Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Secondary school results beat 95% of towns in England. 5,264 people call this town in Hampshire, South East home.
A solid town with one catch. Health is a strength: life expectancy is 83.7 for men and 85.8 for women. Oakley’s overall A+ puts it #11 of 76 in Hampshire. On that grade it does better than 97% of UK towns. It is strong on jobs & income as well: the mean household earns £70,738 a year. Homes sell for a median £482,000, about 7.1 years of what households in the Basingstoke and Deane council area earn. The trade-off is walkability (C): 11% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport.
Figures: life expectancy and income, ONS · claimants, DWP · commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
The 3 things Oakley 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 Oakley is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 21 buildings inside Oakley’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade II*.
8% 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 Oakley.
3.5% of residents described their health as bad or very bad, below Hampshire’s towns (4.3%) and England’s towns (5.2%) alike, and a disability affects 15% of people in Oakley. The town has no GP practice of its own; the nearest is 2.7 miles away. Asked at the census, 86% of residents of Oakley said they were in good or very good health.
| Census 2021 | Oakley | Hampshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 86% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.5% | 4.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 15% | 17% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Read these answers with age in mind: they aren’t adjusted, so younger places do better. The Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them.
Some 433 pupils attend Oakley’s two primaries. One of its 2 schools is below, with the reason it’s listed. Secondary results at the one secondary school within 3 km: an Attainment 8 score of 58.1, with 63% at grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oakley Church of England Junior SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 251 | B+ |
Violence accounts for 16.1 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Police figures for Oakley’s built-up area: 154 crimes and 27 anti-social behaviour reports in the 12 months to August 2026. For its size, Oakley records less crime per resident than 83% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
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 Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 45% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Working mainly from home: 45% of workers, higher than both Hampshire’s towns (32%) and England’s towns (31%); what’s more, at the census, 87% of commuters went by car. About 6% of its commuters stay in Oakley for work. The 2026 claimant rate among 16 to 64s was 1.7%.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
8% of its homes were built before 1919, lower than both Hampshire’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (16%). Grade II* covers 1 of them.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
8% live in social housing, below both Hampshire’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (18%). The private rented sector houses 6% of households. Private rents average £1,309 a month across the Basingstoke and Deane council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £546,250 | 167 |
| Semi-detached | £395,000 | 84 |
| Terraced | £340,000 | 24 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Under 15: 15% of residents. The 15-to-24 age group: 8.4%, lower than both Hampshire’s towns (12%) and England’s towns (12%). The middle age in Oakley is 50.5. Graduates make up 37% of adults.
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.
| Oakley | Hampshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.4% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 19% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 30% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 13% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.6% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 37% | 33% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Hampshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Oakley. Best known first.
MuseumMilestones Museum3.6 km outside town, to the northeastAttractionAttractionViables Craft Centre4.7 km outside town, to the eastAttractionAttractionBasingstoke & District Model Engineering Society4.7 km outside town, to the eastAttractionAttractionPlanet Ice2.9 km outside town, to the northeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
21 listed buildings in Oakley.
Forge Cottage: Photo: Stuart Logan · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph · Mitchells: Photo: Fernweh · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Malt House: Photo: Mr Ignavy · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph · Sunbeam Cottage: Photo: Mr Ignavy · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakley | 5,264 | — | A+ | B− | A− | A+ |
| Basingstoke | 117,211 | 3.4 | B | A | C− | C+ |
| Overton | 4,350 | 3.9 | A+ | B+ | B | A |
| Old Basing | 3,834 | 6 | A | B− | A− | A |
| Kingsclere | 2,889 | 6.1 | A− | B+ | B | A− |
| Whitchurch | 5,291 | 7.1 | A | B+ | B− | A− |
| Tadley | 14,767 | 7.3 | A | A− | B | B |
| Bramley | 4,730 | 7.4 | B+ | B | B+ | B+ |
People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £482,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: terraced houses £340,000, semi-detached houses £395,000 and detached houses £546,250. Household incomes are higher than in 90% of UK towns, so cost of living still grades B−.
Police recorded 154 crimes inside Oakley’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 52% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
Primary results are closer to the middle, beating 54%. Oakley has 2 state schools; places are handled by Hampshire council.
Town in Hampshire, England
Oakley is a built-up area of 5,264 people, in the Basingstoke and Deane 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.