Marston
Oxford 004 · 4 sub-areas · 7,411 residents
Oxford 004 is a residential part of Oxford with around 7,400 people and a notably high rate of owner-occupation for a city this young and academic. A typical two-bedroom flat lets for about £1,650 a month — well above the UK median but sitting in the mid-range for Oxford itself. Nearly six in ten households own their home, which sets this neighbourhood apart from the heavily rented streets closer to the university centre.
Marston is a mid-density neighbourhood of Oxford in the South East 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 Marston?
Day-to-day life sits close to greenery — a park or playing field is within easy walking distance of most addresses; The streets feel safe by national standards — police-recorded crime is well below the country-wide median; rents sit firmly in the upper bracket nationally, with a typical home letting at around £1,952 a month; gigabit broadband is effectively universal.
Generated from the latest May 2026 data · refreshed automatically
Figures are aggregated across 4 sub-areas — population-weighted means for rates, sums for counts. Sources cited beneath each section.
Marston in Oxford
Living in Marston
Oxford 004 sits at the more settled, family-oriented end of what is otherwise a city dominated by students, early-career researchers and short-term renters. Around 40% of working residents work from home on a typical day — the highest share you'd expect outside London's professional commuter belts — which gives the streets a different weekday rhythm from the cycling-and-lecture-hall pace of central Oxford.
The cost picture is meaningful. At roughly £1,650 a month for a two-bedroom, you're paying noticeably more than the UK average of around £1,200, but this part of Oxford isn't the most expensive in the city either. A one-bedroom runs closer to £1,340, and a three-bedroom reaches just over £2,000. Council tax (Band D) comes to about £2,678 a year — factor that in alongside the rent. With median property prices around £485,000, buying here takes serious capital; our deposit-to-savings estimate puts it at about six and a half years on a local salary.
Just over half of residents hold a degree-level qualification — a figure you'd expect given the city, but it means the neighbourhood skews professional and managerial rather than student-heavy. The under-18 share is around 21%, and nearly a quarter of households are couples with children, which is higher than you'd find in the more transient streets near the university. Around 36% of residents weren't born in the UK, and the ethnic diversity index of 43.8 reflects a genuinely mixed community rather than a monoculture.
Practically, the nearest mainline rail station is roughly 2.8 km away — about a 35-minute walk, or a short cycle or bus ride. The rail commute to London runs around 85 minutes on public transport, which rules out daily London commuting for most people but works for occasional trips. See the streets and sub-areas below for more detail on which pockets sit closest to local transport and amenities.
What you'll need on day one
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Frequently asked
- Is Oxford 004 a nice place to live?
- It's one of the more settled, family-oriented parts of Oxford — higher owner-occupation, lower crime than the national average, and good broadband. The trade-off is that rents and property prices are high, and the Ofsted picture for nearby schools is weaker than the national average, so it rewards careful research before committing.
- What is the rent in Oxford 004?
- A one-bedroom runs around £1,340 a month, a two-bedroom about £1,650, and a three-bedroom just over £2,000. Rents rose roughly 7% in the past year. These figures are estimates scaled from city-level data using local sale prices rather than direct survey figures.
- Is Oxford 004 safe?
- The crime rate here is around 50 per 1,000 residents a year, which is noticeably below the UK national rate of roughly 80 per 1,000. The neighbourhood sits in deprivation decile 9 out of 10 — one of the least deprived in England — which generally correlates with lower crime.
- What's the commute from Oxford 004 to Oxford city centre?
- The nearest mainline rail station is about 2.8 km away — roughly a 35-minute walk, though cycling or the bus is more practical. Most residents in this neighbourhood drive or work from home; only around 6% use public transport for their commute.
- Who lives in Oxford 004?
- Mostly settled professionals and families — nearly 60% own their home, around 52% hold a degree, and 40% work from home. Around a quarter of households are couples with children. It's more internationally mixed than you might expect, with about 36% of residents born outside the UK.
- What schools are near Oxford 004?
- There are 36 schools within typical catchment distance, but only around 49% are rated Good or Outstanding — well below the national average of roughly 89%. The nearest Outstanding school is about 1,740 metres away. If schools are a priority, it's worth checking individual catchment boundaries carefully.
- How long does it take to get to London from Oxford 004?
- The rail commute to London takes around 85 minutes by public transport from Oxford station, which is roughly 2.8 km from the neighbourhood. It's manageable for occasional trips but too long for most daily commuters.