Photo: Philip Halling · CC BY-SA 2.0How Gloucestershire stacks up
In Gloucestershire, on the plus side, long healthy lives (68.0 years of healthy life expectancy) and a growing population; on the minus side, high costs against local pay. Put together, the subjects come to a B+, 22nd of 65 graded areas. Across its towns, 37% of residents live in one of the best-off towns in the UK.
Each subject puts the official figure for the whole county beside a measure built from our town grades. How this works
Safety
27th of 65B59/100 Somewhat below-average crime. Police recorded 32.6 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents over the past year, 14% below the England and Wales figure (26th lowest of 65 areas with police.uk figures). Town by town it lands near the middle, with South Cerney its best at #35 of 2,138.
Counting every recorded crime, not just violence: 68 per 1,000 a year (25th lowest).
Source: police.uk street-level crime, September 2025 to August 2026 (each crime placed by its LSOA); Census 2021 residents. Greater Manchester Police publishes none.
Measure: recorded crime against residents (violence, burglary, vehicle crime, criminal damage), as in our Safety grades. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,138 graded towns. 48 Gloucestershire towns.
Quiet towns, busier ones
Its safest towns are Stratton (#45), Chalford (#73) and Prestbury (#83), ranked against every graded town in the UK. At the other end are Gloucester and Patchway, in the quarter of town residents living with the most recorded crime. By population, 28% of its town residents are in top-quarter towns and 17% in bottom-quarter ones.
| County | Safest quarter | Most-crime quarter | Split |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ards and North Down | 100% | 0% | |
| Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | 100% | 0% | |
| Lisburn and Castlereagh | 100% | 0% | |
| Mid Ulster | 100% | 0% | |
| Antrim and Newtownabbey | 78% | 0% | |
| Gloucestershire | 28% | 17% |
Where crimes are counted
Each crime on police.uk is pinned to a nearby street or public place, not an address; both figures count crimes where those points fall. The county-wide rate takes in town centres, stations and shopping streets, where many offences are recorded but few people live. Our town grades leave shop theft and other town-centre crime out and count violence, burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage, the crimes that reach people at home.
Schools
41st of 90B55/100 Somewhat above-average schools. Its towns trail the county-wide figure, which also counts villages and the countryside. 63% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths at the end of primary school, against 64% across England (20th highest). 5% of town residents live in a top-quarter town, 8% in a bottom-quarter one; Fairford ranks highest.
Attainment 8 at GCSE: 49.5 (6th highest), weighed equally with the primary results.
Source: DfE key stage 2 results 2024/25 and key stage 4 (Attainment 8), every state school in the county, pupil-weighted. England only.
Measure: our Schools grade: primary and secondary results of the schools in and around each town. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,331 graded towns. 48 Gloucestershire towns.
Cost of living
79th of 98C−20/100 Harder to afford than most areas. A typical home sold for £325,000 over the past year, 5.7 times the average household’s income (18th highest of 98 areas). Town by town it lands near the middle, with Northway its best at #382 of 2,515.
The middle home sold for £325,000 over the past year, 16th highest of the areas.
Private rent £1,217 a month (21st highest); Band D council tax £2,446 (30th highest). Shown for context.
Source: HM Land Registry Price Paid, standard sales September 2025 to August 2026; ONS small-area income estimates (financial year ending 2023); ONS Price Index of Private Rents (August 2026); council Band D 2026/27.
Measure: our Cost of living grade: prices and rents against local income, plus council tax. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,515 graded towns. 48 Gloucestershire towns.
Health
11th of 98A90/100 Consistently healthy. Gloucestershire ranks 8th longest for healthy life expectancy, at 68.0 years. 50% of town residents live in top-quarter towns such as Prestbury and Chalford, and almost none at the bottom.
Life expectancy at birth: 82.2 years, 10th longest.
Source: ONS life expectancy and healthy life expectancy by small area (MSOA), 2019 to 2023, men and women averaged.
Measure: our Health grade: ONS life and healthy life expectancy, Census health, and OHID indicators in England. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,515 graded towns. 48 Gloucestershire towns.
Jobs & income
9th of 98A92/100 Well off, town after town. At £57,000 a year, household incomes here are the 18th highest of 98 areas. Town by town it lands near the middle, with Prestbury its best at #35 of 2,156.
Claimant rate: 2.5% of 16 to 64-year-olds claim out-of-work benefits (August 2026), 19th lowest. Counted half in the grade.
Source: ONS small-area income estimates (financial year ending 2023), household-weighted; DWP claimant count (August 2026) by council.
Measure: our Jobs & income grade: household income. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,156 graded towns. 48 Gloucestershire towns.
Getting about
64th of 98C+36/100 A little more car-bound than average. At the 2021 Census, 19% of people travelling to work went on foot, by bike or by public transport, 7 points below the England and Wales figure. One town stands apart: Cheltenham, #119 in the UK, while nearly every other town sits lower.
Worked mainly from home at the 2021 Census: 34% of workers (context; they are left out of the commuting share).
Source: ONS Census 2021, method of travel to work (TS061) by council; people working mainly from home left out.
Measure: our Walkability grade: how many everyday places are within reach on foot. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,515 graded towns. 48 Gloucestershire towns.
