Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A borough of 192,888 people, one of London’s 32 boroughs.
The picture is mixed. Its schools beat most (A+): primary results beat 97% of towns in England; secondary results beat 97% of towns in England. Jobs & income is a strength too: the mean household earns £101,762 a year. Housing is expensive: a typical home costs £715,000 and rent runs £2,333 a month. It lags on hazard risk as well (C−): 2% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. Overall, that makes an A, better than 93% of UK towns. That places it #1 of 33 in London.
Figures: income, ONS · claimants, DWP · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · flood risk, Environment Agency.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Richmond upon Thames is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things Richmond upon Thames does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 702 buildings inside Richmond upon Thames’s built-up area, 23 of them Grade I, and 1 scheduled monument.
38% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →702 listed buildings in Richmond upon Thames, 23 of them Grade I.
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: Photo: Diliff · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Strawberry Hill (St Mary's Training College): Photo: Chiswick Chap · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Bishop Duppa's Almshouses: Photo: AndyScott · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Harrods Depository Riverside Warehouse to East: Photo: Henry Kellner · CC BY-SA 4.0
Richmond, Virginia, is named after Richmond upon Thames.
USUS editionRichmond, Virginia, settled in 1607, takes its name from this borough.
Named after: each U.S. town’s Wikipedia article. Grades compare each town with towns in its own country, so they aren’t a head-to-head.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Richmond upon Thames.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 59% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
2.5% of 16 to 64s claimed unemployment benefits in 2026, between London’s towns (5.4%) and England’s towns (2.3%). Driving is how 45% of commuters got to work at the census. Work in town: 35% of resident commuters. The census counted 59% of workers working mainly from home.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Secondary results at the town’s 11 secondary schools: an Attainment 8 score of 57.7, with 67% at grade 5 or above in English and maths. Barnes Primary School’s results beat nearly every one of schools in England like it. Below are three of its 60 schools, each with why it was picked. Between them, 45 primaries and 11 secondaries teach 28,219 pupils in Richmond upon Thames.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collis Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 704 | A+ |
| Grey Court SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,650 | A |
| Barnes Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 470 | A+ |
At the census, 3% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, lower than both London’s towns (4.3%) and England’s towns (5.2%). Disability touches 12% of Richmond upon Thames’ population. Men in Richmond upon Thames can expect to live to 82.2, women to 86.6 (2019–23). Also worth knowing: 28 GP practices serve the town; 83% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Richmond upon Thames | London | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 89% | 85% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3% | 4.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 12% | 13% | 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.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
38% of homes date from before 1919. Richmond upon Thames’s listed buildings include Asgill House, Grade I. Of Richmond upon Thames’ land, 29% lies in conservation areas, higher than both London’s towns (24%) and England’s towns (7%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
A quarter of households are private tenants. Owners make up 63% of households, about level with England’s towns (61%) and above London’s towns (45%). Social housing holds 12% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £1,540,000 | 454 |
| Semi-detached | £1,050,000 | 1,392 |
| Terraced | £881,750 | 2,464 |
| Flat or maisonette | £470,000 | 2,890 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Burglary and damage add up to 17.9 per 1,000 residents each year. Violent crime ran at 18.8 per 1,000 residents a year, lower than both London’s towns (36.1) and England’s towns (22). Reported offences in Richmond upon Thames came to 10,786 over twelve months to August 2026; nuisance and anti-social incidents added 3,149. 32% of the crimes fell under 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.
16% of residents are 65 or over. The 15-to-24 age group: 9.5%, below both London’s towns (12%) and England’s towns (12%). The age that splits Richmond upon Thames in two is 41.7. One measure of family life: 19% of residents are under 15.
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Richmond upon Thames | London | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.5% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 27% | 34% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 24% | 25% |
| 65+ | 16% | 12% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 9.1% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 2.4% | 3.2% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 12% | 13% | 17% |
| Degree level | 60% | 47% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · London and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Richmond upon Thames. Best known first.
Historic house · Historic Royal PalacesHampton Court Palacein town
Historic houseStrawberry Hill Housein town
Historic house · National TrustHam Housein town
Art galleryOrleans House Galleryin town · 56K visitors a year
MuseumMuseum of Richmondin town
MuseumWorld Rugby Museumin townPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
302 notable people were born in Richmond upon Thames.
Keira Knightley: Andrea Raffin, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Edward VI of England: Attributed to William Scrots (active 1537-1553) [1], Public domain · Brian May: Raph_PH, CC BY 2.0 · Noël Coward: Allan Warren, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Arthur Cayley: Herbert Beraud (1845–1896), Public domain · Ronald Colman: Studio, Public domain
London borough in London
Richmond upon Thames is a built-up area of 192,888 people, in the Richmond upon Thames 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richmond upon Thames | 192,888 | — | A | C+ | C+ | A |
| Hounslow | 286,591 | 2.2 | B | C | C− | C |
| Kingston upon Thames | 166,333 | 4 | A | B | C+ | B+ |
| West Molesey | 47,144 | 4.3 | A | C− | B | A |
| Sunbury-on-Thames | 21,476 | 4.6 | B− | D | C− | B |
| Ealing | 367,271 | 4.9 | B− | C | C− | C+ |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | 182,187 | 5.3 | B− | C− | D | C+ |
| Ashford Common | 8,333 | 5.5 | B+ | C− | B | B |
People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £715,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £470,000, terraced houses £881,750, semi-detached houses £1,050,000 and detached houses £1,540,000.
Among the strongest in England: GCSE results beat 97% of towns in England, and primary results beat 97% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Against all UK towns, most of them far smaller, it grades C+.
That is 1.5 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include Asgill House. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
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.