Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A city of 141,009 in Dorset, South West.
Poole grades C+ overall against UK towns: better than 43% of UK towns, and #12 of 30 in Dorset. Its strongest subject is walkability (A−): 22% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is cost of living (D): median sale £339,975, 6.6 years of area income; rent £1,398 a month.
The 3 things Poole 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 Poole is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 214 buildings inside Poole’s built-up area, 3 of them Grade I, and 1 scheduled monument.
11% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 2 old photos and postcards going back to 1900 and a map from 1893.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Poole. Best known first.
GardenCompton Acresin town
MuseumPoole Museumin town
Water parkSplashdown Water Parkin town
Museum · English HeritageScaplens Court Museumin town
Historic house · National TrustKingston Lacy Estate4.7 km outside town, to the northwest
CastleBrownsea Castle500 m outside town, to the southPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Poole.
12% live in social housing, close to Dorset’s towns (12%) and below England’s towns (18%).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £446,000 | 2,213 |
| Semi-detached | £332,500 | 1,138 |
| Terraced | £290,000 | 853 |
| Flat or maisonette | £230,000 | 1,810 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Poole Grammar School’s results beat 97% of schools in England like it. Three of its 37 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baden-Powell and St Peter's Church of England Junior SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 718 | B+ |
| Poole High SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,891 | B |
| Poole Grammar SchoolTop results in townSecondary | Secondary | 1,224 | A+ |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 29% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
That puts Poole above both Dorset’s towns (48%) and England’s towns (45%). 3% of 16 to 64s claimed unemployment benefits in 2026.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
On this, Poole is below both Dorset’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (12%). 23% of residents are 65 or over. Poole has a median age of 44.6.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Poole | Dorset | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 15% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.7% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 25% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 23% | 25% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 17% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.4% | 6.4% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 31% | 31% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Dorset and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
In the comparison, Poole comes above both Dorset’s towns (7.8) and England’s towns (9.4). Violent crime runs at 26.2 per 1,000 residents a year. Police recorded 7,759 crimes inside Poole’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 2,754 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
82% of Poole’s residents described their health as good or very good in 2021, against 81% across Dorset’s towns. These answers aren’t adjusted for age, so young towns look healthier; the Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
| Census 2021 | Poole | Dorset | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 82% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.1% | 5.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 18% | 19% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Poole has 214 listed buildings inside its built-up area on Historic England’s list: 3 Grade I, 17 Grade II*. 11% of its homes were built before 1919.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
214 listed buildings in Poole, 3 of them Grade I.
The Waterfront Museum, Local History Centre: Photo: Simon Cobb · CC0 · Sir Peter Thompson House: Photo: Mike Searle · CC BY-SA 2.0 · St Dunstan of Canterbury Orthodox Church: Photo: Chris Downer · CC BY-SA 2.0 · St George's Almshouses: Photo: Simon Cobb · CC0
114 notable people were born in Poole.
John le Carré: Krimidoedel, CC BY 3.0 · Edgar Wright: John Manard, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Greg Lake: Original uploader was Lrheath at en.wikipedia (Original text : Lrheath), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Ben White: James Boyes from UK, CC BY 2.0 · Tino Anjorin: Анна Нэсси, CC BY-SA 3.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poole | 141,009 | — | C+ | D | C | C+ |
| Bearwood | 4,134 | 2.6 | C | D | C+ | C |
| Upton | 8,401 | 2.9 | B− | D | B | C+ |
| Merley | 5,489 | 3.4 | A | D− | A+ | A |
| Corfe Mullen | 10,036 | 3.6 | A− | D− | A | A |
| Bournemouth | 196,453 | 4.4 | C | D | D | C− |
| Wimborne Minster | 16,629 | 4.9 | C+ | D− | B− | A− |
| West Parley | 3,665 | 5 | A | D− | A | A |
People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Against all UK towns, most of them far smaller, it grades C. Police recorded 7,759 crimes inside Poole’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 43% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
Secondary schools stand out: GCSE results beat 87% of towns in England. Primary results are closer to the middle, beating 56%.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
City in Dorset, England
Poole is a built-up area of 141,009 people, in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole 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.