Flood risk
59th of 87C33/100 A bit more flood risk than most. Gloucestershire ranks 26th highest of 55 areas with figures for flood risk: 1.5% of town homes are in harm’s way. 16% of town residents live in a top-quarter town, 25% in a bottom-quarter one; Northway ranks highest.
Source: Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales flood-risk maps (rivers and the sea), homes in every town of the county.
Measure: our Hazard risk grade: the share of homes at high or medium flood risk. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,452 graded towns. 48 Gloucestershire towns.
Growth
23rd of 98A−77/100 Healthy growth. Since 2011 it has grown 13.2%, the 12th fastest change of 98 areas. Longford leads its towns at #12 of 1,579; 20% of town residents live in top-quarter towns.
Since the 2021 Census: +4.1%, 16th fastest.
Source: ONS mid-year population estimates, 2011 and 2024.
Measure: population change from 2011 to 2024 (ONS estimates for built-up areas). The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 1,579 graded towns. 32 Gloucestershire towns. Covers 87% of residents of Gloucestershire’s graded towns.
How Gloucestershire compares to its neighbours
Against Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Bristol, Gloucestershire lands in the middle on every subject.
| Gloucestershire | Wiltshire | Oxfordshire | Worcestershire | Herefordshire | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | B+ 6722nd of 65 | A− 8312th of 65 | A 917th of 65 | C+ 3841st of 65 | C− 2251st of 65 |
| Safety | B 5926th official · 28% in top towns | A− 8014th official · 45% in top towns | A− 8115th official · 58% in top towns | B+ 6727th official · 39% in top towns | B 5813th official · 20% in top towns |
| Schools | B 5520th official · 5% in top towns | C+ 4340th official · 11% in top towns | B 6417th official · 13% in top towns | C− 1834th official · 2% in top towns | C 3410th official · 0% in top towns |
| Cost of living | C− 2081st official · 7% in top towns | C+ 3565th official · 30% in top towns | C− 1887th official · 12% in top towns | C 2775th official · 25% in top towns | D 985th official · 0% in top towns |
| Health | A 908th official · 50% in top towns | A 868th official · 39% in top towns | A+ 973rd official · 88% in top towns | B+ 7417th official · 28% in top towns | B 6215th official · 13% in top towns |
| Jobs & income | A 9218th official · 37% in top towns | B+ 7316th official · 17% in top towns | A+ 986th official · 87% in top towns | B− 4528th official · 6% in top towns | C 3245th official · 0% in top towns |
| Getting about | C+ 3654th official · 0% in top towns | B− 4643rd official · 0% in top towns | A 949th official · 37% in top towns | C− 1679th official · 0% in top towns | C+ 4149th official · 0% in top towns |
| Flood risk | C 3330th official · 16% in top towns | B+ 6618th official · 23% in top towns | C 2937th official · 16% in top towns | C 2625th official · 3% in top towns | D 1047th official · 13% in top towns |
| Growth | A− 7712th official · 20% in top towns | A 8914th official · 50% in top towns | A 905th official · 40% in top towns | B 6432nd official · 17% in top towns | C 3467th official |
Each cell: the subject’s grade and score, the county’s rank on the official figure (1st = the better end), and the share of its town residents living in a top-quarter town for the UK. Neighbour names open their report cards.
How this report card works
Two measures, side by side. The left card is an official figure for the whole county, its towns, villages and countryside together, built from the small areas and councils that make it up and ranked against the other counties. The right card is built from our town grades: of everyone living in the county’s graded towns of 2,500 or more, the share whose town is in the top quarter for the UK. Quarters are of people, not towns: the top quarter is the best-placed towns that together hold a quarter of everyone living in graded towns, so a county of big cities is not marked down just for being urban. A county can do well on one measure and not the other; that difference is often the story.
Scores and grades. Each subject’s score (0–100) is the area’s standing in one UK league of 98: the ceremonial counties of England (London counts as one), Wales’s eight preserved counties, and Scotland’s 32 and Northern Ireland’s 11 council areas, each called by its own name. The two measures’ percentiles are averaged, then ranked again, the same method as our town grades. Where a nation publishes its own kind of figure, the official figure is ranked within that nation: school results everywhere, health in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and flood risk in Scotland. Each area’s figures are set beside its own nation’s. 100 is the best county, 0 the last. Letters use the town-grade scale (A+ from 95, A from 85, A− from 75 … D below 15). The overall score weighs safety 18, cost of living 18, schools 16, health 14, jobs & income 12, getting about 8, growth 8, flood risk 6 (out of 100), over the subjects a county has. Counties with fewer than 5 graded towns (Rutland, Bristol) are graded on the official figures alone.
What it is not. A county figure averages everyone, so it cannot show whether a county is evenly good or a mix of very good and struggling places. The town measure shows the mix but leaves out villages and towns under 2,500. Neither says anything about any one street.
Gaps. Wales publishes no school results that compare with England’s, so Welsh counties have no Schools grade. Greater Manchester Police publishes no street-level crime, so Greater Manchester has no Safety grade and, as for its towns, no overall grade. Nor does Police Scotland, so Scotland’s council areas have no Safety grade or overall grade yet. Scotland and Northern Ireland have no small-area income figures, so their household income is estimated from ONS household income per head. Flood risk has no county-wide official figure; it is the share of homes in the county’s towns at high or medium risk. Sources are named under each figure. How grades work
Sources: 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.