Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 4,067 in Essex, East of England.
Doddinghurst grades A− overall against UK towns: better than 80% of UK towns, and #23 of 81 in Essex. Its strongest subject is safety (A): 8.9 violent and sexual offences and 8.9 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026. Its weakest is cost of living (C): median sale £575,000, 7.9 years of area income; rent £1,620 a month.
The 3 things Doddinghurst 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 Doddinghurst is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 17 buildings inside Doddinghurst’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
2% 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 Doddinghurst.
Doddinghurst logged 97 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 20 complaints of anti-social conduct. For its size, Doddinghurst records less crime per resident than 93% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. Also worth knowing: of all the crimes, 39% were violence and sexual offences.
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.
One of its 2 schools is below, with the reason it’s listed. Secondary results at the one secondary school within 3 km: an Attainment 8 score of 42.4, with 36% at grade 5 or above in English and maths. Some 400 pupils attend Doddinghurst’s two primaries.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Doddinghurst Church of England Junior SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 223 | C+ |
At the census, 3.1% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, lower than both Essex’s towns (4.8%) and England’s towns (5.2%). 13% of residents in Doddinghurst live with a disability. The nearest A&E to Doddinghurst is Queen's Hospital, 8.7 miles away. One GP practice serves the town; 88% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Doddinghurst | Essex | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 87% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.1% | 4.8% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 13% | 17% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · These shares come straight from the census, without allowing for age, and young towns benefit; the Health Grade instead weighs age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Homes built before 1919 account for 2% of the housing. Doddinghurst’s listed buildings include the Church of All Saints, Grade I.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Owners make up nearly nine in ten households. 6% live in social housing, below both Essex’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (18%). 132 standard sales inside Doddinghurst’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put the median at £575,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £750,000 | 69 |
| Semi-detached | £525,000 | 55 |
| Terraced | £450,000 | 7 |
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 40% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
The census found 14% of commuters going to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. Working mainly from home: two in five workers, above Essex’s towns (31%) and England’s towns (31%) alike. The car carried 82% of commuters at the census. About 7% of its commuters stay in Doddinghurst for work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
15% of residents are children under 15. The 15-to-24 age group: 10%, close to Essex’s towns (11%) and below England’s towns (12%). Typical age in Doddinghurst: 49.6, the median. Degrees are held by 28% of adults.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Doddinghurst | Essex | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 19% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 26% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 17% | 19% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.6% | 5.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 28% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Essex and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Doddinghurst. Best known first.
CathedralBrentwood Cathedral4.4 km outside town, to the south
Historic houseIngatestone Hall4.8 km outside town, to the east
FortKelvedon Hatch Secret Nuclear Bunker2.3 km outside town, to the westFortFortIron Age Fort4.1 km outside town, to the southPhotos: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doddinghurst | 4,067 | — | A− | C | A | A |
| Kelvedon Hatch | 2,493 | 1 | — | C | B | A− |
| Blackmore | 1,167 | 1.8 | — | C | A− | A |
| Brentwood | 55,339 | 3.2 | A− | C+ | C | B |
| Chipping Ongar | 3,922 | 3.3 | C+ | C− | C+ | B+ |
| Ingatestone | 5,411 | 3.3 | A | C | B− | A |
| Shelley | 2,405 | 4 | — | C | C | B− |
| Ingrave and Herongate | 1,856 | 5.1 | — | C− | A− | A |
Kelvedon Hatch, Blackmore, Shelley and Ingrave and Herongate have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £575,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: terraced houses £450,000, semi-detached houses £525,000 and detached houses £750,000.
GCSE results trail 79% of towns in England, and primary results trail 50% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). Doddinghurst has 2 state schools; places are handled by Essex council.
Town in Essex, England
Doddinghurst is a built-up area of 4,067 people, in the Brentwood 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.