St Austell grades D− overall against UK towns: better than 5% of UK towns, and #25 of 35 in Cornwall. Its strongest subject is walkability (B): 16% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is cost of living (D): median sale £240,000, 5.2 years of area income; rent £1,000 a month.
Devon And Cornwall Police published 33 of the 36 months; rates are per year over the months published.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far St Austell is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Department for Education · GIAS, Key Stage 2 and GCSE resultsSee all 8 schools →
Safety
St Austell records more violent crime per resident than Cornwall’s towns or England’s towns, at 47.8 per 1,000 a year
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
For St Austell, that is above both Cornwall’s towns (25) and England’s towns (22). Homes see 15.6 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year. Police recorded 2,193 crimes inside St Austell’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 402 reports of anti-social behaviour.
47.8violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a yearDSafety Grade
Compared with UK towns its sizeLess crime per resident than 18% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people: more crime than most for its size. Context only, not part of the grade.
More crimeLess crime
Reports by type · Sep 2025 to Aug 2026
Violence & sexual1,135
Damage & arson265
Public order180
Shoplifting150
Other theft147
Other crime68
Drugs64
Burglary59
Anti-social402
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.
47.8
violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
15.6
burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
18.9
anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 (not graded)
data.police.uk street-level crime · points inside the ONS built-up-area boundary · OGL
Health
More people in St Austell live with a disability than in Cornwall’s towns or across England’s towns: 23%
St Austell sits above both Cornwall’s towns (22%) and England’s towns (17%) on this measure. Women here live to 82.6 on average and men to 78.1 (2019–23). These answers aren’t adjusted for age, so young towns look healthier; the Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
Who lives here
Fewer people in St Austell hold a degree than in Cornwall’s towns or England’s towns: 24%
That puts St Austell below both Cornwall’s towns (30%) and England’s towns (34%). People 65 and over make up 23% of the town. Half the people of St Austell are older than 45.
45median age
St AustellCornwallEngland
Ages · share of residents
23%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications18%
Apprenticeship7%
A levels or similar19%
Degree level24%
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
WomenEnglandMen
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
ONS Census 2021 · Cornwall and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
History
103 listed buildings, 1 of them Grade I
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
St Austell has 103 listed buildings inside its built-up area on Historic England’s list: 1 Grade I, 6 Grade II*. 16% of its homes were built before 1919.
John Nettles: Jersey Tourism, CC BY 2.0 · John Colenso: Unknown photographer, Public domain · Steve Baker: Chris McAndrew, CC BY 3.0 · Mike Elliott: nabtifal, CC BY 2.0 · Steve Double: Chris McAndrew, CC BY 3.0
Carlyon Bay, Trewoon, Penwithick, Polgooth and Foxhole have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Questions about St Austell
Is St Austell safe?
It has more crime per resident than most places its size: 82% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people report less. Police recorded 2,193 crimes inside St Austell’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 52% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
Does St Austell flood?
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
About St Austell
Large town in Cornwall, England
St Austell is a built-up area of 24,361 people, in the Cornwall 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
Population
24,361 (Census 2021)
Council
Cornwall
County
Cornwall
Region
South West
Area
2.6 sq mi (6.8 km²)
ONS code
E63006956
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.
