Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A large town in Berkshire, South East, home to 24,003 people.
Ascot does the important things well, at a cost. People here tend to be in good health: men here can expect to live to 83.1, women to 84.6. Homes are dear (C−): a typical home costs £662,500 and rent runs £1,724 a month. Hazard risk is weaker too (C−) — 2.4% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. The overall grade lands at A, better than 89% of UK towns. That places it #13 of 30 in Berkshire. Elsewhere it is close to typical: B for safety and B for walkability.
Figures: life expectancy, ONS · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · flood risk, Environment Agency · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · commuting, Census 2021.
The 3 things Ascot 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 Ascot is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 52 buildings inside Ascot’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade II*, and 2 scheduled monuments.
16% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Ascot. Best known first.
Historic houseTittenhurst Parkin town
Big drawTheme parkLegoland Windsor4 km outside town, to the north · 2.3M visitors a year (2024)
Historic houseBagshot Park Mansion2 km outside town, to the southwest
Historic houseCumberland Lodge2.8 km outside town, to the northeast
Historic houseSouth Hill Park3.2 km outside town, to the west · 250K visitors a year
Historic houseSunninghill Park800 m outside town, to the northeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Ascot.
Women here live to 84.6 on average and men to 83.1 (2019–23). At the census, 2.6% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, below both Berkshire’s towns (3.3%) and England’s towns (5.2%), and just over one in ten residents in Ascot live with a disability. 4 GP practices serve the town; just over two thirds of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Ascot | Berkshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 89% | 87% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 2.6% | 3.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 12% | 13% | 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.
Key Stage 2 results at the town’s 5 primary schools: 72% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Of its 6 schools, three are shown below, each with the reason. St Francis Catholic Primary School, South Ascot’s results beat 98% of schools in England like it. Secondary results at the 4 secondary schools within 3 km: an Attainment 8 score of 49.6, with 52% at grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Holy Trinity CofE Primary School, SunningdaleLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 211 | A |
| Charters SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,707 | A− |
| St Francis Catholic Primary School, South AscotTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 210 | A+ |
9% of households live in social housing. Ascot is the second most expensive of the 30 towns in Berkshire, at £662,500. Private renters make up nearly a fifth of households, lower than both Berkshire’s towns (22%) and England’s towns (21%).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £1,150,000 | 386 |
| Semi-detached | £563,750 | 252 |
| Terraced | £511,000 | 169 |
| Flat or maisonette | £395,000 | 291 |
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 53% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
By car: that was how 80% of commuters travelled at the census. 32% of commuters travelled under 5 km, lower than both Berkshire’s towns (46%) and England’s towns (45%). The 2026 claimant rate among 16 to 64s was 1.8%.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Police figures for Ascot’s built-up area: 934 crimes and 102 anti-social behaviour reports in the 12 months to August 2026. Of all the crimes, 48% were violence and sexual offences. There were 3.7 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), below Berkshire’s towns (6.5) and England’s towns (7.8) alike.
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 2 of them. Ascot counts 52 listed buildings on the national list (Historic England): 2 Grade II*. The register of parks and gardens lists 4 in the town.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
20% of residents are 65 or over, above Berkshire’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. At 45.6, the median resident of Ascot sits in the middle of the age range. Aged 15 to 24: just over one in ten residents.
53% women, 47% men
About 88 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Ascot | Berkshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 20% | 29% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 31% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 20% | 15% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 10% | 14% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 3.7% | 4.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 15% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 48% | 40% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Berkshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
52 listed buildings in Ascot.
Tittenhurst: Photo: Phillip Williams · CC BY-SA 2.0 · East Lodge to Sunninghill Park: Photo: don cload · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Silwood Park and former stable block: Photo: Mick Crawley · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph · Ascot War Memorial: Photo: Alan Hunt · CC BY-SA 2.0
45 notable people were born in Ascot.
Camilla Luddington: Mingle MediaTV, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Lewis Moody: Land Rover MENA, CC BY 2.0 · Ross Fisher: Colinda van Ekeren, CC BY-SA 3.0 nl · Ben Adams: Ernst Vikne, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Jake Ball: Stefano Delfrate, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Tom Kimber-Smith: David Merrett from Daventry, England, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ascot | 24,003 | — | A | C− | B | A+ |
| Winkfield Row | 1,756 | 2.6 | — | C | A+ | A |
| Windlesham | 3,706 | 2.6 | A | C | A | A+ |
| Bagshot | 5,930 | 3.1 | B+ | B | C | B+ |
| Bracknell | 78,662 | 3.7 | B | B+ | C | B− |
| Lightwater | 6,539 | 3.9 | A | C+ | A | A+ |
| Newell Green | 1,871 | 4 | — | C+ | B+ | A |
| Virginia Water | 5,185 | 4.5 | A− | D | B− | A+ |
Winkfield Row and Newell Green 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 £662,500, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £395,000, terraced houses £511,000, semi-detached houses £563,750 and detached houses £1,150,000.
Primary schools stand out: Key Stage 2 results beat 92% of towns in England. Secondary results beat 73%.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Large town in Berkshire, England
Ascot is a built-up area of 24,003 people, in the Windsor and Maidenhead 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.