Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
In Bedfordshire, East of England, this town has 6,350 residents. Over-65s are only 12% of the population.
Cheap to live in, with trade-offs. Its strongest is jobs & income — mean household income £72,271; 1.9% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. The catch is schools (C−): primary results beat 5% of towns in England; secondary results beat 40% of towns in England. It takes 5.2 years of household income in the Central Bedfordshire council area to buy the median home, at £338,500. Getting around depends on the car: 8% of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. All told, that adds up to a B overall and a rank of #16 of 33 in Bedfordshire. On that grade it does better than 62% of UK towns. Its other grades sit near the middle: B for safety, B for health and B− for hazard risk.
Figures: income and life expectancy, ONS · claimants, DWP · commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · flood risk, Environment Agency.
The 3 things Marston Moretaine 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 Marston Moretaine is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 7 buildings inside Marston Moretaine’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade I, and 1 scheduled monument.
4% 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 Marston Moretaine.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 36% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Working mainly from home: 36% of workers, higher than both Bedfordshire’s towns (30%) and England’s towns (31%). The car carried 90% of commuters at the census. Jobs per working resident: 0.2.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Key Stage 2 results at the 2 primary schools within 3 km: 47% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). There is one school here; it is shown below. GCSE results at the one secondary school within 3 km: just over two in five pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 44.8.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marston Moreteyne VC SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 624 | – |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Homes from before 1919 make up 4% of the total, below Bedfordshire’s towns (12%) and England’s towns (16%) alike. Marston Moretaine’s listed buildings include the Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, Grade I. It has one scheduled monument.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Home ownership stands at 71% of households. Private rents average £1,250 a month across the Central Bedfordshire council area. Half of the 272 standard sales inside Marston Moretaine’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £338,500.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £480,000 | 75 |
| Semi-detached | £332,496 | 93 |
| Terraced | £275,000 | 91 |
| Flat or maisonette | £210,000 | 13 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Marston Moretaine logged 287 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 78 complaints of anti-social conduct. Violence and sexual offences accounted for 47% of recorded crime. Burglary and damage add up to 8.8 per 1,000 residents each year.
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.
At the census, 3.4% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, lower than both Bedfordshire’s towns (4.3%) and England’s towns (5.2%). Disability touches 13% of Marston Moretaine’s population. One GP practice serves the town; nearly two thirds of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. The nearest A&E to Marston Moretaine is Bedford Hospital, 5.6 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Marston Moretaine | Bedfordshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 88% | 84% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.4% | 4.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 13% | 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.
The 15-to-24 age group: 9.9%, lower than both Bedfordshire’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (12%). Those 65 and older account for just over one in ten residents. The middle age in Marston Moretaine is 35.5.
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Marston Moretaine | Bedfordshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 23% | 20% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.9% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 33% | 29% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 23% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 12% | 15% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 14% | 18% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5% | 5.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 20% | 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 Marston Moretaine. Best known first.
Historic house · English HeritageHoughton House4 km outside town, to the southeastTheme parkTheme parkUniversal United Kingdom Resort3.3 km outside town, to the northeastWater parkWater parkSubtropical Swimming Paradise3.7 km outside town, to the southPhotos: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marston Moretaine | 6,350 | — | B | B+ | B | B |
| Lidlington | 1,300 | 1.7 | — | B+ | A− | B |
| Stewartby | 2,546 | 1.9 | B− | B− | B− | B− |
| Wootton | 7,567 | 2.4 | B | C+ | A− | B− |
| Cranfield | 7,053 | 2.5 | A− | B+ | A− | A |
| Houghton Conquest | 1,867 | 3.1 | — | B+ | B+ | B+ |
| Ampthill | 8,825 | 3.4 | A | B− | B+ | A |
| Wixams | 6,044 | 3.8 | C− | C+ | C− | B |
Lidlington and Houghton Conquest have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
A young town. At the 2021 Census, 23% of residents were under 15 and 33% were 25 to 44, against 18% and 27% across England’s towns; only 12% were 65 or over.
One state school is inside the town; places are handled by Central Bedfordshire council.
Band D council tax in Marston Moretaine is £2,516 for 2026–27, more than in 68% of UK towns (council, county, police and fire, plus the parish or town council). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
Town in Bedfordshire, England
Marston Moretaine is a built-up area of 6,350 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.