Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 6,043 in Devon, South West.
Ottery St Mary grades A− overall against UK towns: better than 78% of UK towns, and #2 of 47 in Devon. Its strongest subject is health (A+): life expectancy 83.4 for men, 87.8 for women. Its weakest is hazard risk (D): 7.9% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. The median home sold for £330,000 in the last three years, 6.2 times what households in the East Devon 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 3 things Ottery St Mary 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 Ottery St Mary is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 49 buildings inside Ottery St Mary’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
19% 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 Ottery St Mary.
Women here live to 87.8 on average and men to 83.4 (2019–23). At the census, 4.2% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, below both Devon’s towns (5.9%) and England’s towns (5.2%). The nearest A&E to Ottery St Mary is Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital (Wonford), 10.3 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Ottery St Mary | Devon | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 84% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.2% | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 17% | 21% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
Its two schools are below.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ottery St Mary Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 424 | C− |
| The King's SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,097 | B+ |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Ottery St Mary has 49 listed buildings inside its built-up area on Historic England’s list: 1 Grade I, 3 Grade II*. 19% of its homes were built before 1919.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 33% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
On this, Ottery St Mary is below both Devon’s towns (51%) and England’s towns (45%). 18% of commuters went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
In the comparison, Ottery St Mary comes above both Devon’s towns (64%) and England’s towns (61%). 16% of households rent privately.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £450,000 | 103 |
| Semi-detached | £308,750 | 92 |
| Terraced | £230,000 | 91 |
| Flat or maisonette | £350,000 | 17 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Police recorded 221 crimes inside Ottery St Mary’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 18 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences were 58% of the crimes; the police category includes harassment and stalking, so it runs higher than U.S. “violent crime”.
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
For Ottery St Mary, that is below both Devon’s towns (12%) and England’s towns (12%). Children under 15 make up 18% of residents. Half the people of Ottery St Mary are older than 46.3.
53% women, 47% men
About 90 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
| Ottery St Mary | Devon | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 15% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.8% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 20% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 25% | 24% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 14% | 17% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.3% | 6.6% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 35% | 30% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Devon and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Ottery St Mary. Best known first.
GardenCadhay Gardens500 m outside town, to the northwestAttractionAttractionAuthentic Saxon Village2.4 km outside town, to the northwestMuseumMuseumWhimple Heritage Centre4.6 km outside town, to the westAttractionAttractionHoniton Show3.4 km outside town, to the northeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
49 listed buildings in Ottery St Mary, 1 of them Grade I.
The Chanter's House: Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Priory: Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Town Mill and Circular Weir to North West: Photo: Allan Henderson · CC BY 2.0 · Kings Arms: Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0
11 notable people were born in Ottery St Mary.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge: Samuel Cousins / After Washington Allston, Public domain · John Coleridge, 1st Baron Coleridge: Eden Upton Eddis, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ottery St Mary | 6,043 | — | A− | C+ | B | A+ |
| West Hill | 2,109 | 2.2 | — | C− | A | A+ |
| Feniton | 1,725 | 2.5 | — | B | A+ | A |
| Whimple | 1,120 | 3.6 | — | C | A | A |
| Newton Poppleford | 1,918 | 3.8 | — | C+ | B− | A− |
| Sidmouth | 13,258 | 4.4 | B | C− | B | A |
| Honiton | 12,155 | 4.7 | C+ | B− | C+ | B− |
| Cranbrook | 4,936 | 5.8 | C | B− | C− | C+ |
West Hill, Feniton, Whimple and Newton Poppleford have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 3.3 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of St Mary.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Band D council tax in Ottery St Mary is £2,629 for 2026–27, more than in 91% 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
Ottery St Mary is a built-up area of 6,043 people, in the East Devon 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.