Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A large town of 25,537 in Berkshire, South East.
Thatcham grades B overall against UK towns: better than 59% of UK towns, and #25 of 30 in Berkshire. Its strongest subject is jobs & income (A−): mean household income £65,050; 2.4% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Its weakest is schools (C−): primary results beat 6% of towns in England; secondary results beat 47% of towns in England. The median home sold for £350,000 in the last three years, 5.2 times what households in the West Berkshire council area earn in a year.
The 2 things Thatcham 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 Thatcham is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 39 buildings inside Thatcham’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
3% 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 Thatcham. Best known first.
ZooBucklebury Farm Park3 km outside town, to the northeast
Abbey or prioryDouai Abbey3.6 km outside town, to the east
Historic houseShaw House1.9 km outside town, to the west
MuseumWest Berkshire Museum2.1 km outside town, to the westCastleCastle · English HeritageDonnington Castle3.6 km outside town, to the westPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Thatcham.
Two of its 7 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Francis Baily Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 491 | C− |
| Kennet SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,824 | B |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Thatcham has 39 listed buildings inside its built-up area on Historic England’s list: 1 Grade I, 1 Grade II*. 3% of its homes were built before 1919.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Thatcham sits below both Berkshire’s towns (22%) and England’s towns (21%) on this measure. Owners make up 70% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £492,500 | 256 |
| Semi-detached | £352,000 | 397 |
| Terraced | £318,375 | 274 |
| Flat or maisonette | £181,000 | 141 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
That puts Thatcham above both Berkshire’s towns (20.2) and England’s towns (22). Police recorded 1,430 crimes inside Thatcham’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 259 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences were 53% of the crimes; the police category includes harassment and stalking.
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 Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 35% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
On this, Thatcham is below both Berkshire’s towns (24%) and England’s towns (27%). The car carried 82% of commuters at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
85% of Thatcham’s residents described their health as good or very good in 2021, against 87% across Berkshire’s towns. These answers aren’t adjusted for age, so young towns look healthier; the Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
| Census 2021 | Thatcham | Berkshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 85% | 87% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.5% | 3.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 15% | 13% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
In the comparison, Thatcham comes below both Berkshire’s towns (40%) and England’s towns (34%). Those aged 15 to 24 account for 10% of residents. Half the people of Thatcham are older than 41.1.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Thatcham | Berkshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 26% | 29% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 16% | 15% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 16% | 14% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6% | 4.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 19% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 30% | 40% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Berkshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
39 listed buildings in Thatcham, 1 of them Grade I.
Church of St. Mary: Photo: Marc Evans from Reading, England · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Old Chequers Public House: Photo: Oscar Taylor · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 66, 68, 70 and 72, Chapel Street: Photo: Oscar Taylor · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 31, The Broadway: Photo: Oscar Taylor · CC BY-SA 2.0
6 notable people were born in Thatcham.
William John House: Dee, Reading (no individual credited), Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thatcham | 25,537 | — | B | B+ | C+ | B− |
| Upper Bucklebury | 1,036 | 1.8 | — | C | B− | A |
| Cold Ash | 2,267 | 2 | — | C | A+ | A+ |
| Newbury | 42,262 | 2.8 | B | B | C− | B− |
| Hermitage | 2,224 | 3.6 | — | C | A | A+ |
| Kingsclere | 2,889 | 5.3 | A− | B+ | B | A− |
| Tadley | 14,767 | 6 | A | A− | B | B |
| Woolton Hill and Highclere | 2,755 | 6.2 | A+ | C+ | A | A+ |
Upper Bucklebury, Cold Ash and Hermitage have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
It has less crime than most places its size: less crime per resident than 68% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. Against all UK towns, most of them smaller, it grades C+.
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 £350,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £181,000, terraced houses £318,375, semi-detached houses £352,000 and detached houses £492,500. Household incomes are higher than in 80% of UK towns, so cost of living still grades B+.
Large town in Berkshire, England
Thatcham is a built-up area of 25,537 people, in the West Berkshire 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.