Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town in Bedfordshire, East of England, home to 3,419 people.
Good on most counts; one lags. Health is a strength: life expectancy 82.1 for men, 88 for women. With an A+ overall, Silsoe is better than 98% of UK towns and ranks #1 of 33 in Bedfordshire. At a median £397,500, a home costs 6.1 times the yearly income of households in the Central Bedfordshire council area. Few people walk, cycle or take the bus to work (C): 10% of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport.
Figures: life expectancy and incomes, ONS · 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.
The 3 things Silsoe 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 Silsoe is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 30 buildings inside Silsoe’s built-up area, and 1 scheduled monument.
8% 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 Silsoe.
3% of residents described their health as bad or very bad, below Bedfordshire’s towns (4.3%) and England’s towns (5.2%) alike. A disability affects just over a tenth of people in Silsoe. There is no GP practice here: the nearest is 2.7 miles off.
| Census 2021 | Silsoe | Bedfordshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 88% | 84% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3% | 4.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 12% | 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.
Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Silsoe CofE VC Lower SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 251 | – |
Per 1,000 residents, 6.5 burglaries and acts of damage are recorded a year. Violent crime ran at 11.8 per 1,000 residents a year, below Bedfordshire’s towns (18.8) and England’s towns (22) alike. In the 12 months to August 2026, police logged 85 crimes and 37 reports of anti-social behaviour inside Silsoe’s built-up area. Violence and sexual offences made up nearly half of the total.
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 Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 41% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
There are 1 jobs in Silsoe for each resident in work. The car took 87% of commuters, higher than both Bedfordshire’s towns (77%) and England’s towns (70%). Home was the main workplace for just over two in five workers at the census. About 6% of its commuters stay in Silsoe for work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Owners make up 74% of households, above Bedfordshire’s towns (64%) and England’s towns (61%) alike. 12% of households live in social housing. Private rents average £1,250 a month across the Central Bedfordshire council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £567,000 | 45 |
| Semi-detached | £400,000 | 37 |
| Terraced | £312,000 | 31 |
| Flat or maisonette | £240,000 | 23 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Silsoe has 88 listed buildings for every 10,000 residents, above both Bedfordshire’s towns (40) and England’s towns (39). Before 1919: that is when 8% of homes were built. The national list protects one ancient monument here.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Degrees are held by just over two in five adults. People aged 15 to 24 make up nearly a tenth of the town, below both Bedfordshire’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (12%). The age that splits Silsoe in two is 39.7.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Silsoe | Bedfordshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 22% | 20% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.4% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 27% | 29% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 16% | 15% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 10% | 18% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.2% | 5.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 19% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 41% | 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 Silsoe. Best known first.
Historic house · English HeritageWrest Park600 m outside town, to the east
Historic house · English HeritageHoughton House4.8 km outside town, to the northwestGardenGarden · English HeritageWrest Park & Gardens800 m outside town, to the eastCastleCastleMeppershall Castel4.8 km outside town, to the eastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
30 listed buildings in Silsoe.
Church of St James: Photo: Tatraplan · Public domain · Village Lock Up: Photo: Tatraplan · Public domain · Star and Garter Public House: Photo: Alex McGregor · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 17-25, High Street: Photo: Philip Jeffrey · CC BY-SA 2.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Silsoe | 3,419 | — | A+ | B | A | A |
| Flitton | 1,531 | 1.2 | — | C+ | A+ | A+ |
| Clophill | 2,515 | 1.5 | A− | C+ | B+ | A− |
| Maulden | 2,486 | 2.2 | — | B− | B+ | B+ |
| Barton-le-Clay | 4,941 | 2.8 | A− | B | A | A− |
| Flitwick | 13,668 | 3 | A− | B+ | B | B− |
| Shillington | 1,629 | 3 | — | B+ | B | B+ |
| Ampthill | 8,825 | 3.1 | A | B− | B+ | A |
Flitton, Maulden and Shillington have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 3.6 times the typical UK town for its size. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £397,500, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £240,000, terraced houses £312,000, semi-detached houses £400,000 and detached houses £567,000. Household incomes are higher than in 93% of UK towns, so cost of living still grades B.
Town in Bedfordshire, England
Silsoe is a built-up area of 3,419 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.