Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Walking, cycling and public transport carry 14% of commuters. It is a town of 2,898 residents in Cambridgeshire, East of England.
Where it does best is safety: 10.8 violent or sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, plus 4.6 home and vehicle crimes. It is strong on jobs & income as well — the mean household earns £67,338 a year. A median £427,500 buys a home here, 5.9 times what households in the South Cambridgeshire council area earn in a year. Hazard risk is higher than most (C): 0.9% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. Overall, that makes an A+, better than 98% of UK towns. In the ranking it comes #7 of 50 in Cambridgeshire. The rest of its grades are middling: B for schools and B− for walkability.
Figures: crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · income, ONS · claimants, DWP · flood risk, Environment Agency · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · commuting, Census 2021.
The 3 things Over 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 Over is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 36 buildings inside Over’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
12% 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 Over.
Police figures for Over’s built-up area: 61 crimes and 28 anti-social behaviour reports in the 12 months to August 2026. Violence and sexual offences made up 64% of the total. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 10.6 reports per 1,000, higher than both Cambridgeshire’s towns (8.7) 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.
There is one school here; it is shown below. Attainment 8 at the one secondary school within 3 km averages 55.7, and 59% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths. At the 6 primary schools within 3 km, 58% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Over Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 196 | D− |
Asked at the census, 86% of residents of Over said they were in good or very good health. At the census, 13% of people here had a disability, below both Cambridgeshire’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (17%). The nearest A&E to Over is Hinchingbrooke Hospital, 9.5 miles away. One GP practice serves the town; 91% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Over | Cambridgeshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 86% | 84% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3% | 4.4% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 13% | 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.
84% of households are owner-occupiers. Social housing holds 7% of households, below Cambridgeshire’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. Private rents average £1,408 a month across the South Cambridgeshire council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £550,000 | 87 |
| Semi-detached | £340,000 | 51 |
| Terraced | £267,000 | 15 |
| Flat or maisonette | £140,000 | 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.
Over’s listed buildings include the Church of St Mary, Grade I. Scaled to its population, that is 124 listed buildings for every 10,000 people locally. Also worth knowing: homes from before 1919 make up 12% of the total, about level with Cambridgeshire’s towns (12%) and below England’s towns (16%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 43% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
43% of workers worked mainly from home at the census. Unemployment benefit claims came to 1.6% of 16 to 64s in 2026, lower than both Cambridgeshire’s towns (2.1%) and England’s towns (2.3%). There are 0.6 jobs in Over for each resident in work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
43% of adults hold a degree, higher than both Cambridgeshire’s towns (37%) and England’s towns (34%). The share aged 15 to 24 is 9.7%. Half the people of Over are older than 47.5.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Over | Cambridgeshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.7% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 19% | 28% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 30% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 23% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 11% | 17% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6% | 5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 43% | 37% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Cambridgeshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
36 listed buildings in Over, 1 of them Grade I.
Baptist Church: Photo: Hugh Venables · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Poplar Farm Inn: Photo: Philip Talmage · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Glywood: Photo: Keith Edkins · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Over War Memorial: Photo: Hugh Venables · 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Over | 2,898 | — | A+ | B+ | A | A− |
| Swavesey | 2,739 | 1.6 | A | A− | C+ | A− |
| Willingham | 3,912 | 1.7 | A− | A− | B− | B+ |
| Needingworth | 2,059 | 2.4 | — | A− | A− | A |
| Longstanton and Northstowe | 5,278 | 2.6 | A− | A− | C− | B+ |
| Bluntisham and Colne | 2,790 | 3 | A | A− | A | A− |
| Earith | 1,656 | 3 | — | A | B+ | A− |
| Fenstanton | 3,015 | 3.7 | B+ | A− | C+ | A |
Needingworth and Earith have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 5.1 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of St Mary.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £427,500, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £140,000, terraced houses £267,000, semi-detached houses £340,000 and detached houses £550,000.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Town in Cambridgeshire, England
Over is a built-up area of 2,898 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.