper on the average sold price.
Colchester

#84 of 118

Ipswich

#103 of 118

Train to London

52 min
68 min

Annual season ticket

£7,673
£8,818

Average house price

£325k
£260k

Price to local earnings

Years of the local authority's median wage

8.4x
7.2x

Average rent (2 bed)

£1,063/mo
£915/mo

Rent to local earnings

Share of the local authority's median wage

33%
30%

Crime index

0–100, lower is safer

71
71

Broadband

Average available download speed, from Ofcom

897 Mb
1003 Mb

Life satisfaction

ONS, 0–10

7.8
7.6

Historic landmarks

Protected sites within 3 miles

80
61

Parks and fields

Hectares within 3 miles

439 ha
432 ha

Places to eat and drink

Restaurants, cafes and pubs within 3 miles

312
346

Estimates only. Prices from HM Land Registry (August 2025 to July 2026), crime from police.uk (August 2025 to July 2026); broadband, life satisfaction and train times from Ofcom, ONS and National Rail, reviewed periodically. A tinted figure is the better of the two on that row alone, not an overall verdict.

The full picture on each

Living in Colchester

Essex · 52 min to London · average sold price £325k.

Read the Colchester report

Living in Ipswich

Suffolk · 68 min to London · average sold price £260k.

Read the Ipswich report

Deciding between Colchester and Ipswich?

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