Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The town, home to 11,805 people, lies in Dorset, South West.
A town of contrasts. Buying in is costly (C−): a typical home costs £280,000 and rent runs £1,056 a month. Where it does best is walkability — on the way to work, 21% walk, cycle or take a bus or train. Put together, the subjects come to a C overall, ranking #20 of 30 in Dorset. Nationally, it does better than 30% of UK towns. Elsewhere it is close to typical: C+ for schools and B− for health.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · life expectancy, ONS.
The 3 things Blandford Forum 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 Blandford Forum is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 212 buildings inside Blandford Forum’s built-up area, 8 of them Grade I, and 1 scheduled monument.
18% 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 Blandford Forum.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Scaled to its population, Blandford Forum has 180 listed buildings per 10,000 people, above both Dorset’s towns (98) and England’s towns (39). The town’s listed buildings include the Church of St Peter and St Paul, Grade I. Grade II* covers 9 of them, Grade I 8.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Secondary results at the one secondary school within 3 km: an Attainment 8 score of 43.2, with 37% at grade 5 or above in English and maths. At the town’s 3 primary schools, 64% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Some 1,922 pupils attend Blandford Forum’s three primaries and one secondary.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Archbishop Wake Church of England Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 411 | B |
| The Blandford SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,103 | C |
16% rent privately, below Dorset’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (21%) alike. 499 standard sales inside Blandford Forum’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put the median at £280,000. Owners make up 63% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £415,000 | 124 |
| Semi-detached | £315,000 | 84 |
| Terraced | £250,000 | 174 |
| Flat or maisonette | £165,000 | 117 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
28% of adults hold a degree, below Dorset’s towns (31%) and England’s towns (34%) alike. Retirement age and beyond: a quarter of residents are 65 or older. Half of Blandford Forum is older than 45.8, half younger. Under-15s account for 17% of the population.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Blandford Forum | Dorset | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 15% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 24% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 25% | 25% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 18% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.6% | 6.4% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 28% | 31% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Dorset and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 24% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
About 35% of its commuters stay in Blandford Forum for work. Jobs per working resident: 0.9. Working mainly from home: nearly a quarter of workers, below Dorset’s towns (28%) and England’s towns (31%) alike. At the census, 77% of commuters went by car.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Violent crime runs at 26 per 1,000 residents a year. Over the year to August 2026, 585 offences were reported in Blandford Forum, along with 201 incidents of anti-social behaviour. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 15.9 reports per 1,000, above both Dorset’s towns (8.8) and England’s towns (7.8). 50% of the crimes fell under violence and sexual offences.
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.
The nearest A&E to Blandford Forum is Poole Hospital, 12.6 miles away. One GP practice serves the town; 73% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. At the census, just over four fifths of people in Blandford Forum called their health good or very good, close to Dorset’s towns (81%) and below England’s towns (82%).
| Census 2021 | Blandford Forum | Dorset | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 81% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.1% | 5.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 20% | 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.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Blandford Forum. Best known first.
Fort · National TrustHod Hill4 km outside town, to the northwest
MuseumRoyal Signals Museum1.8 km outside town, to the eastMuseumMuseumBlandford Town Museumin townAttractionAttractionHall & Woodhouse Visitor Centrein townPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
212 listed buildings in Blandford Forum, 8 of them Grade I.
Church of St Peter and St Paul: Photo: Eugene Birchall · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Coupar House: Photo: Mike Searle · CC BY-SA 2.0 · White Hart Public House: Photo: Mike Faherty · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Phylvic Lodge Premises Occupied by Messrs Paine and Goldie's Garage: Photo: Tilman2007 · CC BY-SA 4.0
23 notable people were born in Blandford Forum.
Thomas Pitt: Godfrey Kneller, Public domain · William Wake: Thomas Hill, Public domain · John Angell James: William Derby, Public domain · William Edwy Vine: CrossReach, CC BY-SA 4.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blandford Forum | 11,805 | — | C | C− | C+ | B− |
| Charlton Marshall | 1,084 | 1.8 | — | D | B+ | A |
| Pimperne | 2,770 | 2.1 | A− | D | A+ | A+ |
| Shillingstone | 1,165 | 4.4 | — | D− | B− | A− |
| Child Okeford | 1,159 | 5.1 | — | D | A | A |
| Sturminster Marshall | 1,504 | 5.7 | — | D− | A− | A |
| Milborne St Andrew | 1,090 | 7.8 | — | D | A− | A |
| Sturminster Newton | 3,565 | 7.8 | C− | C− | C+ | B− |
Charlton Marshall, Shillingstone, Child Okeford, Sturminster Marshall and Milborne St Andrew have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 7.4 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include Church of St Peter and St Paul. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
Band D council tax in Blandford Forum is £2,861 for 2026–27, more than in almost all 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.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Town in Dorset, England
Blandford Forum is a built-up area of 11,805 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.