Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Some 2,566 people live in this town, in Cambridgeshire, East of England.
Fordham’s strongest is schools: primary results beat just over four in five towns in England; secondary results beat 83% of towns in England. With a B+ overall, Fordham sits #27 of 50 in Cambridgeshire. Nationally, it does better than 75% of UK towns. The trade-off is walkability (C−): 9% of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. Homes sell for a median £383,225, about 6.3 years of what households in the East Cambridgeshire council area earn. Its remaining grades are unremarkable: B− for safety, B for health and B− for jobs & income.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · incomes and life expectancy, ONS · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · claimants, DWP.
The 3 things Fordham 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 Fordham is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 23 buildings inside Fordham’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
18% 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 Fordham.
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.
Household income averages £60K a year before tax. 89% of commuters drove, above Cambridgeshire’s towns (72%) and England’s towns (70%) alike. For every resident in work, Fordham has 2.2 jobs. About 8% of its commuters stay in Fordham for work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
67% of households own their home, above both Cambridgeshire’s towns (61%) and England’s towns (61%). 118 standard sales inside Fordham’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put the median at £383,225. Private rents average £1,038 a month across the East Cambridgeshire council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £487,475 | 70 |
| Semi-detached | £295,000 | 36 |
| Terraced | £312,000 | 11 |
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.
Fordham’s listed buildings include the Parish Church of St Peters, Grade I. 18% of homes date from before 1919. Scaled to its population, Fordham has 90 listed buildings per 10,000 people, higher than both Cambridgeshire’s towns (82) and England’s towns (39).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Seeing a GP means leaving Fordham: the nearest practice is 2.6 miles away. The nearest A&E to Fordham is Addenbrooke's and the Rosie Hospitals, 14.1 miles away. 84% of the town’s residents described their health as good or very good at the census, about level with Cambridgeshire’s towns (84%) and above England’s towns (82%).
| Census 2021 | Fordham | Cambridgeshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 84% | 84% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.8% | 4.4% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 16% | 16% | 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.
Fordham logged 140 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 18 complaints of anti-social conduct. Property crime (burglary and damage) runs at 11.2 per 1,000 residents a year. Of all the crimes, 41% 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.
People 65 and over make up just over a fifth of the town, higher than both Cambridgeshire’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (18%). Under-15s account for 19% of the population. Ages in Fordham split evenly at 44.5: half are older, half younger. Graduates make up 33% of adults.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Fordham | Cambridgeshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.7% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 23% | 28% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 21% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 18% | 17% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 8.3% | 5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 33% | 37% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Cambridgeshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
23 listed buildings in Fordham, 1 of them Grade I.
The Crown: Photo: Keith Edkins · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Fordham War Memorial: Photo: Charles Matthews · 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fordham | 2,566 | — | B+ | B+ | B− | B |
| Isleham | 2,287 | 2.4 | — | B+ | B+ | B+ |
| Soham | 10,609 | 2.9 | B+ | A | B− | C+ |
| Exning | 2,049 | 3.3 | — | D | C | B |
| Burwell | 5,912 | 3.5 | A+ | B+ | B+ | A |
| Newmarket | 18,857 | 4.4 | B− | B− | C− | B− |
| Red Lodge | 5,771 | 4.5 | C+ | B− | C | A− |
| Kentford | 1,124 | 5.3 | — | C− | B | A− |
Isleham, Exning and Kentford have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 3.7 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Parish Church of St Peters.
GCSE results beat 83% of towns in England, and primary results beat 81% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). Places are handled by Cambridgeshire council.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £383,225, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: terraced houses £312,000, semi-detached houses £295,000 and detached houses £487,475. Household incomes are higher than in 68% of UK towns, so cost of living still grades B+.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Town in Cambridgeshire, England
Fordham is a built-up area of 2,566 people, in the East 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.
