Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The town, home to 17,443 people, lies in Hertfordshire, East of England.
A strong record with one exception. Jobs & income is its strong suit — mean household income £67,947; 1.7% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Royston grades A− overall, better than 80% of UK towns, and ranks #20 of 50 in Hertfordshire. Add health to its strengths — men here can expect to live to 83, women to 85.6. School results trail most towns: primary results beat 23% of towns in England; secondary results beat 20% of towns in England. At a median £378,000, a home costs 5.6 times the yearly income of households in the North Hertfordshire council area.
Figures: income and life expectancy, ONS · claimants, DWP · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Royston is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things Royston does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 115 buildings inside Royston’s built-up area, 4 of them Grade I, and 1 scheduled monument.
10% 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 1915.
115 listed buildings in Royston, 4 of them Grade I.
Royston Cave: Photo: Unknown photographer · Public domain · Church of St John the Baptist: Photo: Magnus Manske · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Royston Manor House: Photo: Magnus Manske · CC BY-SA 4.0 · The Boar's Head Public House: Photo: Brian Chadwick · CC BY-SA 2.0
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Royston.
At the census, 3.3% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, below both Hertfordshire’s towns (3.8%) and England’s towns (5.2%). The nearest A&E to Royston is Addenbrooke's and the Rosie Hospitals, 10.8 miles away. One GP practice serves the town; 78% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Royston | Hertfordshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 86% | 85% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.3% | 3.8% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 15% | 14% | 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.
St Mary Roman Catholic Primary School’s results beat 75% of schools in England like it. Some 2,218 pupils attend Royston’s five primaries and one secondary. Of its 6 schools, three are shown below, each with the reason. Attainment 8 at the 2 secondary schools within 3 km averages 42.8, and just over a third of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Icknield Walk First SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 335 | – |
| King James Academy RoystonLargest secondary schoolAll-through | All-through | 947 | D |
| St Mary Roman Catholic Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 227 | A− |
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.
Of the commuters living in Royston, 31% work in the town itself. 39% of commuters travelled under 5 km, near Hertfordshire’s towns (41%) and lower than England’s towns (45%). By car: that was how nearly three quarters of commuters travelled at the census.
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.
Homes from before 1919 make up a tenth of the total. Royston’s listed buildings include the Church of St John the Baptist, Grade I. One scheduled monument lies locally.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The 12 months to August 2026 brought 782 recorded crimes inside Royston’s built-up area, and 244 reports of anti-social behaviour. There were 15.8 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), above both Hertfordshire’s towns (14.2) and England’s towns (7.8). Violence and sexual offences were 46% of the crimes.
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.
16% rent privately, about level with Hertfordshire’s towns (17%) and below England’s towns (21%). Social housing holds 12% of households. Households that own their home make up 71%.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £565,000 | 257 |
| Semi-detached | £395,000 | 225 |
| Terraced | £350,000 | 263 |
| Flat or maisonette | £187,500 | 191 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
People 65 and over make up a fifth of the town, above both Hertfordshire’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (18%). Royston has a median age of 40.9 years. Among adults, 39% have a degree.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Royston | Hertfordshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.9% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 29% | 27% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 24% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 20% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 14% | 15% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 4.9% | 4.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 39% | 39% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Hertfordshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
16 notable people were born in Royston.
Thomas Cartwright: Gustavus Ellinthorpe Sintzenich, Public domain
Town in Hertfordshire, England
Royston is a built-up area of 17,443 people, in the North Hertfordshire 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
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royston | 17,443 | — | A− | B− | B− | A |
| Bassingbourn | 2,353 | 2.3 | — | B+ | B− | A |
| Melbourn | 4,907 | 2.7 | A− | B+ | B | A− |
| Meldreth | 1,823 | 3.2 | — | B | B− | B+ |
| Fowlmere | 1,295 | 4.8 | — | B− | B+ | A |
| Orwell | 1,147 | 5.5 | — | B− | A | A− |
| Foxton | 1,275 | 5.5 | — | C+ | B− | A+ |
| Ashwell | 1,982 | 5.7 | — | C− | A | A+ |
Bassingbourn, Meldreth, Fowlmere, Orwell, Foxton and Ashwell have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 2.7 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include Church of St John the Baptist. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
GCSE results trail 80% of towns in England, and primary results trail 77% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £378,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £187,500, terraced houses £350,000, semi-detached houses £395,000 and detached houses £565,000. Household incomes are higher than in 85% of UK towns, so cost of living still grades B−.
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.