Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
In Dorset, South West, this town has 3,455 residents.
Lytchett Matravers’s strongest subject is safety — 12 violent and sexual offences and 5.3 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year. It is strong on health as well — life expectancy is 82.8 for men and 86.3 for women. Homes are dear: homes sell for a median £413,500, about 7.9 times local household income. Overall, that makes an A−, good for #4 of 30 in Dorset. On that grade it does better than just over three quarters of UK towns.
Figures: crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · life expectancy, ONS · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
The 3 things Lytchett Matravers 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 Lytchett Matravers is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 9 buildings inside Lytchett Matravers’s built-up area.
11% 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 Lytchett Matravers.
Owners make up 79% of households, above both Dorset’s towns (66%) and England’s towns (61%). Private rents average £1,056 a month across the Dorset council area. Half of the 154 standard sales inside Lytchett Matravers’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £413,500.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £500,000 | 91 |
| Semi-detached | £336,000 | 29 |
| Terraced | £304,000 | 21 |
| Flat or maisonette | £173,000 | 13 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Below is its only school. Attainment 8 at the one secondary school within 3 km averages 47.9, and 50% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths. Its one primary school teaches 484 pupils.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lytchett Matravers Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 484 | B+ |
Degrees are held by just over a third of adults, higher than Dorset’s towns (31%) and near England’s towns (34%). Young adults of 15 to 24 account for nearly a tenth of the town. The middle age in Lytchett Matravers is 48.8. Under-15s account for 17% of the population.
52% women, 48% men
About 92 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.
| Lytchett Matravers | Dorset | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 15% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 20% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 28% | 25% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 15% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.4% | 6.4% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 35% | 31% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Dorset and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Violence and sexual offences made up 54% of the total. There were 3.9 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), below Dorset’s towns (9.8) and England’s towns (7.8) alike. Police recorded 78 crimes inside Lytchett Matravers’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 14 reports of anti-social behaviour.
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.
There is no GP practice in Lytchett Matravers: the nearest is 3.6 miles off. At the census, 84% of people in Lytchett Matravers called their health good or very good, higher than both Dorset’s towns (81%) and England’s towns (82%). 4.4% of residents report bad or very bad health. The nearest A&E to Lytchett Matravers is Poole Hospital, 5.2 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Lytchett Matravers | Dorset | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 84% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.4% | 5.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 16% | 19% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Read these answers with age in mind: they aren’t adjusted, so younger places do better. The Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them.
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.
A household here earns £57K a year before tax, on average. At the census, 10% went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport, below Dorset’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (27%) alike. Driving is how 87% of commuters got to work at the census. Also worth knowing: 6% of commuters who live in Lytchett Matravers also work there.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Per 10,000 residents, Lytchett Matravers counts 26 listed buildings.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lytchett Matravers | 3,455 | — | A− | D− | A | A− |
| Upton | 8,401 | 2.7 | B− | D | B | C+ |
| Corfe Mullen | 10,036 | 2.7 | A− | D− | A | A |
| Sturminster Marshall | 1,504 | 2.7 | — | D− | A− | A |
| Sandford | 2,004 | 3.7 | — | D | A | B+ |
| Wareham | 5,876 | 4.8 | C | D− | B− | B |
| Merley | 5,489 | 5.2 | A | D− | A+ | A |
| Poole | 141,009 | 5.4 | C+ | D | C | C+ |
Sturminster Marshall and Sandford have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Band D council tax in Lytchett Matravers is £2,707 for 2026–27, more than in 96% 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.
Primary schools stand out: Key Stage 2 results beat 88% of towns in England. Secondary results are closer to the middle, beating 65%. One state school is inside the town; places are handled by Dorset council.
Town in Dorset, England
Lytchett Matravers is a built-up area of 3,455 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.