Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 3,111 in Essex, East of England.
Thaxted grades B+ overall against UK towns: better than 71% of UK towns, and #32 of 81 in Essex. Its strongest subject is health (A): life expectancy 83 for men, 85.1 for women. Its weakest is hazard risk (C−): 1.8% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. The median home sold for £425,000 in the last three years, 6.1 times what households in the Uttlesford council area earn in a year.
The 3 things Thaxted 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 Thaxted is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 151 buildings inside Thaxted’s built-up area, 7 of them Grade I.
19% 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 1904.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Thaxted.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Grade II* covers 8 of them, Grade I 7. Thaxted’s listed buildings include the Church of St John the Baptist, Grade I. Of the town’s 151 listed buildings on Historic England’s list, Grade I counts 7 and Grade II* 8. Conservation areas cover 27% of the town’s land, above Essex’s towns (3%) and England’s towns (7%) alike.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Its one school is below. Key Stage 2 results at the one primary school within 3 km: 60% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thaxted Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 228 | C+ |
One GP practice serves the town; 97% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. The nearest A&E to Thaxted is Broomfield Hospital, 13.5 miles away. Also worth knowing: women here live to 85.1 on average and men to 83 (2019–23).
| Census 2021 | Thaxted | Essex | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 83% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.5% | 4.8% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 16% | 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.
68% of households own their home, close to Essex’s towns (67%) and above England’s towns (61%). Private rents average £1,289 a month across the Uttlesford council area. Half of the 111 standard sales inside Thaxted’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £425,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £500,000 | 46 |
| Semi-detached | £397,000 | 39 |
| Terraced | £375,000 | 23 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Homes saw 7.9 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year, below Essex’s towns (10.6) and England’s towns (9.4) alike. A year of reports to August 2026 adds up to 103 offences in Thaxted and 10 cases of nuisance behaviour. Violence and sexual offences made up 55% of the total.
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 Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 35% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
85% of commuters drove to work at the census. Households had £65K a year before tax, near Essex’s towns (£63K) and higher than England’s towns (£55K). Thaxted counts 0.4 jobs per working resident. Work in town: just over a tenth of resident commuters.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
32% of adults hold a degree. Young adults of 15 to 24 are 8.9% of residents, below both Essex’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (12%). The median resident of Thaxted is 45.3 years old.
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Thaxted | Essex | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.9% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 23% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 24% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 18% | 19% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.8% | 5.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 32% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Essex and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
151 listed buildings in Thaxted, 7 of them Grade I.
Church of St John the Baptist: Photo: T Christopher · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Guildhall: Photo: T Christopher · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Clarence House: Photo: Richard Croft · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Swan Hotel: Photo: Robert Edwards · CC BY-SA 2.0
4 notable people were born in Thaxted.
Samuel Purchas: Unidentified engraver, Public domain · Alfred Barnard: Borvan53, Public domain · Max Barrett: Kendal C. Dixon, B. M. Herbertson, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thaxted | 3,111 | — | B+ | B+ | C+ | A |
| Great Bardfield | 1,372 | 4 | — | C | A− | A |
| Henham | 1,046 | 4.6 | — | B− | A | A+ |
| Stebbing | 1,061 | 4.7 | — | B+ | A+ | A |
| Great Dunmow | 10,395 | 5.7 | A− | B+ | C+ | A− |
| Elsenham | 3,414 | 5.8 | A | B+ | B | A |
| Newport | 2,945 | 6.1 | A+ | B | B | A+ |
| Saffron Walden | 16,609 | 6.2 | A+ | A− | B | A |
Great Bardfield, Henham and Stebbing have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 19.9 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include Guildhall.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £425,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: terraced houses £375,000, semi-detached houses £397,000 and detached houses £500,000. Household incomes are higher than in 81% of UK towns, so cost of living still grades B+.
About the middle for its size: 57% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people report less crime per resident. Against all UK towns, it grades C+.
Town in Essex, England
Thaxted is a built-up area of 3,111 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.