London commuter townsHemel Hempstead
Hertfordshire · commuter town data · September 2026Living in Hemel Hempstead: London commute, house prices & costs
Hemel Hempstead is a commuter town in Hertfordshire, around 27 minutes from London by direct train from Hemel Hempstead (well below average for the towns we track), with mid-range prices at £408,000. It ranks #18 of 118 on Rightroute's balanced commuter score (September 2026 data).
69
Rightroute score
Top quarter · #18 of 118
Hemel Hempstead at a glance
Commute and cost
27 min
Train to London
From Hemel Hempstead, 39% faster than the 118-town median.
£3,298
Annual season ticket
About £275 a month, 35% cheaper than the 118-town median.
£408k
Average house price
£408,000, matches the 118-town median.
£1,378
Average rent
A two-bed in Dacorum, per month, 6% above the 118-town median.
Living there
Moderate
Safety
Crime index 53 on a 0–100 scale (lower is safer).
874Mb
Broadband
Average available download speed, 3% below the 118-town median.
7.6
Life satisfaction
ONS Personal Well-being mean score, 0–10 (higher is better).
What’s nearby
39
Historic landmarks
Nationally protected buildings, monuments and gardens within 3 miles, 5% more than the 118-town median.
306
Hectares of parks and fields
Public parks and playing fields within 3 miles, 28% more than the 118-town median.
201
Places to eat and drink
Restaurants, cafes and pubs within 3 miles, 27% more than the 118-town median.
The commute from Hemel Hempstead
Direct trains from Hemel Hempstead take around 27 minutes into London Euston, running on London Northwestern Railway. That makes it #20 out of 118 towns for speed into London.
An annual season ticket costs about £3,298, roughly £275 a month or £16,490 over five years. That's 35% cheaper than the 118-town median of £5,041.
How Hemel Hempstead compares to the other 117 towns
| Metric | Hemel Hempstead | Median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Train to London | 27 min | 44 min | #20 |
| Annual season ticket | £3,298 | £5,041 | #16 |
| Average house price | £408,000 | £409,000 | #59 |
| Price to local earnings | 10.8x | 10.1x | #72 |
| Average rent (2 bed) | £1,378/mo | £1,298/mo | #82 |
| Rent to local earnings | 44% | 39% | #98 |
| Crime index (lower is safer) | 53 | 52.5 | #62 |
| Broadband speed | 874 Mb | 903 Mb | #73 |
| Life satisfaction (0–10) | 7.6 | 7.6 of 116 | #35 |
Overall, Hemel Hempstead ranks #18 of 118 on the balanced Rightroute commuter score. Different priorities give different answers, so you can weight the criteria yourself in the comparison page.
Hemel Hempstead commuter FAQs
How long is the commute from Hemel Hempstead to London?
Direct trains from Hemel Hempstead take around 27 minutes to London Euston. Hemel Hempstead is served by London Northwestern Railway.
How much is a season ticket from Hemel Hempstead to London?
An annual season ticket from Hemel Hempstead costs about £3,298, which works out at roughly £275 a month.
What is the average house price in Hemel Hempstead?
The average sold price in Hemel Hempstead is £408,000 (HM Land Registry), which is in line with the median across the 118 London commuter towns we hold a price for.
Is Hemel Hempstead a safe place to live?
Hemel Hempstead scores 53 on a 0–100 crime index (lower is safer), which is a moderate level of safety relative to other London commuter towns.
Is Hemel Hempstead a good commuter town for London?
Hemel Hempstead ranks #18 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.