Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A village of 1,193 in Dorset, South West.
Puddletown has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Its strongest subject is safety (A+): 8.7 violent and sexual offences and 2.8 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026. Its weakest is schools (D): primary results beat 10% of towns in England. The median home sold for £360,000 in the last three years, 6.9 times what households in the Dorset council area earn in a year.
The 3 things Puddletown 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 Puddletown is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists them inside Puddletown’s built-up area.
31% 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 Puddletown.
The 12 months to August 2026 brought 24 recorded crimes inside Puddletown’s built-up area, and 8 reports of anti-social behaviour. There were 3.1 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), below both Dorset’s towns (9.8) and England’s towns (7.8). Violence and sexual offences were just over two fifths of the crimes.
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.
At the one primary school within 3 km, 51% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Its two schools are below. Puddletown’s one primary and one secondary have 575 pupils between them.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Puddletown Church of England First SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 134 | – |
| St Mary's Church of England Middle School, PuddletownLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 441 | C− |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Puddletown’s listed buildings include the Church of Saint Mary, Grade I. It counts 43 listed buildings on the national list (Historic England): 1 Grade I, 3 Grade II*. The pre-1919 share of homes is 31%. Conservation areas cover 35% of the town’s land, higher than both Dorset’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (7%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Home ownership stands at 73% of households. 13% live in social housing, near Dorset’s towns (12%) and lower than England’s towns (18%). Private rents average £1,056 a month across the Dorset council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £515,750 | 24 |
| Semi-detached | £338,750 | 29 |
| Terraced | £290,500 | 18 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Puddletown has no GP practice of its own; the nearest is 0.2 miles away. Nearly four fifths of the town’s residents described their health as good or very good at the census, lower than both Dorset’s towns (81%) and England’s towns (82%). At the census, 6.1% of people here described their health as bad or very bad. Life expectancy here is 85.4 for women and 81.6 for men (2019–23).
| Census 2021 | Puddletown | Dorset | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 79% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.1% | 5.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 22% | 19% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Young towns look healthier on these answers, which aren’t adjusted for age; the Health Grade uses measures that are, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 27% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Driving is how 84% of commuters got to work at the census. 14% of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train at the census, below both Dorset’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (27%). Also worth knowing: among 16 to 64s, 1.1% claimed unemployment benefits in 2026. About 8% of its commuters stay in Puddletown for work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Under 15: 15% of residents. Nearly a tenth of the population is aged 15 to 24, below Dorset’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (12%) alike. Puddletown has a median age of 51.1 years.
53% women, 47% men
About 90 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.
| Puddletown | Dorset | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 15% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.7% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 18% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 30% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 28% | 25% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 14% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.5% | 6.4% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 35% | 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 Puddletown. Best known first.
CastleWoodsford Castle3.5 km outside town, to the south
CastleAthelhampton House1 km outside town, to the east
MuseumTolpuddle Martyrs Museum2.7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Puddletown | 1,193 | — | — | D | A+ | B+ |
| Milborne St Andrew | 1,090 | 3.5 | — | D | A− | A |
| Crossways | 2,494 | 3.6 | — | C− | A− | B+ |
| Charlton Down | 1,487 | 4.9 | — | C | A+ | B+ |
| Dorchester | 21,358 | 5.1 | C | D | C+ | C+ |
| Charminster | 1,732 | 5.1 | — | D | A− | B+ |
| Bere Regis | 1,320 | 5.5 | — | D | B | A− |
| Wool | 5,044 | 6.4 | C | C− | B+ | C+ |
Milborne St Andrew, Crossways, Charlton Down, Charminster and Bere Regis have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 14.8 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of Saint Mary.
Primary results trail 90% of towns in England (Department for Education, Key Stage 2). Puddletown has 2 state schools; places are handled by Dorset council.
Band D council tax in Puddletown is £2,765 for 2026–27, more than in 98% 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.
Village in Dorset, England
Puddletown is a built-up area of 1,193 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.