Arbury
Cambridge 002 · 6 sub-areas · 9,782 residents
Cambridge 002 is a residential neighbourhood within Cambridge, home to around 9,800 people and sitting at the more affordable end of a famously expensive city. A typical two-bedroom flat lets for around £1,600 a month — noticeably below the Cambridge median — though rents still take a significant share of most take-home pay. The neighbourhood's mix of families, students, and long-settled residents gives it a character distinct from the university's immediate orbit.
Arbury is a mid-density neighbourhood of Cambridge in the East of England region. It sits between busier and quieter parts of the local authority and isn't dominated by a single use — there's a mix of workplaces, housing and local services. A high share of adults are degree-educated, which often shows up in the kind of jobs people commute to.
Overview
What's it like to live in Arbury?
The area is unusually green for its density — 13 parks and 1 playgrounds sit within five minutes' walk of the centroid; Crime sits around the national average — neither a notable concern nor a notable selling point; rents sit firmly in the upper bracket nationally, with a typical home letting at around £1,795 a month; gigabit broadband is effectively universal.
Generated from the latest May 2026 data · refreshed automatically
Figures are aggregated across 6 sub-areas — population-weighted means for rates, sums for counts. Sources cited beneath each section.
Arbury in Cambridge
Living in Arbury
Cambridge 002 sits within one of the most economically pressured cities in England, but it carves out a relatively grounded feel compared to the tourist-heavy centre and the premium postcodes closest to the university. Green space is genuinely close — the nearest is under 300 metres away on average — and nearly half of residents can reach a park within a short walk, which makes day-to-day life feel less urban than the density might suggest.
On rent, this neighbourhood occupies the lower-to-middle part of the Cambridge gradient. A two-bedroom home runs around £1,600 a month — still well above the national average of roughly £1,200 for the same size, but meaningfully cheaper than what you'd pay nearer the colleges or on the city's most sought-after streets. One-bedroom flats start at around £1,250, and three-bedroom homes sit at roughly £1,900. The honest caveat: these figures are estimates scaled from city-level data using local sale prices, since official rent statistics only go down to the council level.
Who lives here is more mixed than many Cambridge neighbourhoods. Around a fifth of households are families with children, about a third are single-person households, and the tenure split is genuinely varied — nearly half own their home, roughly a quarter rent privately, and over a quarter are in social housing. That social housing share is higher than most of Cambridge's more centrally located areas, which shapes the community feel.
Practically speaking, the nearest mainline rail station is roughly 2.8 km away — about a 35-minute walk, or a short cycle for most residents. Cambridge's cycling culture means that's genuinely how many people get around: only about 4.5% of residents commute by public transport, and over 40% work from home. Council tax runs around £2,467 a year at Band D. See the streets and sub-areas below for more on how this neighbourhood varies at finer grain.
What you'll need on day one
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Frequently asked
- Is Cambridge 002 a nice place to live?
- It depends what you're after. It's greener and more residentially mixed than the areas immediately around the university, with good access to parks and a genuinely varied community. The trade-off is that schools within catchment distance are rated significantly below the national average, and rents still take a heavy share of most take-home pay despite being lower than much of Cambridge.
- What is the rent in Cambridge 002?
- A one-bedroom flat runs around £1,250 a month, a two-bedroom around £1,600, and a three-bedroom roughly £1,900. These figures are estimates scaled from city-level data using local sale prices — official rent statistics don't go below the council level. Rents rose about 1.8% over the past year.
- Is Cambridge 002 safe?
- The crime rate is around 92 incidents per 1,000 residents annually — modestly above the UK national figure of roughly 80 per 1,000. It sits in the middle range for Cambridge rather than at the top end. Unemployment is low at around 2%, which generally correlates with lower acquisitive crime rates.
- What's the commute from Cambridge 002 to Cambridge city centre?
- Most residents cycle or walk — Cambridge's cycling infrastructure makes the rail station about 2.8 km away very manageable by bike. Only around 4.5% of residents commute by public transport for their main journey, and over 40% work from home. For longer trips, Cambridge station connects to London in around 89 minutes by rail.
- Who lives in Cambridge 002?
- It's a genuinely mixed neighbourhood — about 47% owner-occupied, 27% social housing, and 24% private renters. Around 29% of residents are aged 18–34, a fifth of households are families with children, and about a third are single-person households. Over half of residents hold degree-level qualifications.
- What schools are near Cambridge 002?
- There are 89 schools within 2 km of typical residents, so there's no shortage of options. However, only around 26% are rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted — well below the national average of approximately 89%. The nearest Outstanding-rated school is about 2.7 km away. Families should research individual schools carefully before committing.
- How affordable is Cambridge 002 compared to the rest of Cambridge?
- It sits at the more affordable end of the Cambridge market. A two-bedroom home runs around £1,600 a month here versus higher rates nearer the colleges. That said, rent still absorbs around 71% of median take-home pay — a stretched ratio by any measure — and the median home price is around £480,000.