Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The town has 5,188 residents and lies in Hertfordshire, East of England.
Redbourn’s strongest is schools: primary results beat 93% of towns in England; secondary results beat 98% of towns in England. The town’s overall grade of A puts it better than 88% of UK towns, #12 of 50 in Hertfordshire. The drawback is cost of living: a typical home costs £585,000 and rent runs £1,931 a month. The rest of its grades are middling: B for safety, B for walkability and B− for hazard risk.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · commuting, Census 2021 · flood risk, Environment Agency.
The 3 things Redbourn 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 Redbourn is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 87 buildings inside Redbourn’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
14% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 3 old photos and postcards going back to 1910.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Redbourn.
Below is one of its 2 schools, and why it was picked. Attainment 8 at the one secondary school within 3 km averages 59.1, and 73% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths. 375 pupils attend Redbourn’s one primary school.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Redbourn Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 375 | C− |
There is no GP practice in Redbourn: the nearest is 1.9 miles off. The nearest A&E to Redbourn is Luton and Dunstable Hospital, 7.3 miles away. At the census, 4.1% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, between Hertfordshire’s towns (3.8%) and England’s towns (5.2%).
| Census 2021 | Redbourn | Hertfordshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 84% | 85% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.1% | 3.8% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 16% | 14% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Self-reported health favours young towns, since these answers ignore age; the Health Grade leans on age-adjusted measures such as life expectancy and early deaths.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Of Redbourn’s 87 listed buildings on Historic England’s list, Grade I counts 1 and Grade II* 2. The town’s listed buildings include the Parish Church of St Mary, Grade I. Conservation areas cover 25% of the town’s land, higher than both Hertfordshire’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (7%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Owners make up 75% of households. 16% live in social housing, below Hertfordshire’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. Also worth knowing: half of the 201 standard sales inside Redbourn’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £585,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £875,000 | 56 |
| Semi-detached | £616,000 | 63 |
| Terraced | £453,000 | 58 |
| Flat or maisonette | £290,000 | 24 |
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 49% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Household income came to £76K a year before tax, higher than both Hertfordshire’s towns (£69K) and England’s towns (£55K). The census found 16% of commuters going to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. Work in town: just over a tenth of resident commuters. Working from home was the norm for nearly half of workers at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
There were 14.9 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), higher than both Hertfordshire’s towns (14.2) and England’s towns (7.8). In the 12 months to August 2026, police logged 187 crimes and 56 reports of anti-social behaviour inside Redbourn’s built-up area. Of all the crimes, 50% were 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.
Redbourn has a median age of 46.3. 45% of adults hold a degree, higher than both Hertfordshire’s towns (39%) and England’s towns (34%).
53% women, 47% men
About 90 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.
| Redbourn | Hertfordshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.1% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 20% | 27% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 24% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 12% | 15% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 4.8% | 4.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 14% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 45% | 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 Redbourn. Best known first.
Historic house · English HeritageOld Gorhambury House3.9 km outside town, to the south
Historic houseLuton Hoo5 km outside town, to the north
Historic houseGorhambury House3.8 km outside town, to the southPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
87 listed buildings in Redbourn, 1 of them Grade I.
Parish Church of St Mary: Photo: Simon Burchell · CC BY-SA 4.0 · The Priory: Photo: Stephen Richards · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The George Public House: Photo: Bikeboy · CC BY-SA 2.0 · W. Hall, Butcher: Photo: No Swan So Fine · CC BY-SA 4.0
4 notable people were born in Redbourn.
Claude Bowes-Lyon, 13th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne: Franz Richard, Public domain · Clara Grace: Jules Beau, Public domain · Spencer B. Horn: Anonyme, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Redbourn | 5,188 | — | A | C | B | A |
| Flamstead | 1,055 | 2 | — | D | A | A− |
| Harpenden | 30,964 | 2.5 | A+ | C− | A− | A+ |
| Markyate | 3,174 | 3.6 | C+ | C | C+ | A− |
| Slip End | 1,410 | 3.9 | — | B | B | C+ |
| Hemel Hempstead | 95,995 | 4 | C− | C | C− | C |
| Sandridge | 1,457 | 4.4 | — | C | C | B+ |
| St Albans | 75,544 | 4.5 | A | C | C | A− |
Flamstead, Slip End and Sandridge have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Among the strongest in England: GCSE results beat 98% of towns in England, and primary results beat 93% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). Redbourn has 2 state schools; places are handled by Hertfordshire council.
That is 6.9 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Parish Church of St Mary.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £585,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £290,000, terraced houses £453,000, semi-detached houses £616,000 and detached houses £875,000.
Town in Hertfordshire, England
Redbourn is a built-up area of 5,188 people, in the St Albans 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.