Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The town, home to 5,236 people, lies in Oxfordshire, South East.
Strong in places, weak in others. Health is a strength (A+): men here can expect to live to 82.1, women to 87.1. Taken together, its subjects give Benson an A overall, better than 94% of UK towns. Natural hazards weigh more here: 3.3% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. A median £484,000 buys a home here, 6.9 times what households in the South Oxfordshire council area earn in a year.
Figures: life expectancy and incomes, ONS · flood risk, Environment Agency · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years. Benson is a military garrison town: most residents serve or work for the armed forces and live in service housing, so it keeps its grades but isn’t ranked against other towns.
The 3 things Benson 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 Benson is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 79 buildings inside Benson’s built-up area, 3 of them Grade II*.
13% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Benson. Best known first.
CastleWallingford Castle900 m outside town, to the southwest
MuseumWallingford Museum1.3 km outside town, to the southwest
Heritage railwayCholsey and Wallingford Railway1.9 km outside town, to the southwest
MuseumDorchester Abbey Museum3.8 km outside town, to the northwestMuseumMuseumAston Martin Heritage Trust3.9 km outside town, to the northwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Benson.
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.
33% of commuters went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport at the census. Short trips to work, under 5 km: 38%, lower than both Oxfordshire’s towns (46%) and England’s towns (45%), and on top of that the car carried nearly two thirds of commuters at the census. Work in town: 28% of resident commuters.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
61% of pupils at the town’s 2 primary schools met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Both of its schools are shown below. Between them, two primaries teach 452 pupils in Benson.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Benson Church of England Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 329 | C− |
| RAF Benson Community Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 123 | A− |
90% of Benson’s residents described their health as good or very good at the census, above Oxfordshire’s towns (86%) and England’s towns (82%) alike. Disability touches just over a tenth of the town’s population. The nearest A&E to Benson is John Radcliffe Hospital, 11.3 miles away. One GP practice serves the town; 98% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Benson | Oxfordshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 90% | 86% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 2.1% | 3.5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 12% | 15% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · These shares come straight from the census, without allowing for age, and young towns benefit; the Health Grade instead weighs age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
Violence and sexual offences accounted for 57% of recorded crime. Homes saw 5.3 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year, below Oxfordshire’s towns (6.8) and England’s towns (9.4) alike. Reported offences in Benson came to 172 over twelve months to August 2026; nuisance and anti-social incidents added 18. The violent crime rate is 15.3 per 1,000 residents a year.
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.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Grade II* covers 3 of them. Listed buildings per head: 151 for every 10,000 residents of Benson. Homes from before 1919 make up 13% of the total, below both Oxfordshire’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (16%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
9% live in social housing, lower than both Oxfordshire’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (18%). From September 2023 to August 2026, 277 homes sold inside Benson’s built-up area at standard prices; the middle one went for £484,000. Private rents average £1,402 a month across the South Oxfordshire council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £610,000 | 144 |
| Semi-detached | £407,500 | 92 |
| Terraced | £367,500 | 36 |
| Flat or maisonette | £275,000 | 5 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24. Ages in Benson split evenly at 36: half are older, half younger. Degrees are held by 41% of adults.
48% women, 52% men
About 108 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Benson is a garrison town: service personnel living in barracks count as residents.
| Benson | Oxfordshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 20% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 33% | 27% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 19% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 17% | 18% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 9.2% | 14% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 4.6% | 4.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 24% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 41% | 42% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Oxfordshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
79 listed buildings in Benson.
Fifield Manor: Photo: Maypm · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2-6 High Street and Monarchs Court, 2 Mill Lane: Photo: Bill Nicholls · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The White Hart Hotel: Photo: Bill Nicholls · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Fifield Farmhouse and Barns and Shelter Sheds and Stables: Photo: Stefan Czapski · CC BY-SA 2.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benson | 5,236 | — | A | C+ | A− | A+ |
| Crowmarsh Gifford | 1,329 | 1.4 | — | C+ | B− | A |
| Wallingford | 8,455 | 1.7 | A− | B− | B− | B+ |
| Brightwell-cum-Sotwell | 1,244 | 2.4 | — | C | A− | A− |
| Chalgrove | 2,807 | 3.7 | B+ | B | B+ | A |
| Cholsey | 3,776 | 3.7 | A | B− | B | A |
| Berinsfield | 2,773 | 4.4 | C+ | A− | C+ | C |
| Watlington | 2,438 | 4.6 | — | B− | C+ | A |
Crowmarsh Gifford, Brightwell-cum-Sotwell and Watlington have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 6.2 times the typical UK town for its size.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £484,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £275,000, terraced houses £367,500, semi-detached houses £407,500 and detached houses £610,000.
Town in Oxfordshire, England
Benson is a built-up area of 5,236 people, in the South Oxfordshire 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.