Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 10,036 in Dorset, South West.
Corfe Mullen grades A− overall against UK towns: better than 78% of UK towns, and #3 of 30 in Dorset. Its strongest subject is jobs & income (A): mean household income £60,925; 1.6% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Its weakest is cost of living (D−): median sale £387,500, 7.4 years of area income; rent £1,056 a month.
The 3 things Corfe Mullen 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 Corfe Mullen is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 6 buildings inside Corfe Mullen’s built-up area, and 2 scheduled monuments.
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 Corfe Mullen.
10% rent privately, below both Dorset’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (21%). Social housing holds 7% of households. From September 2023 to August 2026, 353 homes sold inside Corfe Mullen’s built-up area at standard prices; the middle one went for £387,500.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £500,000 | 185 |
| Semi-detached | £338,750 | 60 |
| Terraced | £320,250 | 76 |
| Flat or maisonette | £195,000 | 32 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Between them, two primaries and one secondary teach 897 pupils in Corfe Mullen. Of its 3 schools, two are shown below, each with the reason. At the 5 primary schools within 3 km, nearly three in five pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rushcombe First SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 313 | – |
| Lockyer's Middle SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 436 | B+ |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Homes built before 1919 account for 3% of the housing. Conservation areas cover 2% of Corfe Mullen’s land, below Dorset’s towns (15%) and close to England’s towns (7%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Corfe Mullen has no GP practice of its own; the nearest is 1.3 miles away. Self-reported good health: 85% of the town’s residents. At the census, 16% of people here had a disability, below both Dorset’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (17%). Women here live to 86.1 on average and men to 82 (2019–23).
| Census 2021 | Corfe Mullen | Dorset | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 85% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.8% | 5.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 16% | 19% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · These shares come straight from the census, without allowing for age, and young towns benefit; the Health Grade instead weighs age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
Homes saw 7 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year, near Dorset’s towns (8) and lower than England’s towns (9.4). The violent crime rate is 11.9 per 1,000 residents a year. Reported offences in Corfe Mullen came to 269 over twelve months to August 2026; nuisance and anti-social incidents added 117. Violence and sexual offences accounted for 46% of recorded 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 · The police category of violence and sexual offences includes harassment and stalking.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 32% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
For 30% of commuters, work was under 5 km away. 88% of commuters drove, above both Dorset’s towns (76%) and England’s towns (70%). Corfe Mullen counts 0.3 jobs per working resident.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
People aged 15 to 24 are a tenth of the population. Corfe Mullen has a median age of 47.8. The under-15s are 16% of the population here.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Corfe Mullen | Dorset | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 15% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 21% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 24% | 25% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 12% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.4% | 6.4% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 20% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 32% | 31% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Dorset and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Corfe Mullen. Best known first.
Historic house · National TrustKingston Lacy Estate2.8 km outside town, to the north
Fort · National TrustBadbury Rings5 km outside town, to the north
MuseumMuseum of East Dorset1.7 km outside town, to the northeast
Water parkSplashdown Water Park4.4 km outside town, to the southeastAttractionAttraction · National TrustWhite Mill3.3 km outside town, to the northwestAttractionAttractionWalford Mill Crafts2.2 km outside town, to the northeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
3 notable people were born in Corfe Mullen.
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corfe Mullen | 10,036 | — | A− | D− | A | A |
| Upton | 8,401 | 2.4 | B− | D | B | C+ |
| Merley | 5,489 | 2.5 | A | D− | A+ | A |
| Lytchett Matravers | 3,455 | 2.7 | A− | D− | A | A− |
| Sturminster Marshall | 1,504 | 3.1 | — | D− | A− | A |
| Wimborne Minster | 16,629 | 3.2 | C+ | D− | B− | A− |
| Poole | 141,009 | 3.6 | C+ | D | C | C+ |
| Bearwood | 4,134 | 3.9 | C | D | C+ | C |
Sturminster Marshall has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Band D council tax in Corfe Mullen is £2,806 for 2026–27, more than in 99% 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.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £387,500, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £195,000, terraced houses £320,250, semi-detached houses £338,750 and detached houses £500,000.
Town in Dorset, England
Corfe Mullen is a built-up area of 10,036 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.