Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A large town in Hertfordshire, East of England, home to 28,427 people.
A well-rated place to live, with prices to match. The local economy does well (A−): mean household income £70,535; 2.9% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Bushey’s overall grade of B+ puts it better than 69% of UK towns, #30 of 50 in Hertfordshire. Housing is expensive (C−): the median home sold for £546,000, 8.2 years of area income. Natural hazards weigh more here: 2.6% of homes face a high or medium risk of river or sea flooding.
Figures: income, ONS · claimants, DWP · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · flood risk, Environment Agency.
The 3 things Bushey 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 Bushey is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 85 buildings inside Bushey’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade II*, and 1 scheduled monument.
12% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 2 old photos and postcards going back to 1912.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Bushey. Best known first.
MuseumBushey Museumin town
Historic houseBhaktivedanta Manor700 m outside town, to the northeast
CastleHilfield Castle700 m outside town, to the northeast
MuseumMuseum of Watford1.2 km outside town, to the northwest
Historic houseThe Grove4 km outside town, to the northwest
Historic houseHeadstone Manor3.7 km outside town, to the southPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Bushey.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 42% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
For every resident in work, Bushey has 0.7 jobs. Short trips to work, under 5 km: 37%, below both Hertfordshire’s towns (41%) and England’s towns (45%). The census counted 42% of workers working mainly from home.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Some 4,681 pupils attend Bushey’s seven primaries and two secondaries. Below are three of its 10 schools, each with why it was picked. GCSE results at the town’s 2 secondary schools: 57% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 50.6.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highwood Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 445 | D |
| Queens' SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,697 | A |
| Bushey Heath Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 242 | A |
Social renters account for just over one in ten households. Private rents average £1,829 a month across the Hertsmere council area. 1,046 standard sales inside Bushey’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put the median at £546,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £865,000 | 212 |
| Semi-detached | £625,000 | 282 |
| Terraced | £460,000 | 229 |
| Flat or maisonette | £330,000 | 323 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Disability touches 13% of Bushey’s population. 2 GP practices serve the town; just over nine in ten patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. 3.5% of residents described their health as bad or very bad, below both Hertfordshire’s towns (3.8%) and England’s towns (5.2%). Self-reported good health: 86% of the town’s residents.
| Census 2021 | Bushey | Hertfordshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 86% | 85% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.5% | 3.8% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 13% | 14% | 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.
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
47% of the crimes fell under violence and sexual offences. In the 12 months to August 2026, police logged 1,476 crimes and 333 reports of anti-social behaviour inside Bushey’s built-up area. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 14.4 reports per 1,000, about level with Hertfordshire’s towns (14.2) and above 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. Bushey has one registered historic park or garden. It has 30 listed buildings for every 10,000 residents.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
People 65 and over make up a fifth of the town, above Hertfordshire’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. One in ten residents are aged 15 to 24.
53% women, 47% men
About 90 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Bushey | Hertfordshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 25% | 27% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 20% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 14% | 15% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 4.6% | 4.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 15% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 42% | 39% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Hertfordshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
85 listed buildings in Bushey.
Lululand: Photo: Unknown photographer · Public domain · Church of St James: Photo: Peter O'Connor aka anemoneprojectors · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Rose Garden, Bushey: Photo: LUC · CC0 · The Windmill Public House: Photo: Roger Cornfoot · CC BY-SA 2.0
34 notable people were born in Bushey.
Simon Le Bon: Raph_PH, CC BY 2.0 · Michael Portillo: Regent's College London, CC BY 2.0 · Marion Bailey: John Sears, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Mark Ramprakash: Loganberry, Public domain · Shirlie Holliman: Andrew Hurley, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Frederick Forestier-Walker: Elliott & Fry (no individual credited), Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bushey | 28,427 | — | B+ | C− | C+ | A− |
| Watford | 131,336 | 2 | B− | C− | C− | C+ |
| Elstree | 1,737 | 2.6 | — | C− | C | B+ |
| Radlett | 8,182 | 3.1 | A− | D | B− | A+ |
| Moor Park | 5,850 | 3.2 | A+ | D | A | A+ |
| Borehamwood | 39,760 | 3.9 | C | C− | C− | C |
| Harrow | 260,534 | 4 | B+ | C | C+ | B− |
| Bricket Wood | 4,624 | 4.2 | A− | C− | B+ | A− |
Elstree has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £546,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £330,000, terraced houses £460,000, semi-detached houses £625,000 and detached houses £865,000.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
It has less crime than most places its size: less crime per resident than 68% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. Against all UK towns, most of them smaller, it grades C+.
Large town in Hertfordshire, England
Bushey is a built-up area of 28,427 people, in the Hertsmere 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.