Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A village in Cambridgeshire, East of England, home to 668 people.
Towns under 1,000 residents aren’t graded, so Heathfield has no grades; its figures are still real. Just 5% of residents are 65 or older. One in ten commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. It has 35 listed buildings, 0 of them Grade I.
The 3 things Heathfield does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists them inside Heathfield’s built-up area.
11% 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 Heathfield. Best known first.
MuseumIWM Duxfordin town · 401K visitors a year (2019)
MuseumAirborne Assaultin town
MuseumAmerican Air Museumin townMuseumMuseumBritish Airliner Collectionin townMuseumMuseumRoyal Anglian Regiment Museumin townHistoric siteHistoric siteAirspeed Ambassadorin 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 Heathfield.
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.
88% of commuters drove, above both Cambridgeshire’s towns (72%) and England’s towns (70%). The average household earns £73K a year before tax. Unemployment benefit claims reached 0.8% of 16 to 64s in 2026.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
1% of households live in social housing. At the median, a home went for £288K, below both Cambridgeshire’s towns (£352K) and England’s towns (£308K). Private rents average £1,408 a month across the South Cambridgeshire council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Semi-detached | £320,000 | 8 |
| Terraced | £280,000 | 21 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Homes saw 6.5 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year, lower than both Cambridgeshire’s towns (9.1) and England’s towns (9.4). Violence and sexual offences made up 50% 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.
Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 3% of the town. 88% of Heathfield’s residents described their health as good or very good at the census, above both Cambridgeshire’s towns (84%) and England’s towns (82%). Seeing a GP means leaving Heathfield: the nearest practice is 2.5 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Heathfield | Cambridgeshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 88% | 84% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3% | 4.4% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 11% | 16% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Census health answers are raw, so younger towns score better on them; for the Health Grade we use age-adjusted figures like 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.
Heathfield counts 35 listed buildings on the national list (Historic England): 5 Grade II*. Conservation areas cover 85% of the town’s land, above Cambridgeshire’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (7%) alike. Homes from before 1919 make up 11% of the total.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Residents of Heathfield have a median age of 36.1. Degrees are held by 43% of adults, above both Cambridgeshire’s towns (37%) and England’s towns (34%). Under-15s account for 18% of the population.
48% women, 52% men
About 108 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Heathfield | Cambridgeshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 37% | 28% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 4.6% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 5.2% | 17% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.2% | 5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 22% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 43% | 37% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Cambridgeshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heathfield | 668 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Duxford | 2,216 | 1.5 | — | B− | A | A+ |
| Whittlesford | 1,608 | 1.5 | — | B− | B+ | A+ |
| Fowlmere | 1,295 | 1.9 | — | B− | B+ | A |
| Foxton | 1,275 | 2.9 | — | C+ | B− | A+ |
| Sawston | 7,270 | 3 | A− | B+ | B | B− |
| Harston | 1,827 | 3.7 | — | B− | B | A+ |
| Hauxton | 1,322 | 3.9 | — | B− | A | A+ |
Duxford, Whittlesford, Fowlmere, Foxton, Harston and Hauxton have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
A young village. At the 2021 Census, 18% of residents were under 15 and 37% were 25 to 44, against 18% and 27% across England’s towns; only 4.6% were 65 or over.
That is 21.5 times the typical UK town for its size.
Band D council tax in Heathfield is £2,516 for 2026–27, more than in 68% of UK towns (council, county, police and fire, plus the parish or town council). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
Village in Cambridgeshire, England
Heathfield is a built-up area of 668 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.