Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Population 12,313: a town in Bedfordshire, East of England.
Where it does best is jobs & income (A−): households earn a mean £76,169 a year, and 2.1% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Health outcomes beat most towns: life expectancy is 81.3 for men and 85.6 for women. Its schools fall short (C): primary results beat 46% of towns in England; secondary results beat 23% of towns in England. It takes 6.6 years of household income in the Central Bedfordshire council area to buy the median home, at £430,000. Hazard risk is weaker too (C) — 1.2% of homes face a high or medium risk of river or sea flooding. The overall grade lands at B+, #9 of 33 in Bedfordshire. Set against the rest, it does better than 72% of UK towns.
Figures: income and life expectancy, ONS · claimants, DWP · flood risk, Environment Agency · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
The 3 things Stotfold 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 Stotfold is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 19 buildings inside Stotfold’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade II*.
11% 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 Stotfold.
At the census, 87% of people in Stotfold called their health good or very good, above Bedfordshire’s towns (84%) and England’s towns (82%) alike. A disability affects 13% of people locally. Also worth knowing: women here live to 85.6 on average and men to 81.3 (2019–23). The nearest A&E to Stotfold is Lister Hospital, 6.2 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Stotfold | Bedfordshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 87% | 84% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.1% | 4.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 13% | 15% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · No age adjustment applies to these census answers, which flatter younger towns; the Health Grade’s measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them, do allow for age.
Of its 4 schools, two are shown below, each with the reason. Secondary results at the 4 secondary schools within 3 km: an Attainment 8 score of 42.7, with 36% at grade 5 or above in English and maths. Just over three in five pupils at the 9 primary schools within 3 km met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fairfield Park Lower SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 479 | – |
| Pix Brook AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,011 | C+ |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Just over a tenth of its homes were built before 1919, lower than both Bedfordshire’s towns (12%) and England’s towns (16%). Grade II* covers 1 of them. Listed buildings per head: 15 for every 10,000 residents of Stotfold.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Stotfold logged 444 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 135 complaints of anti-social conduct. Burglary and damage came to 6.3 per 1,000 residents a year, below Bedfordshire’s towns (10.5) and England’s towns (9.4) alike. Violence and sexual offences were half of the crimes.
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 39% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Short trips to work, under 5 km: 27%, below both Bedfordshire’s towns (42%) and England’s towns (45%). On foot, by bike or by bus and train: that was how 13% of commuters travelled at the census. About nearly a tenth of its commuters stay in Stotfold for work. Working from home was the norm for nearly two in five workers at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
11% live in social housing, below both Bedfordshire’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (18%). Private rents average £1,250 a month across the Central Bedfordshire council area. The £430,000 median rests on 619 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £535,000 | 190 |
| Semi-detached | £425,000 | 210 |
| Terraced | £368,000 | 123 |
| Flat or maisonette | £254,500 | 96 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Degrees are held by 37% of adults, above Bedfordshire’s towns (32%) and England’s towns (34%) alike. Young adults of 15 to 24 are 8.6% of the population. Line up the people of Stotfold by age and the one in the middle is 40.3.
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Stotfold | Bedfordshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 22% | 20% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.6% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 27% | 29% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 16% | 15% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 12% | 18% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.8% | 5.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 37% | 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 Stotfold. Best known first.
MuseumRAF Henlow3.7 km outside town, to the west
MuseumBaldock Museum3.1 km outside town, to the southeast
Historic houseHinxworth Place2.5 km outside town, to the northeast
MuseumAshwell Village Museum5 km outside town, to the northeastMuseumMuseumGarden City Collection Study Centre1.6 km outside town, to the southMuseumMuseumLetchworth Community Museum2.1 km outside town, to the southPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
19 listed buildings in Stotfold.
Stotfold Mill: Photo: Peter O'Connor aka anemoneprojectors · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Chequers Public House: Photo: Dylan Mills · CC BY-SA 2.0 · School House: Photo: David Purchase · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph · Church at Fairfield Hospital: Photo: Jack1956 · CC0
3 notable people were born in Stotfold.
Victoria Pendleton: Jean_Christophe_Novelli_and_Victoria_Pendleton.jpg: Stuart Webster from Southampton, England derivative work: Baldboris99, CC BY 2.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stotfold | 12,313 | — | B+ | B− | B+ | A− |
| Arlesey | 6,027 | 1.2 | B | A− | B− | B− |
| Letchworth | 33,993 | 2.2 | C+ | B− | C | C+ |
| Henlow | 2,446 | 2.5 | — | B− | A− | B |
| Baldock | 10,613 | 2.7 | B+ | B | C | C+ |
| Lower Stondon | 3,966 | 3 | B+ | B | B | A− |
| Clifton | 2,769 | 3.3 | B | B | C+ | B+ |
| Langford | 3,712 | 3.3 | B | B− | B | B |
Henlow has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets 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 £430,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £254,500, terraced houses £368,000, semi-detached houses £425,000 and detached houses £535,000. Household incomes are higher than in 96% of UK towns, so cost of living still grades B−.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
GCSE results trail 77% of towns in England, and primary results trail 54% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Town in Bedfordshire, England
Stotfold is a built-up area of 12,313 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.