Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
It is a town of 2,896 residents in Berkshire, South East.
A town of contrasts. People here tend to be in good health: men here can expect to live to 83.6, women to 85.4. Wargrave grades A+ overall, better than 98% of UK towns. That places it #5 of 30 in Berkshire. Households here earn well (A+): the mean household earns £74,862 a year. What holds it back is hazard risk: 2% of homes face a high or medium risk of river or sea flooding. At a median £785,000, a home costs 10 times the yearly income of households in the Wokingham council area.
Figures: life expectancy and income, ONS · claimants, DWP · flood risk, Environment Agency · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
The 3 things Wargrave 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 Wargrave is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 35 buildings inside Wargrave’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade II*.
30% 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 1903.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Wargrave.
88% of people in Wargrave rate their own health good or very good. 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%). One GP practice serves the town; 85% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. Also worth knowing: a disability affects 13% of people in the town.
| Census 2021 | Wargrave | Berkshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 88% | 87% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 2.6% | 3.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 13% | 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.
Attainment 8 at the one secondary school within 3 km averages 61, and 72% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths. Robert Piggott CofE Junior School’s results beat three quarters of schools in England like it. Key Stage 2 results at the 7 primary schools within 3 km: 65% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Its two schools are below.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Piggott CofE Infant SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | – | – |
| Robert Piggott CofE Junior SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | – | A− |
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 30% of the total. Scaled to its population, Wargrave has 121 listed buildings per 10,000 people, above Berkshire’s towns (34) and England’s towns (39) alike. Grade II* covers 2 of them. The town has 35 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 2 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Violence and sexual offences accounted for half of recorded crime. Violent crime ran at 12.9 per 1,000 residents a year, below both Berkshire’s towns (20.4) and England’s towns (22). The 12 months to August 2026 brought 70 recorded crimes inside Wargrave’s built-up area, and 4 reports of anti-social behaviour.
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 59% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
About 7% of its commuters stay in Wargrave for work. Just over four in five commuters drove, above Berkshire’s towns (73%) and England’s towns (70%) alike. The 2026 claimant rate among 16 to 64s was 1.6%.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Home ownership stands at 78% of households. 11% live in social housing, below both Berkshire’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (18%). Wargrave is the most expensive of the 30 towns in Berkshire: its median sale is £785,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £965,000 | 57 |
| Semi-detached | £815,000 | 19 |
| Terraced | £527,500 | 28 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Nearly one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24. People 65 and over make up a quarter of the town, higher than both Berkshire’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (18%). Residents of Wargrave have a median age of 48.
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
| Wargrave | Berkshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.2% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 19% | 29% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 30% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 25% | 15% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 9.9% | 14% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 2.6% | 4.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 15% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 53% | 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 Wargrave. Best known first.
Historic houseFriar Park4.7 km outside town, to the northwest
ZooBerkshire College of Agriculture4.4 km outside town, to the northeast
MuseumRiver and Rowing Museum3.4 km outside town, to the northwest
MuseumThe Museum Of Berkshire Aviation4.8 km outside town, to the southZooZooBCA Zoo4.6 km outside town, to the northeastCastleCastleCayton Park House1.7 km outside town, to the northeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
35 listed buildings in Wargrave.
Church of St Mary: Photo: Michael Ford · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The White Hart: Photo: Stuart Logan · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wargrave War Memorial: Photo: Des Blenkinsopp · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Woodclyffe Hall: Photo: Des Blenkinsopp · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph
3 notable people were born in Wargrave.
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wargrave | 2,896 | — | A+ | B− | A− | A+ |
| Lower Shiplake | 1,086 | 1.2 | — | C | A+ | A+ |
| Twyford | 8,072 | 1.7 | A+ | B+ | A− | A+ |
| Charvil | 3,158 | 2 | A+ | B− | A | A+ |
| Henley-on-Thames | 11,786 | 3 | A− | C | C | A |
| Hurst | 1,009 | 3 | — | B− | A | A+ |
| Sonning | 1,615 | 3.1 | — | B− | A | A− |
| Woodley | 28,019 | 3.8 | A+ | A− | B+ | B+ |
Lower Shiplake, Hurst and Sonning 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 £785,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: terraced houses £527,500, semi-detached houses £815,000 and detached houses £965,000. Household incomes are higher than in 95% of UK towns, so cost of living still grades B−.
That is 5 times the typical UK town for its size.
Secondary schools stand out: GCSE results beat 98% of towns in England. Primary results beat 68%. Wargrave has 2 state schools; places are handled by Wokingham council.
Town in Berkshire, England
Wargrave is a built-up area of 2,896 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.