Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
With 3,288 residents, it is a town in Bedfordshire, East of England.
Good on most counts; one lags. On jobs & income it is strong — mean household income £59,657; 2.3% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Add safety to its strengths — 15.5 violent or sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, plus 10.5 home and vehicle crimes. Homes sell for a median £425,000, about 6.5 years of what households in the Central Bedfordshire council area earn. What holds it back is walkability — one in ten commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. The overall grade lands at B+, better than 69% of UK towns. In the ranking it comes #12 of 33 in Bedfordshire. The rest of its grades are middling: B− for schools and B− for health.
Figures: income and life expectancy, ONS · claimants, DWP · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Caddington is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things Caddington does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 2 buildings inside Caddington’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade II*.
3% 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 Caddington.
Under 15: 14% of residents. 9.1% of the population is aged 15 to 24, lower than both Bedfordshire’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (12%). Typical age in Caddington: 50.3, the median.
52% women, 48% men
About 93 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.
| Caddington | Bedfordshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 14% | 20% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.1% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 20% | 29% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 28% | 15% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 20% | 18% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.9% | 5.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 28% | 32% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Bedfordshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Its one school is below. Secondary results at the 3 secondary schools within 3 km: an Attainment 8 score of 40.9, with 36% at grade 5 or above in English and maths. Key Stage 2 results at the 16 primary schools within 3 km: two thirds of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caddington Village SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 277 | B |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Caddington counts 2 listed buildings on the national list (Historic England): 1 Grade II*. Relative to its size, Caddington keeps 6 listed buildings per 10,000 residents, below Bedfordshire’s towns (41) and England’s towns (39) alike. Before 1919: that is when 3% of homes were built.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 29% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
30% of commuters travelled under 5 km, below both Bedfordshire’s towns (42%) and England’s towns (45%). There are 0.4 jobs in Caddington for each resident in work. Work in town: 4% of resident commuters.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Of all the crimes, 62% were violence and sexual offences. Caddington logged 92 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 15 complaints of anti-social conduct. For its size, Caddington records less crime per resident than 73% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
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.
One GP practice serves the town; 72% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. The nearest A&E to Caddington is Luton and Dunstable Hospital, 2.2 miles away. Women here live to 83.1 on average and men to 79.3 (2019–23).
| Census 2021 | Caddington | Bedfordshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 83% | 84% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.4% | 4.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 16% | 15% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Census health answers are raw, so younger towns score better on them; for the Health Grade we use age-adjusted figures like life expectancy and early deaths.
10% of households rent from a council or housing body. Owners make up 82% of households, higher than both Bedfordshire’s towns (64%) and England’s towns (61%). Private rents average £1,250 a month across the Central Bedfordshire council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £590,000 | 35 |
| Semi-detached | £405,000 | 65 |
| Terraced | £348,250 | 22 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Caddington. Best known first.
Abbey or prioryDunstable Priory4.2 km outside town, to the northwest
Historic houseLuton Hoo3.6 km outside town, to the east
MuseumWardown Park Museum3.6 km outside town, to the northeast
MuseumStockwood Discovery Centre1.7 km outside town, to the east
MuseumMossman Collection1.8 km outside town, to the east
Historic houseBeechwood Park4.6 km outside town, to the southPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Town in Bedfordshire, England
Caddington is a built-up area of 3,288 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caddington | 3,288 | — | B+ | B− | B+ | B− |
| Slip End | 1,410 | 1.4 | — | B | B | C+ |
| Markyate | 3,174 | 1.9 | C+ | C | C+ | A− |
| Kensworth | 1,517 | 2 | — | C+ | C+ | B |
| Luton | 233,524 | 2.4 | C− | D | C− | C− |
| Dunstable | 34,498 | 3.1 | B− | A− | C | C+ |
| Flamstead | 1,055 | 3.3 | — | D | A | A− |
| Houghton Regis | 18,814 | 3.9 | C− | B+ | D | C− |
Slip End, Kensworth and Flamstead 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 £425,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: terraced houses £348,250, semi-detached houses £405,000 and detached houses £590,000. Household incomes are higher than in 67% of UK towns, so cost of living still grades B−.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
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.