Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 2,720 in Devon, South West.
Buckfastleigh grades C− overall against UK towns: better than 21% of UK towns, and #32 of 47 in Devon. Its strongest subject is walkability (B): 17% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is jobs & income (D): mean household income £49,262; 3% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. The median home sold for £220,000 in the last three years, 4.2 times what households in the Teignbridge council area earn in a year.
Devon And Cornwall Police published 33 of the 36 months; rates are per year over the months published.
The 2 things Buckfastleigh 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 Buckfastleigh is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 83 buildings inside Buckfastleigh’s built-up area, 4 of them Grade II*, and 1 scheduled monument.
32% 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 Buckfastleigh. Best known first.
Abbey or prioryBuckfast Abbey500 m outside town, to the north
Heritage railwaySouth Devon Railway3.7 km outside town, to the southeast
CastleHembury Castle1.6 km outside town, to the northwestMuseumMuseumPengelly Trust Museumin townMuseumMuseumThe Valliant Soldier Museum & Heritage Centrein 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 Buckfastleigh.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
That puts Buckfastleigh above both Devon’s towns (104) and England’s towns (39). Buckfastleigh has 83 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 0 Grade I, 4 Grade II*. Homes from before 1919 make up 32% of the total.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buckfastleigh Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 112 | C− |
On this, Buckfastleigh is above both Devon’s towns (21.4) and England’s towns (22). Police recorded 177 crimes inside Buckfastleigh’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 14 reports of anti-social behaviour. Burglary and damage come to 11.1 per 1,000 residents 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 Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 26% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
In the comparison, Buckfastleigh comes below both Devon’s towns (51%) and England’s towns (45%). The car carried 81% of commuters at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
For Buckfastleigh, that is above both Devon’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (17%). The nearest A&E to Buckfastleigh is Torbay Hospital, 10.1 miles away. 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.
| Census 2021 | Buckfastleigh | Devon | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 79% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.4% | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 22% | 21% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
Buckfastleigh sits above both Devon’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (18%) on this measure. Owners make up 56% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £375,000 | 22 |
| Semi-detached | £250,000 | 11 |
| Terraced | £204,500 | 54 |
| Flat or maisonette | £130,000 | 7 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Children under 15 make up 18%, above Devon’s towns (15%) and close to England’s towns (18%). Over-65s are 22% of the population. The median resident of Buckfastleigh is 45.5 years old.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Buckfastleigh | Devon | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 15% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 21% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 22% | 24% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 18% | 17% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.7% | 6.6% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 33% | 30% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Devon and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
83 listed buildings in Buckfastleigh.
26-29, Chapel Street: Photo: Chris Allen · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The King's Arms Public House: Photo: Trish Steel · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Dart Bridge: Photo: Mike Faherty · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph · The Valiant Soldier, Including Rear Wing: Photo: Adrian Platt · CC BY-SA 2.0
3 notable people were born in Buckfastleigh.
Bryony Frost: Kate Tann - Carine06, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buckfastleigh | 2,720 | — | C− | B | C− | C+ |
| Ashburton | 3,368 | 3 | C+ | C+ | C+ | C+ |
| South Brent | 2,643 | 4.3 | B− | B− | B− | B+ |
| Totnes | 9,217 | 5.5 | C+ | C− | C | C+ |
| Denbury | 1,482 | 5.7 | — | C− | C | B |
| Ipplepen | 2,150 | 6.3 | — | C | A | A− |
| Coldeast | 1,186 | 7.4 | — | C− | A | B |
| Abbotskerswell | 1,182 | 7.6 | — | C | A+ | B+ |
Denbury, Ipplepen, Coldeast and Abbotskerswell have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 12.5 times the typical UK town for its size. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
It has more crime per resident than most places its size: 85% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people report less. Police recorded 177 crimes inside Buckfastleigh’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 56% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking. Burglary was rare, with 4 reports in the year.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Band D council tax in Buckfastleigh is £2,669 for 2026–27, more than in 93% 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.
Town in Devon, England
Buckfastleigh is a built-up area of 2,720 people, in the Teignbridge 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.