Epping grades B+ overall against UK towns: better than 67% of UK towns, and #33 of 81 in Essex. Its strongest subject is walkability (A+): 33% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is cost of living (D): median sale £565,000, 8.8 years of area income; rent £1,844 a month.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Epping is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Named after: each U.S. town’s Wikipedia article. Grades compare each town with towns in its own country, so they aren’t a head-to-head.
The data
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Epping.
Work & commuteJobs & income grade A−
Fewer commuters in Epping work nearby than in Essex’s towns or England’s towns: 19% travel under 5 km
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 48% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Households take home £67K a year before tax, on average. 64% of commuters drove, below both Essex’s towns (74%) and England’s towns (70%). The census counted 48% of workers working mainly from home. Of the commuters living in Epping, 13% work in the town itself.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
SchoolsA
Epping’s schools outperform 88% of towns in England on results
Epping’s one primary and one secondary have 1,374 pupils between them. Ivy Chimneys Primary School’s results beat 90% of schools in England like it. Its two schools are below. Attainment 8 at the 2 secondary schools within 3 km averages 51, and 58% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths.
Department for Education · GIAS, Key Stage 2 and GCSE resultsSee all 2 schools →
HousingCost of living grade D
For cost of living grade, Epping gets a D
17% rent privately, near Essex’s towns (17%) and lower than England’s towns (21%). The £565,000 median rests on 475 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026). The owner-occupied share of households is 66%.
£565Kmedian sale
Median sale price · Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
Epping£565K
Typical UK town£277K
By type
Median
Sales
Detached
£892,500
88
Semi-detached
£655,000
118
Terraced
£543,500
144
Flat or maisonette
£350,000
125
66%
of households own their home · England 61%
17%
rent privately · England 21%
£1,844
average private rent a month, Epping Forest council area
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Safety
Epping records more burglary and damage per resident than Essex’s towns or England’s towns, at 21.4 per 1,000 a year
Violence came to 31.6 per 1,000 residents a year, higher than both Essex’s towns (22.8) and England’s towns (22). Reported offences in Epping came to 851 over twelve months to August 2026; nuisance and anti-social incidents added 114. Two fifths of the crimes fell under violence and sexual offences.
31.6violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a yearC−Safety Grade
Compared with UK towns its sizeLess crime per resident than 33% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people: more crime than most for its size. Context only, not part of the grade.
More crimeLess crime
Reports by type · Sep 2025 to Aug 2026
Violence & sexual343
Shoplifting98
Public order89
Vehicle crime86
Damage & arson74
Other theft57
Drugs37
Burglary27
Anti-social114
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.
31.6
violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
21.4
burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
9.2
anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 (not graded)
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.
Health
Fewer people in Epping live with a disability than in Essex’s towns or across England’s towns: 14%
3.9% of residents described their health as bad or very bad, below Essex’s towns (4.8%) and England’s towns (5.2%) alike. Asked at the census, 85% of residents of Epping said they were in good or very good health. Also worth knowing: 2 GP practices serve the town; 59% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
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.
History
50 listed buildings, 0 of them Grade I
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Grade II* covers 2 of them. 14% of its homes were built before 1919, above Essex’s towns (11%) and close to England’s towns (16%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Who lives here
Epping is a graduates’ town: 38% hold a degree, more than in Essex’s towns and across England’s towns
The 15-to-24 age group: 8.8%, below Essex’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (12%) alike. Line up the people of Epping by age and the one in the middle is 42.6. A fifth of residents are 65 or over.
42.6median age
EppingEssexEngland
Ages · share of residents
20%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications16%
Apprenticeship4%
A levels or similar16%
Degree level38%
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
WomenEnglandMen
About 92 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Philip Hammond: Chris McAndrew, CC BY 3.0 · Dave Gahan: Depeche Mode, CC BY 3.0 · David Byron: Mercury Records, Public domain · Daniel Mays: Soccer Aid for UNICEF, CC BY 3.0 · Bob Crow: Jarvin - Jarle Vines, CC BY-SA 3.0
Coopersale, Thornwood Common and Abridge have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Questions about Epping
Is Epping expensive to live in?
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £565,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £350,000, terraced houses £543,500, semi-detached houses £655,000 and detached houses £892,500.
Are schools in Epping good?
GCSE results beat 83% of towns in England, and primary results beat 82% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). Epping has 2 state schools; places are handled by Essex council.
Is Epping safe?
It has more crime per resident than most places its size: 67% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people report less.
About Epping
Town in Essex, England
Epping is a built-up area of 10,693 people, in the Epping Forest 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
Population
10,693 (Census 2021)
Council
Epping Forest
County
Essex
Region
East of England
Area
1.1 sq mi (2.8 km²)
ONS code
E63004569
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.
