Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
In Hertfordshire, East of England, this town has 5,313 residents.
A good place to live, if you can afford it. Its strongest subject is jobs & income — mean household income £68,845; 1.6% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Health is a strength too — life expectancy is 84.1 for men and 87.3 for women. Prices are high against local incomes (D): homes sell for a median £541,250, about 8.2 times local household income. The overall grade lands at A, #14 of 50 in Hertfordshire. Set against the rest, it does better than 87% of UK towns.
Figures: income and life expectancy, ONS · claimants, DWP · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
The 3 things Bovingdon 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 Bovingdon is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 34 buildings inside Bovingdon’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade II*.
11% 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 Bovingdon.
The nearest A&E to Bovingdon is Watford General Hospital, 7.6 miles away. One GP practice serves the town; just over four in five patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. At the census, 4.3% of people here described their health as bad or very bad.
| Census 2021 | Bovingdon | Hertfordshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 83% | 85% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.3% | 3.8% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 17% | 14% | 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.
Attainment 8 at the one secondary school within 3 km averages 54, and 63% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths. Its only school is listed below. 66% of pupils at the 8 primary schools within 3 km met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bovingdon Primary AcademyLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 428 | A+ |
11% live in social housing, lower than both Hertfordshire’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (18%). Renting privately is how 14% of households live. Private rents average £1,594 a month across the Dacorum council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £830,000 | 41 |
| Semi-detached | £560,000 | 75 |
| Terraced | £460,000 | 39 |
| Flat or maisonette | £275,000 | 27 |
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 39% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
For every resident in work, Bovingdon has 0.8 jobs. 17% of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train at the census, below Hertfordshire’s towns (24%) and England’s towns (27%) alike. The car carried four in five commuters at the census. About just over a tenth of its commuters stay in Bovingdon for work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Of all the crimes, 51% were violence and sexual offences. 229 crimes and 55 reports of anti-social behaviour: that is what police recorded inside Bovingdon’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026. There were 10.9 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), lower than Hertfordshire’s towns (14.4) yet higher than England’s towns (7.8).
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 heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Grade II* covers 2 of them. Homes from before 1919 make up just over a tenth of the total, below Hertfordshire’s towns (12%) and England’s towns (16%) alike. Bovingdon has 64 listed buildings for every 10,000 residents.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Among adults, 33% have a degree. The 15-to-24 age group: 10%, lower than both Hertfordshire’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (12%). Residents of Bovingdon have a median age of 41.6.
42% women, 58% men
About 72 women for every 100 men. Across England, 51% of residents are women. A large institution, such as a prison, barracks, boarding school, university or care home, can tilt a town’s split: the census counts the people living there as residents.
| Bovingdon | Hertfordshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 14% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 31% | 27% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 19% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 14% | 15% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.1% | 4.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 33% | 39% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Hertfordshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Bovingdon. Best known first.
Castle · English HeritageBerkhamsted Castle3.6 km outside town, to the north
MuseumThe Paper Mill Museum3.3 km outside town, to the east
Historic houseLatimer House3 km outside town, to the south
MuseumChesham Museum3.7 km outside town, to the southwest
Historic houseChenies Manor3.4 km outside town, to the southMuseumMuseumDacorum Heritage3.4 km outside town, to the northwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
34 listed buildings in Bovingdon.
Forge Cottage: Photo: No Swan So Fine · CC BY-SA 4.0 · The Lodge: Photo: No Swan So Fine · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Bull Cottages: Photo: No Swan So Fine · CC BY-SA 4.0 · The Ryder Memorial: Photo: No Swan So Fine · CC BY-SA 4.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bovingdon | 5,313 | — | A | D | B | A |
| Chipperfield | 1,678 | 2.2 | — | D | B+ | A+ |
| Berkhamsted | 21,236 | 3.1 | A | D | B | A+ |
| Chesham | 23,691 | 3.4 | B | C+ | C+ | B− |
| Potten End | 1,270 | 3.5 | — | D | A | A+ |
| Hemel Hempstead | 95,995 | 3.8 | C− | C | C− | C |
| Little Chalfont | 6,506 | 4 | A | C− | B− | A+ |
| Amersham | 17,377 | 4.3 | A+ | C− | B | A+ |
Chipperfield and Potten End have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 2.6 times the typical UK town for its size.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £541,250, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £275,000, terraced houses £460,000, semi-detached houses £560,000 and detached houses £830,000.
Secondary schools stand out: GCSE results beat 92% of towns in England. Primary results beat 72%. One state school is inside the town; places are handled by Hertfordshire council.
Town in Hertfordshire, England
Bovingdon is a built-up area of 5,313 people, in the Dacorum 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.