Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
17,377 residents make their home in this town in Buckinghamshire, South East.
Amersham does the important things well, at a cost. Schools are its strong suit: primary results beat 98% of towns in England; secondary results beat 99% of towns in England. Homes are dear: homes sell for a median £712,500, about 10.2 times local household income. All told, that adds up to an A+ overall and a rank of #4 of 39 in Buckinghamshire. On that grade it does better than 97% of UK towns. The rest of its grades are middling: B for safety and B for hazard risk.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · flood risk, Environment Agency.
The 3 things Amersham 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 Amersham is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 200 buildings inside Amersham’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
11% 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 Amersham.
Dr Challoner's Grammar School’s results beat nearly every one of schools in England like it. Some 4,011 pupils attend Amersham’s seven primaries and two secondaries. Three of its 11 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. GCSE results at the town’s 2 secondary schools: 83% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 64.3.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Mary's CofE Primary School, AmershamLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 303 | B+ |
| Dr Challoner's Grammar SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,384 | A+ |
| Elangeni SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 240 | A+ |
12% of residents have a disability, lower than both Buckinghamshire’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (17%). Self-reported good health: 89% of Amersham’s residents. The nearest A&E to Amersham is Watford General Hospital, 8.7 miles away. At the census, 2.8% of people here described their health as bad or very bad.
| Census 2021 | Amersham | Buckinghamshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 89% | 86% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 2.8% | 3.6% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 12% | 14% | 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.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 54% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
A third of commuters travelled under 5 km, lower than both Buckinghamshire’s towns (40%) and England’s towns (45%). At the census, 54% of workers worked mainly from home. About 22% of its commuters stay in Amersham for work. For every resident in work, Amersham has 1.1 jobs.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The social rented sector houses just over one in ten households. Private renters make up 15% of households, below Buckinghamshire’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (21%) alike. Also worth knowing: the £712,500 median rests on 619 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £1,050,000 | 221 |
| Semi-detached | £735,000 | 152 |
| Terraced | £562,500 | 101 |
| Flat or maisonette | £326,000 | 145 |
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.
For its size, Amersham has 115 listed buildings per 10,000 residents, above both Buckinghamshire’s towns (77) and England’s towns (39). Its listed buildings include the Church of St Mary, Grade I. Grade II* covers 8 of them, Grade I 1.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Violence and sexual offences accounted for two fifths of recorded crime. The 12 months to August 2026 brought 756 recorded crimes inside Amersham’s built-up area, and 97 reports of anti-social behaviour. Each year, 9.7 burglaries and acts of damage are recorded per 1,000 residents.
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.
Under 15: 20% of residents. People aged 15 to 24 make up 9.1% of the town, below both Buckinghamshire’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (12%). Just over a fifth of residents are 65 or over. Ages in Amersham split evenly at 44.5: half are older, half younger.
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Amersham | Buckinghamshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 20% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.1% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 22% | 27% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 21% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 9.3% | 15% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 2.9% | 4.8% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 13% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 56% | 39% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Buckinghamshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Amersham. Best known first.
MuseumAmersham Museumin town
MuseumChesham Museum1.4 km outside town, to the north
Historic houseLatimer House1.9 km outside town, to the east
Historic houseChenies Manor3.3 km outside town, to the east
MuseumChiltern Open Air Museum3.8 km outside town, to the southeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
200 listed buildings in Amersham, 1 of them Grade I.
Church of St Mary: Photo: UKgeofan · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Market Hall: Photo: Nigel Cox · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Elmodesham House: Photo: No Swan So Fine · CC BY-SA 4.0 · The Old Forge: Photo: No Swan So Fine · CC BY-SA 4.0
7 notable people were born in Amersham.
Mervyn King: ©House of Lords / photography by Roger Harris, CC BY 3.0 · Peter Scawen Watkinson Roberts: 1wacs, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amersham | 17,377 | — | A+ | C− | B | A+ |
| Little Chalfont | 6,506 | 1.7 | A | C− | B− | A+ |
| Chesham | 23,691 | 2.4 | B | C+ | C+ | B− |
| Hyde Heath | 1,048 | 2.5 | — | C− | A | A+ |
| Chalfont St Giles | 4,707 | 3.3 | A+ | C− | A− | A+ |
| Seer Green | 2,582 | 4 | A+ | C− | A | A+ |
| Bovingdon | 5,313 | 4.3 | A | D | B | A |
| South Heath | 1,278 | 4.3 | — | C− | A | A+ |
Hyde Heath and South Heath 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 £712,500, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £326,000, terraced houses £562,500, semi-detached houses £735,000 and detached houses £1,050,000.
Among the strongest in England: GCSE results beat 99% of towns in England, and primary results beat 98% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
That is 4.7 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of St Mary.
Town in Buckinghamshire, England
Amersham is a built-up area of 17,377 people, in the Buckinghamshire 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.