Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
1,504 residents make their home in this village in Dorset, South West.
Sturminster Marshall’s best grade is for health — life expectancy 83.4 for men, 86.5 for women. Add safety to its strengths — 12.6 violent or sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, plus 6.9 home and vehicle crimes. Where it falls short is cost of living — the median home sold for £473,500, 9 years of area income. Getting around depends on the car: nearly one in ten commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. Hazard risk is weaker too (D) — 4.9% of homes face a high or medium risk of river or sea flooding.
Figures: life expectancy, ONS · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · commuting, Census 2021 · flood risk, Environment Agency. An overall grade needs 2,500 residents, so Sturminster Marshall is graded subject by subject only.
No state school with published KS2 or GCSE results is in or within 3 km of this town, so it has no School Grade.
The 3 things Sturminster Marshall 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 Sturminster Marshall is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists them inside Sturminster Marshall’s built-up area, along with 2 scheduled monuments.
28% 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 Sturminster Marshall.
Home ownership stands at just over three quarters of households. Private rents average £1,056 a month across the Dorset council area. Social housing holds 13% of households, between Dorset’s towns (12%) and England’s towns (18%).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £536,250 | 39 |
| Semi-detached | £375,000 | 13 |
| Terraced | £372,500 | 9 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Below is its only school. The town’s primary school has 49 pupils. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sturminster Marshall First SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 49 | – |
Asked at the census, 84% of residents of Sturminster Marshall said they were in good or very good health. At the census, 3.5% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, below both Dorset’s towns (5.3%) and England’s towns (5.2%). Also worth knowing: this Dorset town has no GP practice of its own; the nearest is 3.8 miles away. Disability touches 16% of the town’s population.
| Census 2021 | Sturminster Marshall | Dorset | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 84% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.5% | 5.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 16% | 19% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · A young population flatters these answers, which are not age-adjusted; the Health Grade instead uses measures that allow for age, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 34% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
1.7% of 16 to 64s claimed unemployment benefits in 2026, below both Dorset’s towns (2.4%) and England’s towns (2.3%). Driving is how nine in ten commuters got to work at the census. Work in town: 7% of resident commuters. Average household income comes to £63K a year before tax.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
In the 12 months to August 2026, police logged 28 crimes and 17 reports of anti-social behaviour inside Sturminster Marshall’s built-up area. Violence and sexual offences were 50% of the crimes. For its size, Sturminster Marshall records less crime per resident than 70% of the 1,541 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people.
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 heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Grade II* covers 1 of them. Sturminster Marshall has 14 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 1 Grade II*. It has 93 listed buildings for every 10,000 residents, lower than Dorset’s towns (103) yet higher than England’s towns (39).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Residents of Sturminster Marshall have a median age of 48.4. 16% are under 15, higher than Dorset’s towns (15%) yet lower than England’s towns (18%). Graduates make up just over a third of adults.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Sturminster Marshall | Dorset | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 15% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 12% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 18% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 30% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 24% | 25% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 12% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.3% | 6.4% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 19% | 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 Sturminster Marshall. Best known first.
Historic house · National TrustKingston Lacy Estate2.8 km outside town, to the northeast
Fort · National TrustBadbury Rings2.8 km outside town, to the northeastAttractionAttraction · National TrustWhite Mill600 m outside town, to the northeastPhotos: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sturminster Marshall | 1,504 | — | — | D− | A− | A |
| Lytchett Matravers | 3,455 | 2.7 | A− | D− | A | A− |
| Corfe Mullen | 10,036 | 3.1 | A− | D− | A | A |
| Charlton Marshall | 1,084 | 4 | — | D | B+ | A |
| Wimborne Minster | 16,629 | 4.7 | C+ | D− | B− | A− |
| Upton | 8,401 | 4.7 | B− | D | B | C+ |
| Merley | 5,489 | 4.9 | A | D− | A+ | A |
| Pimperne | 2,770 | 5.6 | A− | D | A+ | A+ |
Charlton Marshall has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 3.8 times the typical UK town for its size. It also has 2 scheduled monuments.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Band D council tax in Sturminster Marshall is £2,709 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.
Village in Dorset, England
Sturminster Marshall is a built-up area of 1,504 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.