Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The village has 2,254 residents and lies in Bedfordshire, East of England.
Crime is low: 15.5 violent and sexual offences and 10.2 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year. School results trail most towns (D−). Getting around depends on the car: nearly one in ten commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. The median home sold for £357,500, 6 times what households in the Bedford council area earn in a year. Its other grades sit near the middle: B for health and B for jobs & income.
Figures: crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · incomes and life expectancy, ONS · claimants, DWP. An overall grade needs 2,500 residents, so Great Barford is graded subject by subject only.
The 3 things Great Barford 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 Great Barford is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
An overall grade needs 2,500 residents, so Great Barford is graded subject by subject only.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists them inside Great Barford’s built-up area, along with 1 scheduled monument.
12% 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 Great Barford.
At the 4 primary schools within 3 km, just over a third of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). There is one school here; it is shown below. Its one primary school teaches 176 pupils.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Great Barford Church of England Primary AcademyLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 176 | D− |
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.
Of the commuters living in Great Barford, 6% work in the town itself. Nine in ten commuters drove, above both Bedfordshire’s towns (77%) and England’s towns (70%). A household here earns £66K a year before tax, on average.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Great Barford logged 75 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 28 complaints of anti-social conduct. Violence and sexual offences were just over two fifths of the crimes. There were 9.2 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), below Bedfordshire’s towns (10.3) but above England’s towns (7.8).
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 heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Grade II* covers 1 of them. For its size, Great Barford has 120 listed buildings per 10,000 residents, above Bedfordshire’s towns (40) and England’s towns (39) alike. Just over one in ten homes date from before 1919.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
One GP practice serves the town; 75% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. 86% of people in Great Barford rate their own health good or very good. The nearest A&E to Great Barford is Bedford Hospital, 5.5 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Great Barford | Bedfordshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 86% | 84% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.1% | 4.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 15% | 15% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · The census answers take no account of age, so a young town looks healthier; the Health Grade relies on age-adjusted measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them.
Private renters make up 13% of households, below Bedfordshire’s towns (20%) and England’s towns (21%) alike. The median sale, £357,500, comes from 111 standard sales inside Great Barford’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £502,500 | 53 |
| Semi-detached | £326,250 | 28 |
| Terraced | £284,500 | 22 |
| Flat or maisonette | £220,000 | 8 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
People 65 and over make up 20% of the town. Residents of Great Barford have a median age of 44.7. The under-15s are 19% of the population here.
52% women, 48% men
About 91 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Great Barford | Bedfordshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 20% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.6% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 23% | 29% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 30% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 20% | 15% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 13% | 18% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.5% | 5.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 33% | 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 Great Barford. Best known first.
Historic houseMoggerhanger House2.8 km outside town, to the southHistoric siteHistoric site · National TrustWillington Dovecote2.8 km outside town, to the southwestHistoric siteHistoric site · National TrustWillington Stables2.8 km outside town, to the southwestZooZooKnotts of Tempsford4 km outside town, to the eastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great Barford | 2,254 | — | — | C+ | B+ | B |
| Blunham | 1,391 | 1.4 | — | B− | D− | B |
| Sandy | 11,375 | 3.1 | C+ | A− | C | C |
| Shortstown | 4,837 | 4.6 | C+ | B | C | C+ |
| Bedford | 97,226 | 4.7 | C− | B | D | C− |
| Upper Caldecote | 1,333 | 4.8 | — | B− | B | B |
| St Neots | 33,262 | 5.9 | B+ | A | C | B− |
| Potton | 5,229 | 6.1 | B | B+ | B+ | A− |
Blunham and Upper Caldecote have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Primary results trail almost all towns in England (Department for Education, Key Stage 2). One state school is inside the town; places are handled by Bedford council.
That is 4.9 times the typical UK town for its size. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £357,500, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £220,000, terraced houses £284,500, semi-detached houses £326,250 and detached houses £502,500.
Village in Bedfordshire, England
Great Barford is a built-up area of 2,254 people, in the Bedford 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.