Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Population 14,142: a town in Buckinghamshire, South East.
A good place to live, if you can afford it. Its best grade is for schools (A+): primary results beat 95% of towns in England; secondary results beat 99% of towns in England. Work and incomes are strong (A+): the mean household earns £81,902 a year. Buying in is costly: a typical home costs £950,000 and rent runs £1,475 a month. All told, that adds up to an A overall and a rank of #7 of 39 in Buckinghamshire. It comes out better than 92% of UK towns.
Figures: income, ONS · claimants, DWP · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
The 3 things Beaconsfield 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 Beaconsfield is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 153 buildings inside Beaconsfield’s built-up area, 6 of them Grade II*.
10% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 2 old photos and postcards going back to 1903.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Beaconsfield.
GCSE results at the town’s 2 secondary schools: just over three quarters of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 63.1. Three of its 6 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. Some 3,122 pupils attend Beaconsfield’s three primaries and two secondaries.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Butlers Court SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 419 | A |
| Beaconsfield High SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,283 | A+ |
| St Mary and All Saints CofE Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 353 | A− |
At the census, 3.1% of people here described their health as bad or very bad. 88% of Beaconsfield’s residents described their health as good or very good at the census, above both Buckinghamshire’s towns (86%) and England’s towns (82%). Men in Beaconsfield can expect to live to 81.8, women to 86.4 (2019–23). The nearest A&E to Beaconsfield is Wexham Park Hospital, 6.2 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Beaconsfield | Buckinghamshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 88% | 86% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.1% | 3.6% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 12% | 14% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Read these answers with age in mind: they aren’t adjusted, so younger places do better. The Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 57% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Jobs per working resident: 1.3. Working mainly from home: 57% of workers, above both Buckinghamshire’s towns (39%) and England’s towns (31%). 23% of commuters went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport at the census. About 21% of its commuters stay in Beaconsfield for work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Social housing holds just over one in ten households. 16% rent privately, below Buckinghamshire’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (21%) alike. 618 standard sales inside Beaconsfield’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put the median at £950,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £1,338,750 | 318 |
| Semi-detached | £733,500 | 109 |
| Terraced | £627,500 | 68 |
| Flat or maisonette | £420,000 | 123 |
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.
Beaconsfield has 108 listed buildings for every 10,000 residents, above both Buckinghamshire’s towns (77) and England’s towns (39). Grade II* covers 6 of them. It has one registered historic park or garden.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
835 crimes and 86 reports of anti-social behaviour: that is what police recorded inside Beaconsfield’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026. For its size, Beaconsfield records less crime per resident than 71% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. Violence and sexual offences made up a third of the total.
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.
Beaconsfield has a median age of 45.1 years. Those 65 and older account for 21% of residents. Nearly a tenth of the population is aged 15 to 24, lower than both Buckinghamshire’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (12%). One measure of family life: 20% of residents are under 15.
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Beaconsfield | Buckinghamshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 20% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.3% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 21% | 27% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 21% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 10% | 15% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 3.4% | 4.8% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 12% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 55% | 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 Beaconsfield. Best known first.
Historic house · National TrustCliveden House4.5 km outside town, to the southwest
Historic houseHedsor House3.8 km outside town, to the southwest
MuseumStanley Spencer Gallery4.8 km outside town, to the southwest
MuseumAmersham Museum4.8 km outside town, to the northHistoric houseHistoric house · National TrustDorney Wood3.8 km outside town, to the southPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
153 listed buildings in Beaconsfield.
Hall Barn: Photo: Henry Taunt · Public domain · Africa House Burke Lodge: Photo: PentacleWiki · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Parish Church of St Mary and All Saints: Photo: Sealman · Public domain · The Old Hare Public House: Photo: No Swan So Fine · CC BY-SA 4.0
22 notable people were born in Beaconsfield.
Terry Pratchett: Luigi Novi, CC BY 3.0 · Sarah Brown: Andrew "Skuds" Skudder from UK, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Jonathan Wheatley: Liauzh, CC BY 4.0 · Chris Harris: steve lyon from los angeles, ca, usa, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Sam Gyimah: Chris McAndrew, CC BY 3.0 · Suzy Menkes: Myles Kalus Anak Jihem, CC BY-SA 4.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beaconsfield | 14,142 | — | A | C− | C+ | A |
| Seer Green | 2,582 | 2 | A+ | C− | A | A+ |
| Flackwell Heath and Wooburn Green | 12,438 | 2.5 | A− | C | B− | A |
| Bourne End | 7,166 | 3.3 | B | C | B | A |
| Chalfont St Giles | 4,707 | 3.5 | A+ | C− | A− | A+ |
| Chalfont St Peter | 13,654 | 3.9 | A− | C− | B | A− |
| Hazlemere | 20,006 | 3.9 | A | C | A− | A+ |
| Farnham Common and Farnham Royal | 6,711 | 4 | B+ | C | B− | B+ |
People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £950,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £420,000, terraced houses £627,500, semi-detached houses £733,500 and detached houses £1,338,750.
Among the strongest in England: GCSE results beat 99% of towns in England, and primary results beat 95% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
That is 4.4 times the typical UK town for its size.
Against all UK towns, most of them smaller, it grades C+.
Town in Buckinghamshire, England
Beaconsfield is a built-up area of 14,142 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.