Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A large town of 78,662 in Berkshire, South East.
Bracknell grades B overall against UK towns: better than 58% of UK towns, and #26 of 30 in Berkshire. Its strongest subject is jobs & income (B+): mean household income £66,080; 3.4% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Its weakest is safety (C): 31.9 violent and sexual offences and 13.5 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026. Among UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, it has less crime per resident than 86%. The median home sold for £375,000 in the last three years, 5.4 times what households in the Bracknell Forest council area earn in a year.
The 3 things Bracknell 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 Bracknell is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 41 buildings inside Bracknell’s built-up area, and 2 scheduled monuments.
1% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 1 old photo or postcard going back to 1895.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Bracknell.
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 1% of the total, below Berkshire’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (16%) alike. The national list protects 2 ancient monuments in Bracknell. Relative to its size, Bracknell keeps 5 listed buildings per 10,000 residents.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Some 10,997 pupils attend Bracknell’s 17 primaries and four secondaries. St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, the town’s results beat 98% of schools in England like it. Secondary results at the town’s 4 secondary schools: an Attainment 8 score of 46.6, with 46% at grade 5 or above in English and maths. Of its 22 schools, three are shown below, each with the reason.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crown Wood Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 671 | B− |
| Garth Hill CollegeLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,452 | C |
| St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, BracknellTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 210 | A+ |
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Over the year to August 2026, 5,642 offences were reported in Bracknell, along with 834 incidents of anti-social behaviour. 44% of the crimes fell under violence and sexual offences. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 10.4 reports per 1,000, higher than both Berkshire’s towns (6.2) and 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 Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 38% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
42% of commuters travelled under 5 km, about level with England’s towns (45%) and below Berkshire’s towns (46%). At the census, 80% of commuters went by car. Also worth knowing: of the commuters living in Bracknell, 33% work in the town itself. The town counts 0.9 jobs per working resident.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Private renters make up 17% of households. 21% live in social housing, above both Berkshire’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (18%). That is the middle of 3,019 standard sales inside Bracknell’s built-up area over three years, against £277,000 in the typical UK town.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £590,000 | 552 |
| Semi-detached | £442,000 | 505 |
| Terraced | £368,000 | 1,241 |
| Flat or maisonette | £235,000 | 721 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
At the census, 14% of people here had a disability, about level with Berkshire’s towns (13%) and below England’s towns (17%). The nearest A&E to Bracknell is Frimley Park Hospital, 6.2 miles away. 7 GP practices serve the town; 64% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Bracknell | Berkshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 86% | 87% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.4% | 3.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 14% | 13% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · These shares come straight from the census, without allowing for age, and young towns benefit; the Health Grade instead weighs age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
People 65 and over make up 13% of the town, lower than both Berkshire’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (18%). Bracknell has a median age of 38. Among adults, 34% have a degree.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Bracknell | Berkshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 31% | 29% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 13% | 15% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 14% | 14% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.1% | 4.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 34% | 40% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Berkshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Bracknell. Best known first.
Historic houseSouth Hill Parkin town · 250K visitors a year
Historic houseBagshot Park Mansion3.4 km outside town, to the southeast
Historic houseSunninghill Park4.4 km outside town, to the eastAttractionAttractionGo Ape!in townTheme parkTheme parkLaplandUK500 m outside town, to the eastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
41 listed buildings in Bracknell.
The Horse and Groom Public House: Photo: Des Blenkinsopp · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Church of St Michael and St Mary Magdelene: Photo: Tim Sneller · Public domain · South Hill Park: Photo: Garrick Hywel Darts · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Bull Inn: Photo: don cload · CC BY-SA 2.0
19 notable people were born in Bracknell.
Millie Brady: HeyUGuys at http://HeyUGuys.com, CC BY 3.0 · Jake Cooper: Timmy96, CC0 · Stephen Lushington: William Holman Hunt, Public domain · Danny Cullip: Struway, Public domain · Edward Fielden: Beeby G B (LAC): RAF Tempsford, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bracknell | 78,662 | — | B | B+ | C | B− |
| Newell Green | 1,871 | 1.7 | — | C+ | B+ | A |
| Binfield | 4,851 | 2 | A | C+ | A− | A |
| Winkfield Row | 1,756 | 2.4 | — | C | A+ | A |
| Crowthorne | 15,196 | 3.1 | A | C+ | B | A+ |
| Ascot | 24,003 | 3.7 | A | C− | B | A+ |
| Wokingham | 50,320 | 3.9 | A+ | B+ | B | A+ |
| Bagshot | 5,930 | 4.3 | B+ | B | C | B+ |
Newell Green and Winkfield Row have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Against all UK towns, most of them far smaller, it grades C.
A young town. At the 2021 Census, 19% of residents were under 15 and 31% were 25 to 44, against 18% and 27% across England’s towns; only 13% were 65 or over.
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 £375,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £235,000, terraced houses £368,000, semi-detached houses £442,000 and detached houses £590,000. Household incomes are higher than in 82% of UK towns, so cost of living still grades B+.
Large town in Berkshire, England
Bracknell is a built-up area of 78,662 people, in the Bracknell Forest 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.