Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The village has 2,249 residents and lies in Essex, East of England.
At a median £258,000, a home costs 5.8 times the yearly income of households in the Tendring council area. Incomes are on the low side (D−): the mean household earns £31,718 a year. Residents’ health trails most towns: men here can expect to live to 75.3, women to 80.7. Walking, cycling and public transport carry one in ten commuters.
Figures: income and life expectancy, ONS · claimants, DWP · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years. St Osyth is graded on each subject, but towns under 2,500 get no overall grade.
The 3 things St Osyth 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 St Osyth is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
St Osyth is graded on each subject, but towns under 2,500 get no overall grade.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 55 buildings inside St Osyth’s built-up area, 4 of them Grade I, and 1 scheduled monument.
12% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 2 old photos and postcards going back to 1906.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in St Osyth.
Children under 15 make up 13%, below both Essex’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (18%). Young adults of 15 to 24 account for nearly a tenth of the town. St Osyth has a median age of 53.5. Graduates make up 16% of adults.
52% women, 48% men
About 91 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.
| St Osyth | Essex | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 13% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.1% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 18% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 33% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 31% | 19% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7% | 5.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 15% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 16% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Essex and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
At the 4 primary schools within 3 km, nearly three in five pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Osyth Church of England Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 290 | C |
73% of people in St Osyth rate their own health good or very good. At the census, just over a quarter of people here had a disability, above Essex’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (17%) alike. Also worth knowing: the town has no GP practice of its own; the nearest is 2.1 miles away.
| Census 2021 | St Osyth | Essex | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 73% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 9% | 4.8% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 26% | 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.
Private rents average £1,053 a month across the Tendring council area. Half of the 104 standard sales inside St Osyth’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £258,000. Owners make up 68% of households, close to Essex’s towns (67%) and above England’s towns (61%).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £336,000 | 34 |
| Semi-detached | £250,000 | 46 |
| Terraced | £197,500 | 16 |
| Flat or maisonette | £71,250 | 8 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
St Osyth’s listed buildings include the Church of St Peter and St Paul, Grade I. Of the town’s 55 listed buildings on Historic England’s list, Grade I counts 4 and Grade II* 4. Conservation areas cover just over two fifths of the town’s land, above both Essex’s towns (3%) and England’s towns (7%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 22% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
The car took 87% of commuters, above both Essex’s towns (74%) and England’s towns (70%). Work in town: 6% of resident commuters. There are 0.6 jobs in St Osyth for each resident in work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Among the 1,541 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, St Osyth has more crime per resident than 88% of them. Burglary and damage came to 11.9 per 1,000 residents a year, above Essex’s towns (10.6) and England’s towns (9.4) alike. Police figures for the town’s built-up area: 181 crimes and 13 anti-social behaviour reports in the 12 months to August 2026. Of all the crimes, 54% 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.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near St Osyth. Best known first.
PierClacton Pier4.8 km outside town, to the east
FortJaywick Martello Tower2.4 km outside town, to the south
MuseumEast Essex Aviation Society and Museum (Martello Tower A)3.1 km outside town, to the westAttractionAttractionHasty's Adventure Farm Park2.9 km outside town, to the southeastMuseumMuseumBrightlingsea Museum3.2 km outside town, to the westPhotos: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Osyth | 2,249 | — | — | D | C | D |
| Point Clear | 1,707 | 1.9 | — | D− | D | C |
| Jaywick | 5,080 | 2 | D− | C+ | D− | D− |
| Brightlingsea | 8,678 | 2.5 | C− | D | B− | C+ |
| Clacton-on-Sea | 53,190 | 3.1 | D− | D | D− | D |
| Little Clacton | 2,458 | 3.2 | — | D− | B | C+ |
| Thorrington | 1,427 | 3.3 | — | D− | A+ | B− |
| Great Bentley | 1,746 | 3.8 | — | D− | C+ | B− |
Point Clear, Little Clacton, Thorrington and Great Bentley have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 10 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include St Osyth's Priory ruined east ranges of the Darcy House including the Tower and Chapel. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Village in Essex, England
St Osyth is a built-up area of 2,249 people, in the Tendring 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.