Cheap to live in, with trade-offs. Its weakest subject is schools: primary results beat 31% of towns in England; secondary results beat 16% of towns in England. Crime runs high: 31.3 violent and sexual offences and 14.9 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Only 47% of UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people have more crime per resident. Prices are modest for what you get: a typical home costs £320,000 and rent runs £1,250 a month. The overall grade comes out at B−, #24 of 33 in Bedfordshire. On that grade it does better than nearly half of UK towns.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Dunstable is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Dunstable.
SchoolsC−
Exam results at Dunstable’s schools trail 82% of towns in England
At the town’s 7 primary schools, 58% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Lark Rise Academy’s results beat 93% of schools in England like it. Of its 13 schools, three are shown below, each with the reason. GCSE results at the town’s 3 secondary schools: 37% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 39.9.
Department for Education · GIAS, Key Stage 2 and GCSE resultsSee all 13 schools →
Work & commuteJobs & income grade B−
More people aged 16 to 64 in Dunstable claim unemployment benefits than in Bedfordshire’s towns or England’s towns: 3.7%
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 26% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
The car carried 78% of commuters at the census. Households had £56K a year before tax, lower than Bedfordshire’s towns (£68K) and near England’s towns (£55K). Dunstable counts 0.6 jobs per working resident.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
HousingCost of living grade A−
Few households rent privately in Dunstable: 16%, fewer than in Bedfordshire’s towns and across England’s towns
66% of households own their home, above both Bedfordshire’s towns (64%) and England’s towns (61%). Half of the 1,244 standard sales inside Dunstable’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £320,000. It is the 29th most expensive of 33 towns of 2,500+ in Bedfordshire.
£320Kmedian sale
Median sale price · Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
Dunstable£320K
Typical UK town£277K
By type
Median
Sales
Detached
£480,000
147
Semi-detached
£370,000
426
Terraced
£300,000
367
Flat or maisonette
£183,500
304
66%
of households own their home · England 61%
16%
rent privately · England 21%
£1,250
average private rent a month, Central Bedfordshire council area
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Safety
Dunstable records more crime per resident than three in four UK towns
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Over the year to August 2026, 2,335 offences were reported in Dunstable, along with 463 incidents of anti-social behaviour. There were 15.9 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), above both Bedfordshire’s towns (10.2) and England’s towns (7.8). Violence and sexual offences made up 44% of the total.
31.3violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a yearCSafety Grade
Compared with UK towns its sizeLess crime per resident than 47% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people: about the middle for its size. Context only, not part of the grade.
More crimeLess crime
Reports by type · Sep 2025 to Aug 2026
Violence & sexual1,023
Vehicle crime229
Other theft181
Damage & arson176
Shoplifting170
Public order170
Burglary106
Drugs102
Anti-social463
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.
31.3
violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
14.9
burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
15.9
anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 (not graded)
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.
Who lives here
Fewer people in Dunstable hold a degree than in Bedfordshire’s towns or England’s towns: 29%
Children under 15 make up 19%, lower than Bedfordshire’s towns (20%) yet higher than England’s towns (18%). People aged 15 to 24 are a tenth of the population. The middle age in Dunstable is 39.
39median age
DunstableBedfordshireEngland
Ages · share of residents
17%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications17%
Apprenticeship6%
A levels or similar18%
Degree level29%
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
WomenEnglandMen
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
ONS Census 2021 · Bedfordshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Health
84% of people in Dunstable rate their health good or very good
5 GP practices serve the town; 79% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. The nearest A&E to Dunstable is Luton and Dunstable Hospital, 2.3 miles away. Life expectancy here is 83.4 for women and 79.5 for men (2019–23).
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Self-reported health favours young towns, since these answers ignore age; the Health Grade leans on age-adjusted measures such as life expectancy and early deaths.
History
Dunstable’s heritage list runs to 54 buildings, 2 of them Grade I
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Dunstable’s listed buildings include the Priory Church of St Peter, Grade I. The pre-1919 share of homes is 10%. It has one scheduled monument.
Badly Drawn Boy: Yummifruitbat, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Nikki Iles: Richard Kaby, CC BY 2.0 · Rob Keogh: Kyle Andrews, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Moses Glover: en:Moses Glover, 1601 - ca. 1640, Public domain
Totternhoe, Kensworth and Hockliffe have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Questions about Dunstable
Are schools in Dunstable good?
GCSE results trail 84% of towns in England, and primary results trail 69% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Is Dunstable safe?
About the middle for its size: 53% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people report less crime per resident. Against all UK towns, most of them smaller, it grades C.
Does Dunstable flood?
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
About Dunstable
Large town in Bedfordshire, England
Dunstable is a built-up area of 34,498 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
Population
34,498 (Census 2021)
Council
Central Bedfordshire
County
Bedfordshire
Region
East of England
Area
2.5 sq mi (6.6 km²)
ONS code
E63004175
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.
