Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
42% of residents are 65 or over. 7,151 people live in this town in Dorset, South West.
The picture is mixed. People here tend to be in good health: life expectancy 82 for men, 87 for women. Overall, Ashley Heath earns a B: better than 65% of UK towns, and #6 of 30 in Dorset. Recorded crime is low: 10.9 violent or sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, plus 10.4 home and vehicle crimes. What counts against it is cost of living: a typical home costs £663,750 and rent runs £1,056 a month. Its other grades sit near the middle: B for schools and B for hazard risk.
Figures: life expectancy, ONS · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · flood risk, Environment Agency.
The 3 things Ashley Heath 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 Ashley Heath is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 2 buildings inside Ashley Heath’s built-up area.
3% 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 Ashley Heath.
The 15-to-24 age group: 6.7%, below Dorset’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (12%) alike. Over-65s are just over two fifths of the population. Half the people of Ashley Heath are older than 60.6.
52% women, 48% men
About 94 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.
| Ashley Heath | Dorset | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 9.8% | 15% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 6.7% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 13% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 42% | 25% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 17% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.1% | 6.4% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 15% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 34% | 31% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Dorset and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Its only school is listed below. Just over three in five pupils at the 5 primary schools within 3 km met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). 245 pupils attend Ashley Heath’s one primary school.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Ives Primary & Nursery SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 245 | A+ |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Ashley Heath has 2 listed buildings inside its built-up area on Historic England’s list, all Grade II. 3% of its homes were built before 1919.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
6% rent privately, lower than both Dorset’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (21%). Social renters account for 2% of households. Ashley Heath is the most expensive of the 32 towns in Dorset: its median sale is £663,750.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £673,600 | 233 |
| Semi-detached | £385,000 | 11 |
| Flat or maisonette | £315,000 | 5 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
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.
Income per household averages £57K a year, before tax. At the census, 7% went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport, below both Dorset’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (27%). What’s more, for 24% of commuters, work was under 5 km away.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The nearest A&E to Ashley Heath is The Royal Bournemouth Hospital, 6.1 miles away. There is no GP practice here: the nearest is 2.1 miles off. At the census, nearly a fifth of people here had a disability, close to Dorset’s towns (19%) and above England’s towns (17%).
| Census 2021 | Ashley Heath | Dorset | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 81% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.7% | 5.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 19% | 19% | 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.
Reported offences in Ashley Heath came to 159 over twelve months to August 2026; nuisance and anti-social incidents added 53. 43% of the crimes fell under violence and sexual offences. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 5.3 reports per 1,000, lower than both Dorset’s towns (9.8) 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.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Ashley Heath. Best known first.
MuseumBournemouth Aviation Museum3.8 km outside town, to the south
Historic houseSomerley2.8 km outside town, to the northeast
Theme parkAdventure Wonderland3.7 km outside town, to the southArt galleryArt galleryOld Fine Art Gallery800 m outside town, to the eastZooZooLiberty's Owl, Raptor and Reptile Centre2 km outside town, to the eastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashley Heath | 7,151 | — | B | D− | A− | A |
| West Moors | 10,432 | 2.3 | C− | D | B+ | B− |
| Three Legged Cross | 1,129 | 2.5 | — | D | C− | B− |
| Ringwood | 12,789 | 2.7 | B− | C− | C | B+ |
| Hightown | 1,296 | 3.1 | — | D | A+ | A |
| Verwood | 13,706 | 3.3 | A− | D | A | A− |
| Ferndown | 13,267 | 3.4 | B− | D− | A− | B+ |
| West Parley | 3,665 | 4 | A | D− | A | A |
Three Legged Cross and Hightown have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £663,750, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £315,000, semi-detached houses £385,000 and detached houses £673,600.
Band D council tax in Ashley Heath is £2,652 for 2026–27, more than in 92% 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 Dorset, England
Ashley Heath is a built-up area of 7,151 people, in the Dorset 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.