Barking Central
Barking and Dagenham 015 · 5 sub-areas · 11,306 residents
Barking Central is a commuter neighbourhood within Barking and Dagenham — train into London runs in around 6 minutes, and the rhythm of weekday mornings is shaped by it. The demographic profile leans family-aged, with a clear share of households with school-age children; the rental market is active and turnover is high — people move through rather than stay.
Overview
What's it like to live in Barking Central?
3 parks and 5 playgrounds are within five minutes' walk, so greenspace is reliably close at hand; food and drink within walking distance is workable but not dense — around 10 restaurants and 1 pubs in five minutes; 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 £1,687 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.
Barking Central in Barking and Dagenham
What you'll need on day one
Frequently asked
- What's the median rent in Barking Central?
- The median monthly rent across Barking Central is £1,687.
- How safe is Barking Central?
- Barking Central has a safety score of — out of 100, where higher is safer. The score is the national percentile rank of police-recorded crimes per 1,000 residents per year, inverted.
- How well-connected is Barking Central?
- Transport score: — out of 100. Combines walking time to the nearest rail station, walking time to the nearest metro stop, and public-transport time to clusters with 5,000+ jobs. The nearest rail station is roughly 6 minutes' walk.
- What schools are near Barking Central?
- There are 33 schools within 2 km of Barking Central, of which 31% are rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted. The nearest Outstanding-rated school is approximately 1282 m away.
- What is the council tax band in Barking Central?
- The most common council tax band in Barking Central is C, with the typical Band D annual charge around £1,889. Council tax is set by Barking and Dagenham council and applies to every property in the area.
- How long is the commute from Barking Central to London?
- By the fastest direct train, the journey from Barking Central to central London is approximately 6 minutes. This is the fastest no-change rail journey from the local area centroid; door-to-door times will vary with walking time to the station.
- Is gigabit broadband available in Barking Central?
- 100% of premises in Barking Central are gigabit-capable according to Ofcom Connected Nations 2025. Most properties can already buy gigabit packages.
- What is the deprivation rank of Barking Central?
- Barking Central sits in IMD decile 2 of 10, where 1 is the most deprived 10% of local areas nationally and 10 is the least deprived. The Index of Multiple Deprivation combines income, employment, education, health, crime, barriers and environment.
- What's the tenure mix in Barking Central?
- 17% of households in Barking Central are owner-occupied. The remainder is split between private renting and social housing — see the Demographics section for the full breakdown from Census 2021.
- What is the average property price in Barking Central?
- The average property price across Barking and Dagenham (the local authority covering Barking Central) is approximately £363,817, per HM Land Registry's House Price Index. Per-local area prices vary; see the cost-of-living section for medians by property type.
- Is Barking Central a commuter town or workplace hub?
- Commuter town — most working residents travel out for work. (0.27 jobs per working-age resident. Median resident salary £32,911.)
- Which local areas are part of Barking Central?
- Barking Central contains 5 local areas: Barking and Dagenham 015D, Barking and Dagenham 015A, Barking and Dagenham 015F, Barking and Dagenham 015B, Barking and Dagenham 015E.
Frequently asked about Barking Central
Short answers anchored in the data above. Each link goes to the relevant section or methodology page.
- What is the average rent in Barking Central?
- The estimated median monthly rent in Barking Central is £1,687. This is derived from the council-area ONS rental figure scaled by the local sale-price gradient — see the Cost section for the breakdown by bedroom count and the affordability ratio against local salaries.
- Is Barking Central a safe place to live?
- Barking Central has a safety score of 7/100. The score is the national percentile rank of police-recorded crime per 1,000 residents, inverted so 100 is the safest 1% of England + Wales. The Safety section below shows the breakdown by category.
- What schools are near Barking Central?
- 31% of schools within 2 km of Barking Central are rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted. The Schools section lists individual schools with inspection ratings.
- How long is the commute from Barking Central?
- Public-transport commute time from Barking Central to central London is approximately 6 minutes. The Transport section has commute times to every major UK city hub.
- How is Barking Central different from the rest of Barking and Dagenham?
- Barking Central contains 5 sub-areas. The "Sub-areas" section below lets you drill into each one individually — they often vary by 20%+ on rent and demographics within the same neighbourhood.
- Where does Barking Central rank in Barking and Dagenham?
- Barking Central scores 73/100 on our composite liveability index. To see how it stacks up against every other neighbourhood in Barking and Dagenham, see the Cities table on the Barking and Dagenham page.