Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 3,053 in Berkshire, South East.
Theale grades B+ overall against UK towns: better than 71% of UK towns, and #18 of 30 in Berkshire. Its strongest subject is walkability (A−): 20% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is hazard risk (C−): 1.7% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. The median home sold for £335,000 in the last three years, 4.9 times what households in the West Berkshire council area earn in a year.
The thing Theale 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 Theale is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 27 buildings inside Theale’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
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 Theale.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 40% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
A household here earns £65K a year before tax, on average. The car took 78% of commuters, higher than both Berkshire’s towns (73%) and England’s towns (70%). Also worth knowing: the 2026 claimant rate among 16 to 64s was 2.9%. Work in town: 14% of resident commuters.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Between them, one primary and one secondary teach 1,104 pupils in Theale. Both of the town’s schools appear below. 67% of pupils at the 12 primary schools within 3 km met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Theale C.E. Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 301 | A |
| Theale Green SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 803 | C |
Violence and sexual offences were 39% of the crimes. Police figures for Theale’s built-up area: 184 crimes and 27 anti-social behaviour reports in the 12 months to August 2026. Burglary and damage came to 11.5 per 1,000 residents a year, higher than both Berkshire’s towns (9.1) and England’s towns (9.4). Among the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Theale has more crime per resident than just over three quarters of them.
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.
Private renters make up 18% of households, below both Berkshire’s towns (22%) and England’s towns (21%). Theale is the second cheapest of the 30 towns in Berkshire, at £335,000. Behind the median of £335,000: 131 standard sales inside the town’s built-up area, September 2023 to August 2026.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £600,000 | 10 |
| Semi-detached | £387,625 | 42 |
| Terraced | £335,000 | 41 |
| Flat or maisonette | £242,000 | 38 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Per 10,000 residents, Theale counts 88 listed buildings, above Berkshire’s towns (34) and England’s towns (39) alike. Its listed buildings include the Church of the Holy Trinity, Grade I. Before 1919: that is when just over one in ten homes were built.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
One GP practice serves the town; just over four in five patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. At the census, 16% of people here had a disability, above Berkshire’s towns (13%) but below England’s towns (17%). The nearest A&E to Theale is Royal Berkshire Hospital, 5.2 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Theale | Berkshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 83% | 87% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.2% | 3.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 16% | 13% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Self-reported health favours young towns, since these answers ignore age; the Health Grade leans on age-adjusted measures such as life expectancy and early deaths.
The 15-to-24 age group: 10%, below both Berkshire’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (12%). Theale has a median age of 42.3 years. Graduates make up 33% of adults.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Theale | Berkshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 28% | 29% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 18% | 15% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 17% | 14% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.4% | 4.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 33% | 40% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Berkshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
27 listed buildings in Theale, 1 of them Grade I.
The Crown Inn: Photo: Steve Daniels · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Old Lamb Motel and Restaurant: Photo: Shubimperatrix · CC BY-SA 3.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Theale | 3,053 | — | B+ | B+ | C | B− |
| Burghfield Common | 6,216 | 2.6 | A− | C+ | B− | B+ |
| Pangbourne | 3,279 | 3.3 | A− | C | B− | A+ |
| Mortimer | 2,932 | 4.1 | B+ | C+ | C | A− |
| Reading | 203,789 | 4.3 | B− | C | C− | C+ |
| Upper Basildon | 1,074 | 4.6 | — | C | A | A+ |
| Spencers Wood and Three Mile Cross | 7,612 | 5.3 | A | A− | B | A+ |
| Caversham | 33,038 | 5.4 | A | D | B+ | A |
Upper Basildon has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 3.6 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of the Holy Trinity.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Town in Berkshire, England
Theale is a built-up area of 3,053 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.
