Petersfield
Cambridge 008 · 5 sub-areas · 8,347 residents
Cambridge 008 sits within the city of Cambridge, home to around 8,300 people and one of the most degree-dense neighbourhoods in the country — nearly seven in ten residents hold a degree. A typical two-bedroom flat lets for around £1,600 a month, above the national average but reflecting Cambridge's position as one of England's priciest university cities.
Petersfield 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. The population skews young, with a high concentration of 18- to 34-year-olds; the rental market is active and turnover is high — people move through rather than stay.
Overview
What's it like to live in Petersfield?
The area is unusually green for its density — 8 parks and 10 playgrounds sit within five minutes' walk of the centroid; there's a serious food scene on the doorstep — 56 restaurants and 34 distinct cuisines within a five-minute walk; Recorded crime is higher than the national norm — common for built-up urban areas, but worth weighing if you're looking for a quieter base; Public transport is genuinely strong; most errands and a fair share of social life don't need a car; 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 5 sub-areas — population-weighted means for rates, sums for counts. Sources cited beneath each section.
Petersfield in Cambridge
Living in Petersfield
Cambridge 008 has the feel of a place shaped almost entirely by the university economy. The population skews young — around four in ten residents are aged 18 to 34 — and the neighbourhood carries the mix of long-stay academics, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate renters that you'd expect somewhere so tied to one of the world's leading institutions. It doesn't feel like a student quarter exactly; it's more settled than that, but the university's gravitational pull is unmistakable.
Rents here sit meaningfully above the national average for a 2-bed, at around £1,600 a month, and a typical property will cost you close to £540,000 to buy. That puts the deposit target at roughly seven years of saving on a local salary — not easy, and a key reason why just over four in ten households rent privately. This isn't an affordable corner of Cambridge; it sits firmly in the mid-to-upper part of the city's rent gradient.
The demographic picture is unusually polarised. Nearly 70% of residents hold a degree, one of the highest concentrations anywhere in England. Single-person households make up more than a third of all homes, reflecting the large number of younger professionals and researchers living alone. Owner-occupation sits at around 42%, with social housing making up roughly 14% — so it's genuinely mixed in tenure terms, even if it isn't mixed in educational background.
Practically speaking, the nearest mainline rail station is under a kilometre away — roughly a ten-minute walk — and connects you to London in around an hour by public transport, which matters a lot for residents who work in the capital. Work-from-home is the dominant commute mode here: more than half of residents work from home, well above most UK neighbourhoods. Broadband coverage is 100% gigabit, so infrastructure supports that pattern. See the streets and sub-areas below for more detail on specific pockets within the neighbourhood.
What you'll need on day one
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Frequently asked
- Is Cambridge 008 a nice place to live?
- It's a well-connected, highly educated neighbourhood with low deprivation and good broadband infrastructure. The trade-off is cost — rents and house prices are well above the national average, and the area skews heavily young and academic. If you're tied to the university or work remotely in a knowledge-sector job, it's well set up for you.
- What is the rent in Cambridge 008?
- A one-bedroom flat runs around £1,250 a month, a two-bedroom around £1,600, and a three-bedroom around £1,895. These are estimates scaled from city-level data using local sale prices. Rents rose about 1.8% in the past year.
- Is Cambridge 008 safe?
- The recorded crime rate is around 154 per 1,000 residents annually, above the UK average of roughly 80. That's partly a function of Cambridge's busy university environment and high footfall rather than a sign of a particularly dangerous area. Deprivation levels are low, which tends to correlate with lower personal risk.
- What's the commute from Cambridge 008 to Cambridge city centre?
- The nearest mainline rail station is under a kilometre away — about a ten-minute walk. Most residents don't commute in the traditional sense: over 56% work from home. For those commuting to London, the rail journey takes around an hour.
- Who lives in Cambridge 008?
- Predominantly young, highly qualified residents — nearly 70% hold a degree, and four in ten are aged 18 to 34. Single-person households make up over a third of all homes. About 41% were born outside the UK, reflecting the international university community.
- What schools are near Cambridge 008?
- There are 71 schools within 2 km of typical residents, with the nearest Outstanding-rated school roughly 2.2 km away. Around 43% of nearby schools are rated Good or Outstanding — below the national share of about 89%. Check current Ofsted reports and admissions catchments directly, as demand is high.
- Is Cambridge 008 good for working from home?
- It's one of the better-set-up neighbourhoods in England for remote work. Broadband is 100% gigabit-enabled with no slow connections, and over 56% of residents already work from home — the highest share in the area's commute breakdown.