Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A village of 1,061 in Essex, East of England.
Stebbing has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Its strongest subject is safety (A+): 7.9 violent and sexual offences and 5.3 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026. Its weakest is schools (D−): primary results beat 2% of towns in England. The median home sold for £473,000 in the last three years, 6.8 times what households in the Uttlesford council area earn in a year.
The 3 things Stebbing 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 Stebbing is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists them inside Stebbing’s built-up area.
30% 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 Stebbing.
Key Stage 2 results at the one primary school within 3 km: 44% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Its one school is below. The town’s primary school has 200 pupils.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stebbing Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 200 | D |
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 30% of the total, higher than both Essex’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (16%). Stebbing’s listed buildings include the Church of St Mary the Virgin, Grade I. Of the town’s 86 listed buildings on Historic England’s list, Grade I counts 1 and Grade II* 4.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
There were 0.3 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), below Essex’s towns (4.6) and England’s towns (7.8) alike. Police figures for Stebbing’s built-up area: 16 crimes and 1 anti-social behaviour reports in the 12 months to August 2026. Violence and sexual offences were half of the crimes.
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 nearest A&E to Stebbing is Broomfield Hospital, 8.9 miles away. 87% of the town’s residents described their health as good or very good at the census, above both Essex’s towns (83%) and England’s towns (82%). Disability touches 14% of the town’s population. This Essex town has no GP practice of its own; the nearest is 2.6 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Stebbing | Essex | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 87% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 2.8% | 4.8% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 14% | 17% | 17% |
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.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 36% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Households had £70K a year before tax, higher than both Essex’s towns (£63K) and England’s towns (£55K). Driving is how 88% of commuters got to work at the census. Work in town: 7% of resident commuters. For 22% of commuters, work was under 5 km away.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The social rented sector houses just over one in ten households. 78% of households own their home, above both Essex’s towns (67%) and England’s towns (61%). From September 2023 to August 2026, 49 homes sold inside Stebbing’s built-up area at standard prices; the middle one went for £473,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £656,250 | 26 |
| Semi-detached | £400,000 | 13 |
| Terraced | £325,000 | 10 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The age that splits Stebbing in two is 48.7. 8.2% of residents are 15 to 24, lower than both Essex’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (12%). Degrees are held by 37% of adults.
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Stebbing | Essex | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.2% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 19% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 31% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 25% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 14% | 19% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 4.9% | 5.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 37% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Essex and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stebbing | 1,061 | — | — | B+ | A+ | A |
| Little Dunmow | 2,644 | 2.6 | B+ | B+ | B | A |
| Great Dunmow | 10,395 | 2.6 | A− | B+ | C+ | A− |
| Felsted | 1,233 | 3 | — | B− | B+ | A− |
| Great Bardfield | 1,372 | 3.7 | — | C | A− | A |
| Rayne | 2,169 | 4.7 | — | B− | B | A |
| Thaxted | 3,111 | 4.7 | B+ | B+ | C+ | A |
| Takeley and Little Canfield | 5,553 | 5.9 | A− | B+ | C− | B+ |
Felsted, Great Bardfield and Rayne have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Primary results trail 98% of towns in England (Department for Education, Key Stage 2). One state school is inside the town; places are handled by Essex council.
That is 33.3 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of St Mary the Virgin.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £473,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: terraced houses £325,000, semi-detached houses £400,000 and detached houses £656,250. Household incomes are higher than in 89% of UK towns, so cost of living still grades B+.
Village in Essex, England
Stebbing is a built-up area of 1,061 people, in the Uttlesford 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.