Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
This village in Cambridgeshire, East of England has a population of 2,353.
Health outcomes beat most towns: life expectancy is 83 for men and 86.1 for women. It also does well on cost of living: a typical home costs £397,500 and rent runs £1,408 a month. Pupils here do less well than most: primary results beat 1% of towns in England; secondary results beat 41% of towns in England. Natural hazards weigh more here: one in ten homes face a high or medium risk of river or sea flooding. The rest of its grades are middling: B− for safety, B for jobs & income and B for walkability.
Figures: life expectancy and income, ONS · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · flood risk, Environment Agency · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · claimants, DWP · commuting, Census 2021. Bassingbourn has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
The 3 things Bassingbourn 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 Bassingbourn is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists them inside Bassingbourn’s built-up area, along with 1 scheduled monument.
13% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Bassingbourn.
At the census, 3.6% of people here described their health as bad or very bad. Bassingbourn has no GP practice of its own; the nearest is 2 miles away. 85% of people in Bassingbourn rate their own health good or very good. The nearest A&E to Bassingbourn is Addenbrooke's and the Rosie Hospitals, 10.5 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Bassingbourn | Cambridgeshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 85% | 84% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.6% | 4.4% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 16% | 16% | 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.
Some 978 pupils attend Bassingbourn’s one primary and one secondary. Its two schools are listed below. 38% of pupils at the one primary school within 3 km met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bassingbourn Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 326 | D− |
| Bassingbourn Village CollegeLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 652 | C+ |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Bassingbourn’s listed buildings include the Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul, Grade I. It has 51 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 1 Grade I. Also worth knowing: of the town’s land, 18% lies in conservation areas, above Cambridgeshire’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (7%) alike.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Owners make up nearly two thirds of households, above both Cambridgeshire’s towns (61%) and England’s towns (61%). Half of the 69 standard sales inside Bassingbourn’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £397,500.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £575,000 | 27 |
| Semi-detached | £382,500 | 26 |
| Terraced | £299,000 | 16 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 33% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
31% of commuters travelled under 5 km to work. The car took just over four in five commuters, higher than both Cambridgeshire’s towns (72%) and England’s towns (70%). Before tax, the average household brings in £70K a year. Work in town: 10% of resident commuters.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
There were 15.7 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), higher than both Cambridgeshire’s towns (8.7) and England’s towns (7.8). Reported offences in Bassingbourn came to 103 over twelve months to August 2026; nuisance and anti-social incidents added 53. Among the 1,541 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, Bassingbourn has more crime per resident than 73% of them. Of all the crimes, 68% were violence and sexual offences.
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.
Line up the people of Bassingbourn by age and the one in the middle is 40.5. Degrees are held by 37% of adults, near Cambridgeshire’s towns (37%) and higher than England’s towns (34%).
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Bassingbourn | Cambridgeshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 27% | 28% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 18% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 15% | 17% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 4.7% | 5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 37% | 37% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Cambridgeshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Bassingbourn. Best known first.
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bassingbourn | 2,353 | — | — | B+ | B− | A |
| Royston | 17,443 | 2.3 | A− | B− | B− | A |
| Meldreth | 1,823 | 2.7 | — | B | B− | B+ |
| Melbourn | 4,907 | 3.2 | A− | B+ | B | A− |
| Orwell | 1,147 | 4 | — | B− | A | A− |
| Ashwell | 1,982 | 5 | — | C− | A | A+ |
| Barrington | 1,184 | 5.1 | — | C+ | B | A |
| Foxton | 1,275 | 5.4 | — | C+ | B− | A+ |
Meldreth, Orwell, Ashwell, Barrington and Foxton have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
That is 8.9 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
Bassingbourn has 2 state schools; places are handled by Cambridgeshire council.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £397,500, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: terraced houses £299,000, semi-detached houses £382,500 and detached houses £575,000. Household incomes are higher than in 88% of UK towns, so cost of living still grades B+.
Village in Cambridgeshire, England
Bassingbourn is a built-up area of 2,353 people, in the South Cambridgeshire 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.