Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
It has 31 listed buildings, 0 of them Grade I. Home to 2,114 people, this village lies in Bedfordshire, East of England.
Work and incomes are strong: the mean household earns £72,631 a year. Add health to its strengths (A−): life expectancy is 81.4 for men and 85.5 for women. Its lowest grade is for schools: primary results beat 26% of towns in England; secondary results beat 37% of towns in England. It is hard to get around without a car (C): 11% of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. The median home sold for £595,000, 9.1 times what households in the Central Bedfordshire council area earn in a year.
Figures: income and life expectancy, ONS · claimants, DWP · commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years. With fewer than 2,500 residents, Aspley Guise has subject grades but no overall one.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Aspley Guise is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
With fewer than 2,500 residents, Aspley Guise has subject grades but no overall one.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things Aspley Guise does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists them inside Aspley Guise’s built-up area.
38% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Aspley Guise.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Conservation areas cover 49% of Aspley Guise’s land, higher than both Bedfordshire’s towns (4%) and England’s towns (7%). Scaled to its population, that is 147 listed buildings for every 10,000 people in the town. This Bedfordshire town has 31 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 5 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Asked at the census, 86% of residents of Aspley Guise said they were in good or very good health. At the census, 14% of people here had a disability, lower than both Bedfordshire’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (17%). Seeing a GP means leaving Aspley Guise: the nearest practice is 0.5 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Aspley Guise | Bedfordshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 86% | 84% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.2% | 4.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 14% | 15% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Because the census answers ignore age, a younger population lifts them; that is why the Health Grade is built on age-adjusted measures like life expectancy and early deaths.
Over the year to August 2026, 76 offences were reported in Aspley Guise, along with 21 incidents of anti-social behaviour. Violent crime ran at 8.4 per 1,000 residents a year, below both Bedfordshire’s towns (18.8) and England’s towns (22). Violence and sexual offences made up 24% of the total.
Not gradedAnti-social behaviour, shoplifting and other theft are shown but left out of the Safety Grade, which counts violence and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident.
data.police.uk street-level crime · points inside the ONS built-up-area boundary · OGL · The police category of violence and sexual offences includes harassment and stalking.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 51% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
86% of commuters drove to work at the census. Working mainly from home: just over half of workers, higher than both Bedfordshire’s towns (30%) and England’s towns (31%). Work in town: 1% of resident commuters. For every resident in work, Aspley Guise has 0.8 jobs.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
One in ten households rent privately. Social housing holds 7% of households, below Bedfordshire’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. Private rents average £1,250 a month across the Central Bedfordshire council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £935,000 | 45 |
| Semi-detached | £477,500 | 23 |
| Terraced | £335,000 | 14 |
| Flat or maisonette | £143,500 | 9 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
One measure of family life: 14% of residents are under 15. People aged 15 to 24 make up 7.4% of the town, lower than both Bedfordshire’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (12%). At 52.4, the median resident of Aspley Guise sits in the middle of the age range. Degrees are held by 47% of adults.
52% women, 48% men
About 91 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
| Aspley Guise | Bedfordshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 14% | 20% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 7.4% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 18% | 29% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 32% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 28% | 15% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 11% | 18% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 4.4% | 5.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 15% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 47% | 32% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Bedfordshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Aspley Guise. Best known first.
Wildlife parkWoburn Safari Park2.5 km outside town, to the eastMuseumMuseumWoburn Heritage Museum2 km outside town, to the southeastArt galleryArt galleryWoburn Art Gallery2.2 km outside town, to the southeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Village in Bedfordshire, England
Aspley Guise is a built-up area of 2,114 people, in the Central Bedfordshire council area. TownRatings uses ONS’s 2022 built-up areas as towns: the physical town, as people mean the word, rather than a council district, so its figures cover the town itself.
Built from ONS geography and Census 2021
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aspley Guise | 2,114 | — | — | C+ | B+ | A− |
| Woburn Sands | 4,315 | 0.7 | B+ | C | B+ | A− |
| Lidlington | 1,300 | 3.9 | — | B+ | A− | B |
| Cranfield | 7,053 | 4.4 | A− | B+ | A− | A |
| Heath and Reach | 1,451 | 4.6 | — | B | A | B− |
| Bletchley | 45,018 | 4.6 | C− | B− | D | C− |
| Stoke Hammond | 1,155 | 5.1 | — | C+ | C+ | A |
| Marston Moretaine | 6,350 | 5.2 | B | B+ | B | B |
Lidlington, Heath and Reach and Stoke Hammond have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £595,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £143,500, terraced houses £335,000, semi-detached houses £477,500 and detached houses £935,000.
That is 6 times the typical UK town for its size.
GCSE results trail 63% of towns in England, and primary results trail 74% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). Places are handled by Central Bedfordshire council.
Sources: ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area · HM Land Registry Price Paid (standard sales, September 2023 to August 2026) · ONS Price Index of Private Rents (August 2026, by council) · MHCLG and Welsh Government council tax, Band D 2026–27 (with parish precepts in England) · data.police.uk street-level crime, 36 months to August 2026, points inside the built-up-area boundary · ONS small-area life expectancy and healthy life expectancy, 2019 to 2023 (England and Wales), OHID Fingertips small-area indicators (England) and Census 2021 health, adjusted for age · ONS small-area income estimates (financial year ending 2023) · DWP claimant count via Nomis (January to August 2026) · Historic England, National Heritage List for England (listed buildings, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, battlefields, World Heritage Sites), October 2026, inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary · Valuation Office Agency, Council Tax: stock of properties by build period (31 March 2025) · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.