Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
This city in Buckinghamshire, South East has a population of 197,328.
Crime is the sore point (D): 46.3 violent and sexual offences and 19.3 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Only just over a third of UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more have more crime per resident. Getting around on foot or by bus is easy: nearly a fifth of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. The median home sold for £349,000, 5.6 times what households in the Milton Keynes council area earn in a year. Put together, the subjects come to a C+ overall, better than 38% of UK towns. Elsewhere it is close to typical: B for schools, B− for jobs & income and B− for hazard risk.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · incomes, ONS · claimants, DWP · flood risk, Environment Agency.
The 3 things Milton Keynes 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 Milton Keynes is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 353 buildings inside Milton Keynes’s built-up area, 5 of them Grade I, and 14 scheduled monuments.
4% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Milton Keynes. Best known first.
MuseumMilton Keynes Museumin town
Art galleryMK Galleryin town
MuseumBletchley Park1.6 km outside town, to the southMuseumMuseumBrickzin townMuseumMuseumMilton Keynes City Discovery Centrein townAttractionAttractionMilton Keynes Theatrein townPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Milton Keynes.
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
43% of the crimes fell under violence and sexual offences. Reported offences in Milton Keynes came to 20,017 over twelve months to August 2026; nuisance and anti-social incidents added 2,208. There were 10.4 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), above both Buckinghamshire’s towns (4) and England’s towns (7.8).
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.
Key Stage 2 results at the town’s 41 primary schools: 64% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Middleton Primary School’s results beat nearly every one of schools in England like it. Three of its 75 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. Between them, 58 primaries and 12 secondaries teach 36,960 pupils in Milton Keynes.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklands Farm Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 1,320 | A− |
| Walton HighLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 2,969 | C+ |
| Middleton Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 629 | A+ |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 37% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Household income came to £63K a year before tax, between Buckinghamshire’s towns (£72K) and England’s towns (£55K). Milton Keynes counts 1.5 jobs per working resident.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
16 GP practices serve the town; 71% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. Men in Milton Keynes can expect to live to 78.9, women to 82.7 (2019–23). 14% of residents have a disability, about level with Buckinghamshire’s towns (14%) and below England’s towns (17%).
| Census 2021 | Milton Keynes | Buckinghamshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 85% | 86% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.1% | 3.6% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 14% | 14% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Young towns look healthier on these answers, which aren’t adjusted for age; the Health Grade uses measures that are, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Grade II* covers 27 of them, Grade I 5. Milton Keynes’s listed buildings include the Chapel to North of Bradwell Abbey House, Grade I. Per 10,000 residents, Milton Keynes counts 18 listed buildings, below both Buckinghamshire’s towns (78) and England’s towns (39). 4% of homes were built before 1919.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Social housing holds a fifth of households, higher than both Buckinghamshire’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (18%). Renting privately is how nearly a quarter of households live. Behind the median of £349,000: 6,513 standard sales inside Milton Keynes’s built-up area, September 2023 to August 2026.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £520,885 | 2,163 |
| Semi-detached | £345,000 | 1,719 |
| Terraced | £285,500 | 1,593 |
| Flat or maisonette | £185,000 | 1,038 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
21% are under 15, higher than both Buckinghamshire’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (18%). The age that splits Milton Keynes in two is 36.7. The 15-to-24 age group makes up just over one in ten residents.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Milton Keynes | Buckinghamshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 21% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 31% | 27% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 25% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 12% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 15% | 15% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 4.3% | 4.8% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 15% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 37% | 39% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Buckinghamshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
353 listed buildings in Milton Keynes, 5 of them Grade I.
Chapel to North of Bradwell Abbey House: Photo: Bogbumper · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Railway Bridge (171C) Grand Union Canal: Photo: Steve Clarridge · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Motte and bailey castle, deserted village and monastic grange at Old Wolverton: Photo: Steve Clarridge · CC BY-SA 4.0 · The Plough Inn: Photo: Steve Clarridge · CC BY-SA 4.0
62 notable people were born in Milton Keynes.
Dele Alli: Steffen Prößdorf, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ben Chilwell: Дмитрий Пукалик, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Antonee Robinson: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Greg Rutherford: Tab59 from Düsseldorf, Allemagne, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Leah Williamson: Ryanasman1, CC BY-SA 4.0 · George Williams: Jon Candy from Cardiff, Wales, CC BY-SA 2.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milton Keynes | 197,328 | — | C+ | B− | D | C |
| Bletchley | 45,018 | 3.3 | C− | B− | D | C− |
| Newport Pagnell | 15,250 | 3.6 | B | B− | B− | B |
| Newton Longville | 1,877 | 4.4 | — | B− | A− | A |
| Old Stratford | 2,427 | 4.8 | — | C | A | B+ |
| Woburn Sands | 4,315 | 4.8 | B+ | C | B+ | A− |
| Castlethorpe | 1,112 | 4.9 | — | C+ | B+ | A− |
| Aspley Guise | 2,114 | 5.5 | — | C+ | B+ | A− |
Newton Longville, Old Stratford, Castlethorpe and Aspley Guise have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
A young city. At the 2021 Census, 21% of residents were under 15 and 31% were 25 to 44, against 18% and 27% across England’s towns; only 12% were 65 or over.
About the middle for its size: 65% of the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more report less crime per resident. Against all UK towns, most of them far smaller, it grades D.
Its Grade I buildings include Chapel to North of Bradwell Abbey House. It also has 14 scheduled monuments.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £349,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £185,000, terraced houses £285,500, semi-detached houses £345,000 and detached houses £520,885. Household incomes are higher than in 76% of UK towns, so cost of living still grades B−.
City in Buckinghamshire, England
Milton Keynes is a built-up area of 197,328 people, in the Milton Keynes 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.