Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town in Northamptonshire, East Midlands, home to 16,180 people.
Good on most counts; one lags. Households here earn well: households earn a mean £67,675 a year, and 1.5% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Police record less crime here than in most towns: 17 violent and sexual offences and 5.1 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Schools lag: primary results beat 38% of towns in England; secondary results beat 35% of towns in England. The median home sold for £335,000, 6 times what households in the West Northamptonshire council area earn in a year. Put together, the subjects come to a B+ overall, ranking #8 of 31 in Northamptonshire. Nationally, it does better than nearly three quarters of UK towns.
Figures: income, ONS · claimants, DWP · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
The 2 things Brackley 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 Brackley is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 76 buildings inside Brackley’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I, and 1 scheduled monument.
7% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Brackley.
In the 12 months to August 2026, police logged 495 crimes and 146 reports of anti-social behaviour inside Brackley’s built-up area. Of all the crimes, 52% 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.
GCSE results at the one secondary school within 3 km: just over two in five pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 44.2. Key Stage 2 results at the town’s 3 primary schools: nearly three in five pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Between them, four primaries and one secondary teach 2,493 pupils in Brackley.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bracken Leas Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 420 | B− |
| Magdalen College SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,293 | C+ |
The nearest A&E to Brackley is Horton General Hospital, 8 miles away. 13% of residents have a disability, lower than both Northamptonshire’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (17%). Self-reported good health: 86% of the town’s residents. 2 GP practices serve the town; 85% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Brackley | Northamptonshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 86% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.2% | 4.5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 13% | 16% | 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.
Private renters make up 14% of households. Social housing holds nearly one in ten households, below both Northamptonshire’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (18%). From September 2023 to August 2026, 884 homes sold inside Brackley’s built-up area at standard prices; the middle one went for £335,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £450,000 | 316 |
| Semi-detached | £317,500 | 239 |
| Terraced | £280,000 | 225 |
| Flat or maisonette | £191,750 | 104 |
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 30% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
The 2026 claimant rate among 16 to 64s was 1.5%. The car took 85% of commuters, higher than both Northamptonshire’s towns (81%) and England’s towns (70%). 33% of commuters travelled under 5 km to work.
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.
Brackley’s listed buildings include the Church of St Peter, Grade I. 7% of its homes were built before 1919, below both Northamptonshire’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (16%). One scheduled monument lies locally.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Typical age in Brackley: 39.8, the median. 16% of residents are 65 or over, lower than both Northamptonshire’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (18%). Graduates make up 33% of adults.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Brackley | Northamptonshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.6% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 28% | 27% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 16% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 14% | 19% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.4% | 6% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 20% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 33% | 29% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Northamptonshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
76 listed buildings in Brackley, 1 of them Grade I.
Town Hall: Photo: Andrew Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Magdalen College Chapel of Saints John and James: Photo: Roger Templeman · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Greyhound Public House: Photo: Roger Templeman · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Brackley War Memorial: Photo: mick finn · CC BY-SA 2.0
8 notable people were born in Brackley.
Otho Holand: Photo British Library; painted by or for William Bruges, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brackley | 16,180 | — | B+ | C+ | A− | B+ |
| Croughton | 1,200 | 3.5 | — | C− | A+ | A− |
| Kings Sutton | 2,306 | 5.3 | — | C | A− | A− |
| Middleton Cheney | 4,127 | 5.7 | A | C | A | B+ |
| Silverstone | 2,542 | 6.5 | B+ | C | C+ | A+ |
| Adderbury and Twyford | 3,318 | 7 | B+ | C− | A | A− |
| Bodicote | 4,752 | 7.4 | A− | C+ | B+ | A |
| Buckingham | 14,296 | 7.7 | A | B | C+ | A |
Croughton and Kings Sutton have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
GCSE results trail 65% of towns in England, and primary results trail 62% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Band D council tax in Brackley is £2,575 for 2026–27, more than in 81% of UK towns (council, county, police and fire, plus the parish or town council). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
Town in Northamptonshire, England
Brackley is a built-up area of 16,180 people, in the West Northamptonshire 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.