London commuter townsHarpenden
Hertfordshire · commuter town data · September 2026Living in Harpenden: London commute, house prices & costs
Harpenden is a commuter town in Hertfordshire, around 28 minutes from London by direct train from Harpenden (well below average for the towns we track), with above-average prices at £794,325. It ranks #65 of 118 on Rightroute's balanced commuter score (September 2026 data).
58
Rightroute score
Lower half · #65 of 118
Harpenden at a glance
Commute and cost
28 min
Train to London
From Harpenden, 36% faster than the 118-town median.
£3,576
Annual season ticket
About £298 a month, 29% cheaper than the 118-town median.
£794k
Average house price
£794,325, 94% above the 118-town median.
£1,633
Average rent
A two-bed in St Albans, per month, 26% above the 118-town median.
Living there
High
Safety
Crime index 32 on a 0–100 scale (lower is safer).
1005Mb
Broadband
Average available download speed, 11% above the 118-town median.
8.0
Life satisfaction
ONS Personal Well-being mean score, 0–10 (higher is better).
What’s nearby
23
Historic landmarks
Nationally protected buildings, monuments and gardens within 3 miles, 38% fewer than the 118-town median.
167
Hectares of parks and fields
Public parks and playing fields within 3 miles, 30% less than the 118-town median.
111
Places to eat and drink
Restaurants, cafes and pubs within 3 miles, 30% fewer than the 118-town median.
The commute from Harpenden
Direct trains from Harpenden take around 28 minutes into King's Cross / St Pancras, running on Thameslink. That makes it #24 out of 118 towns for speed into London.
An annual season ticket costs about £3,576, roughly £298 a month or £17,880 over five years. That's 29% cheaper than the 118-town median of £5,041.
How Harpenden compares to the other 117 towns
| Metric | Harpenden | Median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Train to London | 28 min | 44 min | #24 |
| Annual season ticket | £3,576 | £5,041 | #20 |
| Average house price | £794,325 | £409,000 | #116 |
| Price to local earnings | 18.9x | 10.1x | #116 |
| Average rent (2 bed) | £1,633/mo | £1,298/mo | #117 |
| Rent to local earnings | 47% | 39% | #114 |
| Crime index (lower is safer) | 32 | 52.5 | #18 |
| Broadband speed | 1005 Mb | 903 Mb | #10 |
| Life satisfaction (0–10) | 8.0 | 7.6 of 116 | #14 |
Overall, Harpenden ranks #65 of 118 on the balanced Rightroute commuter score. Different priorities give different answers, so you can weight the criteria yourself in the comparison page.
Harpenden commuter FAQs
How long is the commute from Harpenden to London?
Direct trains from Harpenden take around 28 minutes to King's Cross / St Pancras. Harpenden is served by Thameslink.
How much is a season ticket from Harpenden to London?
An annual season ticket from Harpenden costs about £3,576, which works out at roughly £298 a month.
What is the average house price in Harpenden?
The average sold price in Harpenden is £794,325 (HM Land Registry), which is 94% above the median across the 118 London commuter towns we hold a price for.
Is Harpenden a safe place to live?
Harpenden scores 32 on a 0–100 crime index (lower is safer), which is a high level of safety relative to other London commuter towns.
Is Harpenden a good commuter town for London?
Harpenden ranks #65 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.
Towns near Harpenden
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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.