Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
2,515 people live in this town in Bedfordshire, East of England.
A solid town with one catch. Where it does best is jobs & income — mean household income £70,279; 2% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. With an A− overall, Clophill sits #6 of 33 in Bedfordshire. It comes out better than 78% of UK towns. People here tend to be in good health (A−): men here can expect to live to 81.9, women to 86.1. The median home sold for £567,500, 8.7 times what households in the Central Bedfordshire council area earn in a year. Getting around depends on the car: 8% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport.
Figures: income and life expectancy, ONS · claimants, DWP · commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
No state school with published KS2 or GCSE results is in or within 3 km of this town, so it has no School Grade.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Clophill is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things Clophill does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 33 buildings inside Clophill’s built-up area.
19% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 1 old photo or postcard going back to 1900.
Explore the history →33 listed buildings in Clophill.
Parish Church of Saint Mary: Photo: Bikeboy · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Village Lock Up and Pound: Photo: Diane.parkins · CC BY-SA 4.0 · The Green Man Public House: Photo: JThomas · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 124, High Street: Photo: JThomas · CC BY-SA 2.0
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Clophill.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 45% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
90% of commuters drove, above both Bedfordshire’s towns (77%) and England’s towns (70%). Home was the main workplace for 45% of workers at the census. There are 0.4 jobs in Clophill for each resident in work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The one school in town appears below. 134 pupils attend Clophill’s one primary school.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Mary's VA CofE Lower SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 134 | – |
3% of residents described their health as bad or very bad, below both Bedfordshire’s towns (4.3%) and England’s towns (5.2%). A disability affects 13% of people in Clophill. The nearest A&E to Clophill is Bedford Hospital, 7.2 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Clophill | Bedfordshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 87% | 84% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3% | 4.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 13% | 15% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Read these answers with age in mind: they aren’t adjusted, so younger places do better. The Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Conservation areas cover 17% of Clophill’s land, higher than both Bedfordshire’s towns (4%) and England’s towns (7%). Its heritage register entries (33 listed buildings) are all Grade II. 19% of homes were built before 1919.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Among the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Clophill has less crime per resident than 79% of them. Over the year to August 2026, 51 offences were reported in the town, along with 11 incidents of anti-social behaviour. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 5.3 reports per 1,000, below Bedfordshire’s towns (10.3) and England’s towns (7.8) alike. Of all the crimes, 43% were violence and sexual offences.
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.
11% of households live in social housing. Owners make up 81% of households, above Bedfordshire’s towns (64%) and England’s towns (61%) alike. Clophill is the most expensive of the 33 towns in Bedfordshire: its median sale is £567,500.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £672,500 | 74 |
| Semi-detached | £340,000 | 18 |
| Terraced | £289,375 | 14 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Over-65s are 24% of the population. The median resident of Clophill is 49.7 years old. Nearly two in five adults hold a degree, higher than both Bedfordshire’s towns (32%) and England’s towns (34%).
52% women, 48% men
About 94 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.
| Clophill | Bedfordshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 20% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 17% | 29% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 34% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 24% | 15% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 14% | 18% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.3% | 5.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 39% | 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 Clophill. Best known first.
Historic house · English HeritageWrest Park2 km outside town, to the south
Historic house · English HeritageHoughton House3.5 km outside town, to the west
MuseumMilitary Intelligence Museum2.4 km outside town, to the northeastGardenGarden · English HeritageWrest Park & Gardens2.4 km outside town, to the southCastleCastleMeppershall Castel4.2 km outside town, to the southeastAttractionAttractionSummerfields' Miniature Railways4.3 km outside town, to the northPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
3 notable people were born in Clophill.
Town in Bedfordshire, England
Clophill is a built-up area of 2,515 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clophill | 2,515 | — | A− | C+ | B+ | A− |
| Silsoe | 3,419 | 1.5 | A+ | B | A | A |
| Maulden | 2,486 | 1.8 | — | B− | B+ | B+ |
| Flitton | 1,531 | 2 | — | C+ | A+ | A+ |
| Ampthill | 8,825 | 3.1 | A | B− | B+ | A |
| Houghton Conquest | 1,867 | 3.3 | — | B+ | B+ | B+ |
| Shillington | 1,629 | 3.5 | — | B+ | B | B+ |
| Wilstead | 2,404 | 3.6 | — | C | A− | C+ |
Maulden, Flitton, Houghton Conquest, Shillington and Wilstead have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 5.4 times the typical UK town for its size.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £567,500, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: terraced houses £289,375, semi-detached houses £340,000 and detached houses £672,500.
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.
