Harborne West
Birmingham 073 · 5 sub-areas · 8,425 residents
Birmingham 073 is a settled, predominantly owner-occupied neighbourhood within Birmingham, home to around 8,400 people. A typical two-bedroom home lets for about £990 a month — noticeably below the national median for a 2-bed — and more than seven in ten residents own their home outright or with a mortgage, giving it a distinctly stable, residential feel compared to much of the city.
Harborne West is a commuter neighbourhood within Birmingham — train into Birmingham runs in around 33 minutes, and the rhythm of weekday mornings is shaped by it. Most homes are owner-occupied, so turnover is low and many residents have been here a long time; 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 Harborne West?
2 parks and 1 playgrounds are within five minutes' walk, so greenspace is reliably close at hand; The streets feel safe by national standards — police-recorded crime is well below the country-wide median; rents are roughly in line with the national norm, at around £1,086 a month for a typical home; 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.
Harborne West in Birmingham
Living in Harborne West
This part of Birmingham has a noticeably quieter, more established character than the city's inner neighbourhoods. Owner-occupation runs at around 73%, which is unusually high for an urban area in the West Midlands, and the population skews older than you might expect — nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or over, and fewer than one in five is under 18. It feels more like a settled suburb than a transitional rental market.
On cost, it sits comfortably below the national 2-bed benchmark of around £1,200 a month. A two-bedroom home here runs roughly £990 a month, and a one-bed can be found for around £820. That said, rents rose about 3.5% in the past year, broadly in line with the wider market. The rent-to-take-home ratio is around 56%, which is high relative to salaries here — median resident earnings sit at approximately £30,200 a year — so affordability is tighter than the headline rent figure suggests.
The people who live here tend to be long-term residents. The ethnic diversity index is 57, suggesting a moderately mixed community, and around 74% of residents were born in the UK. The degree-qualification rate is high at 54%, which is well above typical Birmingham averages, and the IMD decile of 8 places this among the less deprived parts of the city. Single-person households make up about a third of all homes.
Practically speaking, the area is car-dependent — nearly half of residents drive to work, and only around 5.5% use public transport. The nearest mainline rail station is roughly 2.8 km away (about a 35-minute walk, or a short drive). Broadband coverage is strong, with 100% gigabit availability. See the streets and sub-areas below for more detail on specific pockets within the neighbourhood.
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Frequently asked
- Is Birmingham 073 a nice place to live?
- It's one of the more stable and well-established parts of Birmingham. Owner-occupation is high at around 73%, crime sits slightly below the national average, and the deprivation score places it in the top 20% least deprived areas of the country. The main trade-off is car dependency and a below-average proportion of Good or Outstanding schools nearby.
- What is the rent in Birmingham 073?
- A one-bedroom home runs roughly £820 a month, a two-bed around £990, and a three-bed about £1,120. That's below the UK national median for a two-bed (around £1,200). Rents rose about 3.5% in the past year. Note these are estimates scaled from city-level data using local sale prices.
- Is Birmingham 073 safe?
- The crime rate here is around 74 incidents per 1,000 residents annually, which is slightly below the UK national average of around 80. By Birmingham standards that's relatively reassuring, though it's worth checking street-level data for your specific address before committing.
- What's the commute from Birmingham 073 to Birmingham city centre?
- By public transport, it's around 35 minutes to the city centre. Most residents drive — about 48% commute by car — as the local public transport options are limited. The nearest mainline rail station is roughly 2.8 km away, around a 35-minute walk or a short drive.
- Who lives in Birmingham 073?
- Mostly settled, older residents — nearly a quarter are 65 or over, and seven in ten own their home. It's a graduate-heavy area, with 54% holding a degree-level qualification, and a significant share work from home. It's more owner-occupier suburb than young-renter neighbourhood.
- What schools are near Birmingham 073?
- There are around 102 schools within typical catchment distance, offering plenty of choice in terms of volume. However, only about 36% are rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted, which is well below the national average of around 89%. The nearest Outstanding school is approximately 2.2 km away. Check individual catchment boundaries carefully.