Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
In Oxfordshire, South East, this large town has 52,041 residents.
Crime runs high: 47 violent or sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, plus 15.4 home and vehicle crimes. Only 42% of UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more have more crime per resident. A median £285,000 buys a home here, 4.6 times what households in the Cherwell council area earn in a year. Its best grade is for walkability: on the way to work, 27% walk, cycle or take a bus or train. Put together, the subjects come to a C+ overall, better than nearly two fifths of UK towns. The rest of its grades are middling: B− for schools, C+ for jobs & income and B− for hazard risk.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · incomes, ONS · claimants, DWP · flood risk, Environment Agency.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Banbury is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 215 buildings inside Banbury’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I, and 1 scheduled monument.
9% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds a map from 1886.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Banbury.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 23% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
23% of workers worked mainly from home at the census. Unemployment benefit claims came to 3.6% of 16 to 64s in 2026, above both Oxfordshire’s towns (2%) and England’s towns (2.3%). Income per household averages £52K a year, before tax.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The Grange Community Primary School’s results beat 95% of schools in England like it. Of its 19 schools, three are shown below, each with the reason. Attainment 8 at the town’s 3 secondary schools averages 44.7, and just over two in five pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hill View Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 495 | C |
| North Oxfordshire AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,004 | B |
| The Grange Community Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 310 | A+ |
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
4,824 crimes and 625 reports of anti-social behaviour: that is what police recorded inside Banbury’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 11.1 reports per 1,000, higher than both Oxfordshire’s towns (4.8) and England’s towns (7.8). 47% 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.
Men in Banbury can expect to live to 78.9, women to 82.5 (2019–23). 4 GP practices serve the town; 72% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. A disability affects 16% of people locally.
| Census 2021 | Banbury | Oxfordshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 83% | 86% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.6% | 3.5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 16% | 15% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · No age adjustment applies to these census answers, which flatter younger towns; the Health Grade’s measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them, do allow for age.
People aged 15 to 24 make up 11% of the town, below both Oxfordshire’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (12%). At 37.8, the median resident of Banbury sits in the middle of the age range. Under-15s account for 18% of the population.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Banbury | Oxfordshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 31% | 27% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 25% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 15% | 18% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 21% | 14% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6% | 4.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 28% | 42% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Oxfordshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
24% rent privately, above Oxfordshire’s towns (20%) and England’s towns (21%) alike. No town in Oxfordshire costs less to buy into than Banbury, at £285,000, the lowest of 40. Half of the 1,884 standard sales inside the town’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £285,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £409,995 | 424 |
| Semi-detached | £299,950 | 661 |
| Terraced | £252,000 | 490 |
| Flat or maisonette | £158,000 | 309 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Banbury’s listed buildings include the Church of St Mary, Grade I. Nearly one in ten homes were built before 1919. Scaled to its population, Banbury has 41 listed buildings per 10,000 people, between Oxfordshire’s towns (107) and England’s towns (39).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Banbury. Best known first.
MuseumBanbury Museumin town
Historic houseBroughton Castle1.9 km outside town, to the southwest
MuseumBloxham Village Museum2.3 km outside town, to the southMuseumMuseumTooley's Historic Boatyardin townPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
215 listed buildings in Banbury, 1 of them Grade I.
Carpenters: Photo: Steve Daniels · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Banbury Cross: Photo: Chris Evans · CC BY 2.0 · Burger Castle, Castle Centre Unit 21, Castle Centre: Photo: Jacketpocket · CC BY-SA 4.0 · The Flying Horse Inn: Photo: John M · CC BY-SA 2.0
76 notable people were born in Banbury.
Richie Hawtin: Sven Volkens, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Victoria Prentis: Chris McAndrew, CC BY 3.0 · Rodney Gould: Fotograaf Onbekend / Anefo, CC0 · Jorge Grant: Nottingham Forest F.C., CC0 · Pippa Bennett-Warner: LosCriticologos, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Banbury | 52,041 | — | C+ | B | D | C |
| Bodicote | 4,752 | 2 | A− | C+ | B+ | A |
| Middleton Cheney | 4,127 | 3.2 | A | C | A | B+ |
| Adderbury and Twyford | 3,318 | 3.4 | B+ | C− | A | A− |
| Bloxham | 3,681 | 3.6 | B+ | C | B− | A |
| Kings Sutton | 2,306 | 4.1 | — | C | A− | A− |
| Deddington | 1,769 | 5.9 | — | C− | A | A− |
| Hook Norton | 2,188 | 7.4 | — | C− | A− | A+ |
Kings Sutton, Deddington and Hook Norton have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
About the middle for its size: 58% of the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more report less crime per resident. Against all UK towns, most of them far smaller, it grades D.
Band D council tax in Banbury is £2,603 for 2026–27, more than in 86% 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.
Large town in Oxfordshire, England
Banbury is a built-up area of 52,041 people, in the Cherwell 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.