London commuter townsHarlow
Essex · commuter town data · September 2026Living in Harlow: London commute, house prices & costs
Harlow is a commuter town in Essex, around 32 minutes from London by direct train from Harlow Town (well below average for the towns we track), with below-average prices at £342,000. It ranks #19 of 118 on Rightroute's balanced commuter score (September 2026 data).
69
Rightroute score
Top quarter · #19 of 118
Harlow at a glance
Commute and cost
32 min
Train to London
From Harlow Town, 27% faster than the 118-town median.
£3,961
Annual season ticket
About £330 a month, 21% cheaper than the 118-town median.
£342k
Average house price
£342,000, 16% below the 118-town median.
£1,327
Average rent
A two-bed in Harlow, per month, 2% above the 118-town median.
Living there
Low
Safety
Crime index 66 on a 0–100 scale (lower is safer).
1005Mb
Broadband
Average available download speed, 11% above the 118-town median.
Life satisfaction
No figure for this town yet.
What’s nearby
55
Historic landmarks
Nationally protected buildings, monuments and gardens within 3 miles, 49% more than the 118-town median.
388
Hectares of parks and fields
Public parks and playing fields within 3 miles, 63% more than the 118-town median.
187
Places to eat and drink
Restaurants, cafes and pubs within 3 miles, 18% more than the 118-town median.
The commute from Harlow
Direct trains from Harlow Town take around 32 minutes into Liverpool Street, running on Greater Anglia. That makes it #33 out of 118 towns for speed into London.
An annual season ticket costs about £3,961, roughly £330 a month or £19,805 over five years. That's 21% cheaper than the 118-town median of £5,041.
How Harlow compares to the other 117 towns
| Metric | Harlow | Median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Train to London | 32 min | 44 min | #33 |
| Annual season ticket | £3,961 | £5,041 | #31 |
| Average house price | £342,000 | £409,000 | #31 |
| Price to local earnings | 9.0x | 10.1x | #39 |
| Average rent (2 bed) | £1,327/mo | £1,298/mo | #70 |
| Rent to local earnings | 42% | 39% | #86 |
| Crime index (lower is safer) | 66 | 52.5 | #90 |
| Broadband speed | 1005 Mb | 903 Mb | #9 |
| Life satisfaction (0–10) | Not available | 7.6 of 116 | – |
Overall, Harlow ranks #19 of 118 on the balanced Rightroute commuter score. Different priorities give different answers, so you can weight the criteria yourself in the comparison page.
Harlow commuter FAQs
How long is the commute from Harlow to London?
Direct trains from Harlow Town take around 32 minutes to Liverpool Street. Harlow is served by Greater Anglia.
How much is a season ticket from Harlow to London?
An annual season ticket from Harlow costs about £3,961, which works out at roughly £330 a month.
What is the average house price in Harlow?
The average sold price in Harlow is £342,000 (HM Land Registry), which is 16% below the median across the 118 London commuter towns we hold a price for.
Is Harlow a safe place to live?
Harlow scores 66 on a 0–100 crime index (lower is safer), which is a lower level of safety relative to other London commuter towns.
Is Harlow a good commuter town for London?
Harlow ranks #19 of 118 London commuter towns on Rightroute's balanced score, which weighs commute time, house prices, season ticket cost, safety and broadband. If your priorities are different, the Rightroute compare view lets you weight the criteria yourself.
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House prices are the median of that town's own sales from HM Land Registry Price Paid, August 2025 to July 2026, refreshed monthly; the crime score is the mean monthly count from police.uk over August 2025 to July 2026, placed on a 0 to 100 scale where lower is safer, also refreshed monthly. Rent is the average for a two-bed in the local authority, from the ONS Price Index of Private Rents, August 2026, refreshed monthly. Train times are typical off-peak direct rail to the destination city (National Rail) and season tickets the annual fare to the same place. Broadband is the average available download speed from Ofcom Connected Nations; life satisfaction is the ONS Personal Well-being mean for the local authority. Those are reviewed periodically rather than monthly. Heritage sites, green space and places to eat are counted within three miles from Historic England, OS Open Greenspace and the Food Standards Agency, built September 2026, and refreshed annually. Figures are for comparison between townsrather than exact values.