Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
In Dorset, South West, this town has 10,432 residents.
A tough set of grades. Housing is expensive: homes sell for a median £375,000, about 7.2 times local household income. At C− overall, West Moors ranks #27 of 30 in Dorset. That leaves it better than 18% of UK towns. It also trails on schools (C−): primary results beat one in ten towns in England; secondary results beat 44% of towns in England. Where it does best is safety: 16.9 violent or sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, plus 9 home and vehicle crimes.
Figures: crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
The 3 things West Moors 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 West Moors is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 1 building inside West Moors’s built-up area, and 1 scheduled monument.
4% 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 West Moors.
Children under 15 make up 12%, below Dorset’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. The share aged 15 to 24 is 7.8%. Half of West Moors is older than 56.5, half younger. Among adults, 25% have a degree.
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.
| West Moors | Dorset | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 12% | 15% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 7.8% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 17% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 25% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 38% | 25% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 21% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 8.3% | 6.4% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 25% | 31% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Dorset and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
West Moors’s two primaries and one secondary have 561 pupils between them. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. Key Stage 2 results at the 2 primary schools within 3 km: just over half of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oakhurst Community First SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 173 | – |
| West Moors Middle SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 240 | C− |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Homes from before 1919 make up 4% of the total, lower than both Dorset’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (16%). West Moors has one scheduled monument.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Owners make up 77% of households, above Dorset’s towns (66%) and England’s towns (61%) alike. Private rents average £1,056 a month across the Dorset council area. The social rented sector houses 13% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £440,000 | 264 |
| Semi-detached | £345,000 | 95 |
| Terraced | £295,000 | 67 |
| Flat or maisonette | £174,000 | 63 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 26% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
The car took 87% of commuters, above both Dorset’s towns (76%) and England’s towns (70%). 33% of commuters travelled under 5 km to work. Also worth knowing: a household here earns £48K a year before tax, on average.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Reported offences in West Moors came to 322 over twelve months to August 2026; nuisance and anti-social incidents added 157. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 14.9 reports per 1,000, above both Dorset’s towns (8.8) and England’s towns (7.8). Violence and sexual offences accounted for 47% 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.
6.9% of residents report bad or very bad health; what’s more, at the census, 24% of people here had a disability, above Dorset’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (17%) alike. The nearest A&E to West Moors is The Royal Bournemouth Hospital, 5.5 miles away. 2 GP practices serve the town; 86% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | West Moors | Dorset | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 76% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.9% | 5.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 24% | 19% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · 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.
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Moors | 10,432 | — | C− | D | B+ | B− |
| Ferndown | 13,267 | 1.3 | B− | D− | A− | B+ |
| West Parley | 3,665 | 2.1 | A | D− | A | A |
| Ashley Heath | 7,151 | 2.3 | B | D− | A− | A |
| Three Legged Cross | 1,129 | 2.4 | — | D | C− | B− |
| Verwood | 13,706 | 3.9 | A− | D | A | A− |
| Wimborne Minster | 16,629 | 4 | C+ | D− | B− | A− |
| Bearwood | 4,134 | 4.2 | C | D | C+ | C |
Three Legged Cross has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Band D council tax in West Moors is £2,719 for 2026–27, more than in 97% 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.
Town in Dorset, England
West Moors is a built-up area of 10,432 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.