Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A borough of 208,858 people, one of London’s 32 boroughs.
Sutton grades A overall against UK towns: better than 92% of UK towns, and #2 of 33 in London. Its strongest subject is walkability (A+): 38% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is safety (C): 27.1 violent and sexual offences and 14.6 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026. Among UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, it has less crime per resident than 91%. The median home sold for £455,000 in the last three years, 5.5 times what households in the Sutton council area earn in a year.
The 3 things Sutton 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 Sutton is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 201 buildings inside Sutton’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I, and 5 scheduled monuments.
13% 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 1905.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Sutton. Best known first.
GardenGrove Parkin town
MuseumWhitehallin town
MuseumHoneywood Museumin town
MuseumLittle Holland Housein town
Historic houseNonsuch Palace800 m outside town, to the west
Abbey or prioryMerton Priory Chapter House Museum2.4 km outside town, to the northPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Sutton.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 36% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
For Sutton, that is above both London’s towns (£74K) and England’s towns (£55K). 58% of commuters drove to work at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Sutton Grammar School’s results beat nearly every one of schools in England like it. Three of its 63 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avenue Primary AcademyLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 1,057 | B+ |
| Cheam High SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 2,119 | A− |
| Wallington High School for GirlsTop results in townSecondary | Secondary | 1,548 | A+ |
Sutton sits above both London’s towns (45%) and England’s towns (61%) on this measure. Social housing holds 14% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £865,000 | 521 |
| Semi-detached | £614,000 | 1,560 |
| Terraced | £480,000 | 1,965 |
| Flat or maisonette | £290,000 | 2,319 |
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.
Police recorded 13,464 crimes inside Sutton’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 3,250 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violence came to 27.1 per 1,000 residents a year, below London’s towns (36.1) but above England’s towns (22). Violence and sexual offences were 41% of the crimes; the police category includes harassment and stalking.
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
85% of Sutton’s residents described their health as good or very good in 2021, against 85% across London’s towns. These answers aren’t adjusted for age, so young towns look healthier; the Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
| Census 2021 | Sutton | London | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 85% | 85% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.9% | 4.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 14% | 13% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
That puts Sutton above both London’s towns (24%) and England’s towns (7%). Homes from before 1919 make up 13% of the total. Sutton’s listed buildings include Beddington Place (Great Hall Only), Grade I.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
On this, Sutton is above both London’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (18%). Young adults of 15 to 24 are 10% of the population. The median resident of Sutton is 39.4 years old.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Sutton | London | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 20% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 29% | 34% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 24% | 25% |
| 65+ | 15% | 12% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 15% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 4.4% | 3.2% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 13% | 17% |
| Degree level | 40% | 47% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · London and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
201 listed buildings in Sutton, 1 of them Grade I.
Beddington Place (Great Hall Only): Photo: scott brawn · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Church of All Saints: Photo: A P Monblat · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Whitehall: Photo: Roger Miller · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Greyhound Inn: Photo: Jhsteel · CC BY-SA 4.0
213 notable people were born in Sutton.
Jeff Beck: Mandy Hall, CC BY 2.0 · James Hunt: Uploader's father, digitized and altered by Mr.choppers, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Paul Greengrass: PS2pcGAMER, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Jack Cork: @cfcunofficial (Chelsea Debs) London, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Quentin Crisp: Ross B. Lewis, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Tony Barton: stavros1, CC BY 3.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sutton | 208,858 | — | A | A− | C | B− |
| Worcester Park and Stoneleigh | 15,851 | 2.9 | A+ | C− | A− | A |
| Merton | 214,931 | 3 | B+ | C+ | C+ | B− |
| Banstead | 8,929 | 3.1 | A− | C− | B− | B+ |
| Ewell | 27,509 | 3.5 | A− | C | C+ | A− |
| Chipstead and Woodmansterne | 4,523 | 3.7 | A | C− | B | A |
| Croydon | 389,242 | 4.1 | B− | B | D | C |
| Epsom | 35,857 | 4.3 | A− | C+ | C− | B+ |
People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Among the strongest in England: GCSE results beat 97% of towns in England, and primary results beat 94% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Against all UK towns, most of them far smaller, it grades C.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £455,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £290,000, terraced houses £480,000, semi-detached houses £614,000 and detached houses £865,000. Household incomes are higher than in 99% of UK towns, so cost of living still grades A−.
London borough in London
Sutton is a built-up area of 208,858 people, in the Sutton 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.