Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
This town in Cambridgeshire, East of England has a population of 3,821. Only 10% of residents are 65 or over.
Papworth Everard’s strongest is cost of living — the median home sold for £331,000, 4.6 years of area income. The town’s overall grade, B+, puts it better than 72% of UK towns. The ranking puts it #28 of 50 in Cambridgeshire. Jobs and pay hold up well (A−): the mean household earns £76,460 a year. Pupils here do less well than most: primary results beat 14% of towns in England. Walkability is weaker too: just over one in ten commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its remaining grades are unremarkable: B for safety and C+ for hazard risk.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · income, ONS · claimants, DWP · commuting, Census 2021 · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · flood risk, Environment Agency.
The 3 things Papworth Everard 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 Papworth Everard is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 6 buildings inside Papworth Everard’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade II*, and 1 scheduled monument.
4% 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 Papworth Everard.
Key Stage 2 results at the 3 primary schools within 3 km: 53% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). There is one school here; it is shown below. 290 pupils attend Papworth Everard’s one primary school.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pendragon Community Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 290 | C− |
Social housing holds a quarter of households. Private rents average £1,408 a month across the South Cambridgeshire council area. The median sale, £331,000, comes from 150 standard sales inside Papworth Everard’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £495,000 | 55 |
| Semi-detached | £325,000 | 21 |
| Terraced | £287,500 | 48 |
| Flat or maisonette | £182,500 | 26 |
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.
Relative to its size, Papworth Everard keeps 16 listed buildings per 10,000 residents. 4% of its homes were built before 1919, below both Cambridgeshire’s towns (12%) and England’s towns (16%). The national list protects one ancient monument in the town.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The nearest A&E to Papworth Everard is Hinchingbrooke Hospital, 6.8 miles away. 86% of the town’s residents described their health as good or very good at the census, above Cambridgeshire’s towns (84%) and England’s towns (82%) alike. Life expectancy here is 85.2 for women and 82.6 for men (2019–23). One GP practice serves the town; nine in ten patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Papworth Everard | Cambridgeshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 86% | 84% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.5% | 4.4% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 15% | 16% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Self-reported health favours young towns, since these answers ignore age; the Health Grade leans on age-adjusted measures such as life expectancy and early deaths.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 42% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
At the census, 86% of commuters went by car. 1.3% of 16 to 64s claimed unemployment benefits in 2026, below Cambridgeshire’s towns (2.1%) and England’s towns (2.3%) alike. Of the commuters living in Papworth Everard, 8% work in the town itself. For every resident in work, Papworth Everard has 0.5 jobs.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The 12 months to August 2026 brought 145 recorded crimes inside Papworth Everard’s built-up area, and 30 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences were 45% of the crimes. Per 1,000 residents, 10.2 burglaries and acts of damage are recorded a year.
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.
Young adults of 15 to 24 are 10% of the population. Line up the people of Papworth Everard by age and the one in the middle is 38.1. People 65 and over make up a tenth of the town. 46% of adults hold a degree, higher than both Cambridgeshire’s towns (37%) and England’s towns (34%).
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Papworth Everard | Cambridgeshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 21% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 29% | 28% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 10% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 10% | 17% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 4.2% | 5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 46% | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Papworth Everard | 3,821 | — | B+ | A | B | B+ |
| Hilton | 1,052 | 2.1 | — | B | A+ | A+ |
| Cambourne | 11,071 | 3.2 | A+ | B+ | B− | A |
| Fenstanton | 3,015 | 4 | B+ | A− | C+ | A |
| Hemingford Grey | 3,372 | 4.6 | A+ | A− | A | A |
| Offord D'Arcy and Offord Cluny | 1,385 | 4.6 | — | A | A− | B |
| Great Paxton | 1,003 | 4.7 | — | A− | A+ | B+ |
| Highfields Caldecote | 2,049 | 4.9 | — | B− | A− | A+ |
Hilton, Offord D'Arcy and Offord Cluny, Great Paxton and Highfields Caldecote have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Primary results trail 86% of towns in England (Department for Education, Key Stage 2). One state school is inside the town; places are handled by Cambridgeshire council.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £331,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £182,500, terraced houses £287,500, semi-detached houses £325,000 and detached houses £495,000. Household incomes are higher than in 96% of UK towns, so cost of living still grades A.
Town in Cambridgeshire, England
Papworth Everard is a built-up area of 3,821 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.