Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
13% of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. With 4,240 residents, it is a town in Gloucestershire, South West.
The everyday basics are strong; the price of a home is the catch. Its schools beat most: primary results beat 98% of towns in England; secondary results beat 94% of towns in England. Buying in is costly (C−): a typical home costs £411,250 and rent runs £1,252 a month. Hazard risk is weaker too: 5.9% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. Put together, the subjects come to an A overall, ranking #5 of 48 in Gloucestershire. Nationally, it does better than 85% of UK towns. Its other grades sit near the middle: B for jobs & income and B− for walkability.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · flood risk, Environment Agency · income, ONS · claimants, DWP · commuting, Census 2021.
Gloucestershire Police published 29 of the 36 months; rates are per year over the months published.
The 3 things Fairford 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 Fairford is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 114 buildings inside Fairford’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
20% 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 Fairford.
Farmor's School’s results beat 86% of schools in England like it. Both of the town’s schools appear below. At the 2 primary schools within 3 km, 79% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fairford Church of England Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 298 | A− |
| Farmor's SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,067 | A |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Fairford has 114 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 1 Grade I, 4 Grade II*. Its listed buildings include the Church of St Mary, Grade I. Of the town’s land, 21% lies in conservation areas, above both Gloucestershire’s towns (9%) and England’s towns (7%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Homes see 6.4 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year. Police figures for Fairford’s built-up area: 47 crimes and 9 anti-social behaviour reports in the 12 months to August 2026. Per 1,000 residents, 14.3 violent crimes are recorded each year. Violence and sexual offences were 40% 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.
At the census, 15% of people here had a disability, below Gloucestershire’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (17%) alike. Self-reported good health: 85% of Fairford’s residents. The nearest A&E to Fairford is Great Western Hospital, 11.9 miles away. One GP practice serves the town; two thirds of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Fairford | Gloucestershire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 85% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.3% | 4.5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 15% | 17% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · The census answers take no account of age, so a young town looks healthier; the Health Grade relies on age-adjusted measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them.
The owner-occupied share of households is 69%. The £411,250 median rests on 146 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026). 16% live in social housing, higher than Gloucestershire’s towns (13%) yet lower than England’s towns (18%).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £651,000 | 64 |
| Semi-detached | £367,500 | 42 |
| Terraced | £312,500 | 34 |
| Flat or maisonette | £157,250 | 6 |
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 35% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Fairford counts 0.7 jobs per working resident. The car took 85% of commuters, higher than both Gloucestershire’s towns (78%) and England’s towns (70%). Also worth knowing: of the commuters living in the town, 20% work in the town itself. Unemployment benefit claims reached 1.7% of 16 to 64s in 2026.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Degrees are held by 37% of adults, above both Gloucestershire’s towns (34%) and England’s towns (34%). Those aged 15 to 24 account for 8.4% of residents. At 45.8, the median resident of Fairford sits in the middle of the age range. 18% of residents are children under 15.
52% women, 48% men
About 94 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.
| Fairford | Gloucestershire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.4% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 22% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 24% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 13% | 15% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.5% | 5.8% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 37% | 34% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Gloucestershire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
114 listed buildings in Fairford, 1 of them Grade I.
The Bull Hotel: Photo: Colin Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Town Bridge: Photo: Russel Wills · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph · The Chanting House: Photo: Chris Downer · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Roman Catholic Church of St Thomas of Canterbury: Photo: Collin West · CC BY-SA 2.0 uk
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairford | 4,240 | — | A | C− | A− | A− |
| Lechlade-on-Thames | 2,208 | 3.8 | — | C− | B− | A− |
| Cricklade | 4,030 | 5.7 | A− | B | B+ | A− |
| Highworth | 7,932 | 5.9 | B+ | B− | B+ | B |
| South Cerney | 3,998 | 6.6 | A− | C− | A | A |
| Broad Blunsdon | 6,507 | 6.7 | B+ | C− | B | A− |
| Cirencester | 17,715 | 7.8 | C+ | C | C | C+ |
| Ashton Keynes | 1,425 | 7.9 | — | C+ | A+ | A |
Lechlade-on-Thames and Ashton Keynes have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Among the strongest in England: GCSE results beat 94% of towns in England, and primary results beat 98% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). Fairford has 2 state schools; places are handled by Gloucestershire council.
That is 11 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of St Mary.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Town in Gloucestershire, England
Fairford is a built-up area of 4,240 people, in the Cotswold 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.