Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
26,073 people live in this large town in Gloucestershire, South West.
Good on most counts; one lags. Schools are where it shines (A−) — primary results beat 44% of towns in England; secondary results beat 99% of towns in England. Stroud’s overall B puts it #25 of 48 in Gloucestershire. Set against the rest, it does better than 56% of UK towns. It is easy to get around without a car: a fifth of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. What counts against it is safety: 38 violent and sexual offences and 20.2 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Only nearly a quarter of UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people have more crime per resident. Natural hazards weigh more here: 1.4% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. Homes sell for a median £300,000, about 5.2 years of what households in the Stroud council area earn.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · flood risk, Environment Agency · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · incomes, ONS.
Gloucestershire Police published 29 of the 36 months; rates are per year over the months published.
The 3 things Stroud 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 Stroud is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 396 buildings inside Stroud’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade I.
26% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 1 old photo or postcard going back to 1903 and a map from c. 1919.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Stroud. Best known first.
Historic houseGatcombe Park4.7 km outside town, to the southeast
Historic houseWoodchester Mansion2.6 km outside town, to the southwest
Historic housePainswick House3.9 km outside town, to the north
Museum · English HeritageDunkirk Mill Museum2.6 km outside town, to the southMuseumMuseumThe Museum in the Parkin townPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Stroud.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
26% of homes were built before 1919. Stroud’s listed buildings include the Church of All Saints, Grade I. Listed buildings per head: 152 for every 10,000 residents of the town. Of the town’s land, 20% 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
Stroud’s nine primaries and three secondaries have 4,952 pupils between them. Marling School’s results beat 98% of schools in England like it. Below are three of its 13 schools, each with why it was picked. GCSE results at the town’s 3 secondary schools: 75% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 63.2.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foxmoor Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 257 | B+ |
| Stroud High SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,144 | A+ |
| Marling SchoolTop results in townSecondary | Secondary | 1,082 | A+ |
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
A year of reports to August 2026 adds up to 872 offences in Stroud and 248 cases of nuisance behaviour. For its size, Stroud records more crime per resident than just over three quarters of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 25 reports per 1,000, above both Gloucestershire’s towns (9.1) and England’s towns (7.8). Also worth knowing: 41% of the crimes fell under 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.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 31% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Stroud counts 0.8 jobs per working resident. 78% of commuters drove, about level with Gloucestershire’s towns (78%) and above England’s towns (70%). Among 16 to 64s, 3% claimed unemployment benefits in 2026. Of the commuters living locally, 34% work in the town itself.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The median sale, £300,000, comes from 1,096 standard sales inside Stroud’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Private rents average £1,041 a month across the Stroud council area. 67% of households own their home, about level with Gloucestershire’s towns (68%) and above England’s towns (61%).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £451,000 | 212 |
| Semi-detached | £315,000 | 434 |
| Terraced | £285,000 | 277 |
| Flat or maisonette | £167,500 | 173 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
3 GP practices serve the town; 86% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. The nearest A&E to Stroud is Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, 8.4 miles away. At the census, 18% of people here had a disability, above both Gloucestershire’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (17%).
| Census 2021 | Stroud | Gloucestershire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 82% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.5% | 4.5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 18% | 17% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Because the census answers ignore age, a younger population lifts them; that is why the Health Grade is built on age-adjusted measures like life expectancy and early deaths.
A tenth of the population is aged 15 to 24, below Gloucestershire’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (12%) alike. The age that splits Stroud in two is 45.3. People 65 and over make up 21% of the town.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Stroud | Gloucestershire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 24% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 30% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 21% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 14% | 15% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.1% | 5.8% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 36% | 34% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Gloucestershire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
396 listed buildings in Stroud, 2 of them Grade I.
Church of All Saints: Photo: Saffron Blaze · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Town Hall: Photo: Dave.Dunford · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Archway, Formerly to Farm Hill Park: Photo: Nealwhitehousepiper · CC BY-SA 3.0 · The Duke of York Public House: Photo: Neil Owen · CC BY-SA 2.0
55 notable people were born in Stroud.
Martin Evans: Cardiff University, CC BY 3.0 · Alan Hollinghurst: Larry D. Moore, CC BY 4.0 · Jackie Lewis: Jacklewis24, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Sam Dunn: Mark Coatsworth, CC BY-SA 3.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stroud | 26,073 | — | B | B | D | B− |
| Whiteshill and Randwick | 1,442 | 1.4 | — | C | A | B− |
| Amberley | 1,300 | 2.2 | — | C | A+ | A |
| Brimscombe and Thrupp | 2,187 | 2.4 | — | B− | B− | A |
| Stonehouse | 8,302 | 2.5 | B− | B | C− | C |
| Leonard Stanley and King's Stanley | 3,584 | 2.5 | A | B− | A | A− |
| Chalford | 6,665 | 3.1 | A | B− | A | A |
| Painswick | 1,833 | 3.1 | — | C+ | B+ | A+ |
Whiteshill and Randwick, Amberley, Brimscombe and Thrupp and Painswick have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 6.2 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include Church of All Saints.
Burglary was rare, with 38 reports in the year.
Secondary schools stand out: GCSE results beat 99% of towns in England. Primary results are closer to the middle, trailing 56%.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Large town in Gloucestershire, England
Stroud is a built-up area of 26,073 people, in the Stroud 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.