Revealed: These are the most affluent Russell Group uni student areas in 2025

Student areas aren’t normally known to be in the nicest parts of town. They’re often a bit dingy, lacking gentrification, and not so pretty, but we love them nonetheless.

It makes sense that university students would want to live in areas with cheaper rent, but did you know that some student areas are actually pretty wealthy?

The Tab analysed data from Crystal Roof to see which student areas really are the most affluent. The site measures affluence on household income, deprivation scores, occupation, and qualification levels. They’re then ranked out of 10, with one being low affluence, and 10 being high.

So, we looked at the areas where most students reside in each Russell Group university city, and this is what we found.

These are the most affluent Russell Group student areas in 2025

=18. University of Birmingham – Selly Oak: 2/10

=18. Durham University – Elvet and Gilesgate: 2/10

=18. University of Liverpool – Smithdown: 2/10

Smithdown in Liverpool

=18. University of Nottingham – Lenton: 2/10

=16. University of Manchester – Fallowfield: 3/10

=16. University of Oxford – Holywell: 3/10

=10. University of Exeter – Duryard and St James: 4/10

=10. Cardiff University – Cathays: 4/10

Cathays in Cardiff

=10. University of Leeds – Headingley: 4/10

=10. University of Southampton – Portswood: 4/10

=10. University of Warwick – Leamington Spa: 4/10

=10. University of York – Hull Road: 4/10

9. Queen Mary, University of London – Bethnal Green East: 5/10*

=5. University of Cambridge – City Centre: 6/10

=5. Newcastle University – Jesmond: 6/10

=5. University of Sheffield – Crookes: 6/10

=5. University College London – Bloomsbury: 6/10*

Most Read

We finally know why that little girl fell off the Disney cruise ship, and it’s so bad

Dog the Bounty Hunter’s grandson killed by his own dad in ‘incomprehensible’ tragedy

Amy Bradley was ‘found’ 20 years ago but the FBI dropped the case for a sad reason

Harrods in Knightsbridge via Unsplash

=1. University of Bristol – Redland: 8/10

=1. Imperial College London – Knightsbridge and Belgravia: 8/10*

=1. King’s College London – St James’s: 8/10*

=1. London School of Economics & Political Science – St James’s: 8/10*

*As London university students do not tend to live in one specific student area, The Tab analysed data using the universities’ postcodes.

There was no data available for Northern Ireland or Scotland.