Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A village of 1,615 in Berkshire, South East.
Sonning has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Its strongest subject is jobs & income (A+): mean household income £71,394; 1.3% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. The median home sold for £779,271 in the last three years, 10 times what households in the Wokingham council area earn in a year.
The 3 things Sonning 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 Sonning is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists them inside Sonning’s built-up area.
20% 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 Sonning.
GCSE results at the 6 secondary schools within 3 km: 67% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 57.8. Sonning Church of England Primary School’s results beat 98% of schools in England like it. The one school in town appears below. At the 21 primary schools within 3 km, just over two thirds of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sonning Church of England Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 210 | A+ |
Violence accounts for 9.3 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Police recorded 24 crimes inside Sonning’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 5 reports of anti-social behaviour. Homes saw 7.6 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year, below Berkshire’s towns (9.3) and England’s towns (9.4) 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 heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Sonning counts 49 listed buildings on the national list (Historic England): 1 Grade I, 2 Grade II*. Its listed buildings include The Deanery, Grade I. Of the town’s land, 100% lies in conservation areas, higher than both Berkshire’s towns (23%) and England’s towns (7%). The pre-1919 share of homes is 20%.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Disability touches 17% of Sonning’s population. 84% of the town’s residents described their health as good or very good at the census, below Berkshire’s towns (87%) but above England’s towns (82%). Seeing a GP means leaving Sonning: the nearest practice is 0.9 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Sonning | Berkshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 84% | 87% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.9% | 3.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 17% | 13% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Young towns look healthier on these answers, which aren’t adjusted for age; the Health Grade uses measures that are, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 58% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
58% of workers worked mainly from home, above Berkshire’s towns (41%) and England’s towns (31%) alike. For 41% of commuters, work was under 5 km away. The 2026 claimant rate among 16 to 64s was 1.3%.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The social rented sector houses 12% of households. 74% of households own their home, higher than both Berkshire’s towns (63%) and England’s towns (61%). Private rents average £1,466 a month across the Wokingham council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £1,000,000 | 24 |
| Semi-detached | £670,000 | 16 |
| Terraced | £640,000 | 8 |
| Flat or maisonette | £331,000 | 6 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The share aged 15 to 24 is 8.1%. 26% of residents are 65 or over, above Berkshire’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. Ages in Sonning split evenly at 49.9: half are older, half younger.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Sonning | Berkshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.1% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 18% | 29% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 32% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 26% | 15% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 11% | 14% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 4.1% | 4.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 11% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 52% | 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 Sonning. Best known first.
Abbey or prioryAbbey Ruins3.4 km outside town, to the west
Historic houseCaversham Park2.9 km outside town, to the northwest
MuseumMuseum Of English Rural Life3.2 km outside town, to the southwest
MuseumThe Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology2.9 km outside town, to the southwest
MuseumReading Museum3.6 km outside town, to the west
MuseumCole Museum of Zoology3.1 km outside town, to the southwestPhotos: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sonning | 1,615 | — | — | B− | A | A− |
| Woodley | 28,019 | 1 | A+ | A− | B+ | B+ |
| Charvil | 3,158 | 1.2 | A+ | B− | A | A+ |
| Twyford | 8,072 | 2.1 | A+ | B+ | A− | A+ |
| Hurst | 1,009 | 2.3 | — | B− | A | A+ |
| Winnersh | 8,904 | 2.7 | A+ | B+ | B | B+ |
| Caversham | 33,038 | 2.8 | A | D | B+ | A |
| Wargrave | 2,896 | 3.1 | A+ | B− | A− | A+ |
Hurst 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 £779,271, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £331,000, terraced houses £640,000, semi-detached houses £670,000 and detached houses £1,000,000. Household incomes are higher than in 91% of UK towns, so cost of living still grades B−.
That is 12.4 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is The Deanery.
GCSE results beat 96% of towns in England, and primary results beat 83% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). One state school is inside the town; places are handled by Wokingham council.
Police recorded 24 crimes inside Sonning’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 50% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
Village in Berkshire, England
Sonning is a built-up area of 1,615 people, in the Wokingham 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.