Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 13,668 in Bedfordshire, East of England.
Flitwick grades A− overall against UK towns: better than 77% of UK towns, and #7 of 33 in Bedfordshire. Its strongest subject is jobs & income (A): mean household income £65,630; 2% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Its weakest is schools (C−): primary results beat 2% of towns in England; secondary results beat 50% of towns in England. The median home sold for £348,500 in the last three years, 5.3 times what households in the Central Bedfordshire council area earn in a year.
The 2 things Flitwick does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Flitwick is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 14 buildings inside Flitwick’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I, and 1 scheduled monument.
6% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 1 old photo or postcard.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Flitwick.
Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flitwick Lower SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 336 | – |
| Woodland Middle School AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 645 | D− |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Flitwick has 14 listed buildings inside its built-up area on Historic England’s list: 1 Grade I, 1 Grade II*. 6% of its homes were built before 1919.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
On this, Flitwick is above both Bedfordshire’s towns (64%) and England’s towns (61%). Social housing holds 11% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £488,750 | 148 |
| Semi-detached | £362,250 | 224 |
| Terraced | £300,000 | 177 |
| Flat or maisonette | £205,000 | 51 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 37% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
In the comparison, Flitwick comes below both Bedfordshire’s towns (42%) and England’s towns (45%). 17% of commuters went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Police recorded 506 crimes inside Flitwick’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 123 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violence came to 16.2 per 1,000 residents a year, close to Bedfordshire’s towns (18.8) and below England’s towns (22). Violence and sexual offences were 41% of the crimes; the police category includes harassment and stalking.
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
For Flitwick, that is below both Bedfordshire’s towns (4.3%) and England’s towns (5.2%). The nearest A&E to Flitwick is Luton and Dunstable Hospital, 7.7 miles away. These answers aren’t adjusted for age, so young towns look healthier; the Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
| Census 2021 | Flitwick | Bedfordshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 85% | 84% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.7% | 4.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 15% | 15% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
Flitwick sits below both Bedfordshire’s towns (20%) and England’s towns (18%) on this measure. Young adults of 15 to 24 are 10% of the population. The median resident of Flitwick is 42 years old.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Flitwick | Bedfordshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 20% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 27% | 29% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 18% | 15% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 14% | 18% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.2% | 5.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 19% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 34% | 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 Flitwick. Best known first.
Historic house · English HeritageWrest Park4.8 km outside town, to the east
Historic house · English HeritageHoughton House3.3 km outside town, to the northGardenGarden · English HeritageWrest Park & Gardens4.9 km outside town, to the eastWater parkWater parkSubtropical Swimming Paradise2.1 km outside town, to the northwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
14 listed buildings in Flitwick, 1 of them Grade I.
Church of St Peter and St Paul: Photo: Rob Farrow · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Mount: a motte and bailey castle: Photo: Malcolm Butler · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Flitwick Manor: Photo: Stephen McKay · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Flitwick Mill: Photo: Malcolm Butler · CC BY-SA 4.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flitwick | 13,668 | — | A− | B+ | B | B− |
| Westoning | 2,097 | 1.5 | — | B | A | A |
| Ampthill | 8,825 | 1.6 | A | B− | B+ | A |
| Flitton | 1,531 | 1.8 | — | C+ | A+ | A+ |
| Maulden | 2,486 | 2.4 | — | B− | B+ | B+ |
| Harlington | 2,287 | 2.8 | — | B− | B | A |
| Silsoe | 3,419 | 3 | A+ | B | A | A |
| Lidlington | 1,300 | 3.5 | — | B+ | A− | B |
Westoning, Flitton, Maulden, Harlington and Lidlington 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 £348,500, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £205,000, terraced houses £300,000, semi-detached houses £362,250 and detached houses £488,750. Household incomes are higher than in 82% of UK towns, so cost of living still grades B+.
Town in Bedfordshire, England
Flitwick is a built-up area of 13,668 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
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.