Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Secondary school results beat 94% of towns in England. With 4,150 residents, it is a town in Cambridgeshire, East of England.
A town without an obvious weak point. Its strongest subject is health — life expectancy 84.6 for men, 88.8 for women. It takes 5.8 years of household income in the South Cambridgeshire council area to buy the median home, at £420,250. Walkability is another plus: on the way to work, 32% walk, cycle or take a bus or train. Overall, that makes an A+, better than almost every UK town. In the ranking it comes #4 of 50 in Cambridgeshire. Its remaining grades are unremarkable: B for safety and B for hazard risk.
Figures: life expectancy and incomes, ONS · commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · flood risk, Environment Agency.
The 3 things Milton 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 is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 16 buildings inside Milton’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade II*.
3% 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. Best known first.
MuseumMuseum of Zoology4.4 km outside town, to the southwest · 139K visitors a year (2023)
CastleCambridge Castle3.9 km outside town, to the southwest
Abbey or priory · National TrustAnglesey Abbey4.7 km outside town, to the east
Art galleryKettle's Yard Gallery4.1 km outside town, to the southwest
MuseumWhipple Museum of the History Of Science4.5 km outside town, to the southwestPhotos: 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.
Young adults of 15 to 24 account for 8.8% of the town. Half the people of Milton are older than 41.5. Over-65s are 17% of the population.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Milton | Cambridgeshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.8% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 31% | 28% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 17% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 10% | 17% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 4.6% | 5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 11% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 56% | 37% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Cambridgeshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
The town has one school, shown below. 60% of pupils at the 13 primary schools within 3 km met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Its one primary school teaches 270 pupils.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milton Church of England Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 270 | B+ |
At the census, 2.8% of people here described their health as bad or very bad; what’s more, 13% of residents have a disability, below Cambridgeshire’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (17%) alike. Asked at the census, 88% of residents of Milton said they were in good or very good health. One GP practice serves the town; 76% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Milton | Cambridgeshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 88% | 84% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 2.8% | 4.4% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 13% | 16% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · These shares come straight from the census, without allowing for age, and young towns benefit; the Health Grade instead weighs age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 54% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
The 2026 claimant rate among 16 to 64s was 2.5%. 54% of workers worked mainly from home, above both Cambridgeshire’s towns (34%) and England’s towns (31%). There are 6 jobs in Milton for each resident in work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
The pre-1919 share of homes is 3%. Grade II* covers 2 of them. Listed buildings per head: 39 for every 10,000 residents of Milton.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
7% live in social housing, below Cambridgeshire’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. Private rents average £1,408 a month across the South Cambridgeshire council area. From September 2023 to August 2026, 156 homes sold inside Milton’s built-up area at standard prices; the middle one went for £420,250.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £532,500 | 67 |
| Semi-detached | £404,000 | 35 |
| Terraced | £330,000 | 43 |
| Flat or maisonette | £210,000 | 11 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Violent crime comes to 15.7 per 1,000 residents a year. 302 crimes and 70 reports of anti-social behaviour: that is what police recorded inside Milton’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 22.4 reports per 1,000, higher than both Cambridgeshire’s towns (8.7) and England’s towns (7.8). Violence and sexual offences were just over a fifth of the crimes.
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.
16 listed buildings in Milton.
Milton House: Photo: John Sutton · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Lion and Lamb Public House: Photo: Keith Edkins · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Milton War Memorial: Photo: Hugh Venables · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 32, Fen Road: Photo: John Sutton · 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 | 4,150 | — | A+ | B+ | B | A+ |
| Histon and Impington | 7,781 | 2.2 | A+ | B | B | B+ |
| Waterbeach | 5,375 | 2.4 | A− | A− | C+ | B |
| Cambridge | 152,742 | 2.9 | B+ | C− | C− | B+ |
| Girton | 4,384 | 3.2 | A+ | C+ | A | A+ |
| Cottenham | 6,156 | 3.4 | A | B+ | B− | B |
| Oakington | 1,494 | 3.9 | — | A− | A | B+ |
| Bottisham | 1,990 | 4.5 | — | B− | A− | B |
Oakington and Bottisham have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
At the 2021 Census, 8.8% of Milton’s 4,150 residents were 15 to 24 and 17% were 65 or over, against 12% and 18% across England’s towns.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £420,250, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £210,000, terraced houses £330,000, semi-detached houses £404,000 and detached houses £532,500. Household incomes are higher than in 96% of UK towns, so cost of living still grades B+.
Primary results are closer to the middle, trailing 58%. One state school is inside the town; places are handled by Cambridgeshire council.
Town in Cambridgeshire, England
Milton is a built-up area of 4,150 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.