Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The large town, home to 28,019 people, lies in Berkshire, South East.
Jobs & income is its strong suit: mean household income £70,044; 2.3% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. It is strong on schools as well (A): primary results beat 83% of towns in England; secondary results beat 84% of towns in England. A median £445,500 buys a home here, 5.7 times what households in the Wokingham council area earn in a year. The overall grade lands at A+, #3 of 30 in Berkshire. That leaves it better than almost every UK town.
Figures: income, ONS · claimants, DWP · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Woodley is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things Woodley does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 15 buildings inside Woodley’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade II*.
1% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →15 listed buildings in Woodley.
Sandford Mill: Photo: Des Blenkinsopp · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Bull and Chequers: Photo: Dr Neil Clifton · CC BY-SA 2.0
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Woodley.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
1% of its homes were built before 1919, below Berkshire’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (16%) alike. Woodley counts 15 listed buildings on the national list (Historic England): 2 Grade II*. Listed buildings per head: 5 for every 10,000 residents of the town.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
At the town’s 7 primary schools, 68% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Of its 12 schools, three are shown below, each with the reason. Between them, eight primaries and two secondaries teach 5,555 pupils in Woodley.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Lake Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 443 | A− |
| The Bulmershe SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,530 | B+ |
| St Dominic Savio Catholic Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 420 | A+ |
12% of households are private tenants. Social housing holds 8% of households, below both Berkshire’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (18%). Private rents average £1,466 a month across the Wokingham council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £595,000 | 252 |
| Semi-detached | £460,000 | 381 |
| Terraced | £385,000 | 219 |
| Flat or maisonette | £245,000 | 156 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 3.3% of the town. 14% of residents have a disability, above Berkshire’s towns (13%) but below England’s towns (17%). 2 GP practices serve the town; 75% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Woodley | Berkshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 86% | 87% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.3% | 3.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 14% | 13% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · A young population flatters these answers, which are not age-adjusted; the Health Grade instead uses measures that allow for age, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Burglary and damage add up to 5.8 per 1,000 residents each year. Woodley logged 963 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 143 complaints of anti-social conduct. Violence and sexual offences were just over half of the crimes.
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 44% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
At the census, 44% of workers worked mainly from home. 16% of commuters who live in Woodley also work there. For every resident in work, Woodley has 0.4 jobs.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Degrees are held by 38% of adults, about level with Berkshire’s towns (40%) and above England’s towns (34%). Children under 15 count for 20% of the people here. Residents of Woodley have a median age of 41.6. 19% of residents have reached 65.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Woodley | Berkshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 20% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.5% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 26% | 29% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 19% | 15% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 13% | 14% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.4% | 4.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 38% | 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 Woodley. Best known first.
MuseumThe Museum Of Berkshire Aviationin town
Abbey or prioryAbbey Ruins3.1 km outside town, to the west
MuseumMuseum Of English Rural Life2.7 km outside town, to the west
Historic houseCaversham Park3.5 km outside town, to the northwest
MuseumThe Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology1.8 km outside town, to the west
MuseumReading Museum3.3 km outside town, to the westPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Large town in Berkshire, England
Woodley is a built-up area of 28,019 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
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woodley | 28,019 | — | A+ | A− | B+ | B+ |
| Sonning | 1,615 | 1 | — | B− | A | A− |
| Winnersh | 8,904 | 1.7 | A+ | B+ | B | B+ |
| Charvil | 3,158 | 1.8 | A+ | B− | A | A+ |
| Hurst | 1,009 | 2.1 | — | B− | A | A+ |
| Twyford | 8,072 | 2.4 | A+ | B+ | A− | A+ |
| Caversham | 33,038 | 3.4 | A | D | B+ | A |
| Reading | 203,789 | 3.4 | B− | C | C− | C+ |
Sonning and Hurst have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
GCSE results beat 84% of towns in England, and primary results beat 83% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £445,500, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £245,000, terraced houses £385,000, semi-detached houses £460,000 and detached houses £595,000. Household incomes are higher than in 89% of UK towns, so cost of living still grades A−.
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.
