Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
With 37,748 residents, it is a large town in Oxfordshire, South East.
Mostly strong, with a single weak spot. Its best grade is for jobs & income (A): households earn a mean £65,155 a year, and 1.7% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Bicester grades B overall, better than 64% of UK towns, and ranks #28 of 38 in Oxfordshire. It also does well on walkability: on the way to work, 25% walk, cycle or take a bus or train. The trade-off is safety — police record 30.5 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, and 9.6 home and vehicle crimes. Among UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, it has less crime per resident than 61%. Buying the median home, at £345,000, takes 5.6 years of household income in the Cherwell council area. Schools are weaker too (C+) — primary results beat 32% of towns in England; secondary results beat 46% of towns in England.
Figures: income, ONS · claimants, DWP · commuting, Census 2021 · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
The thing Bicester 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 Bicester is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 142 buildings inside Bicester’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I, and 1 scheduled monument.
3% 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 Bicester.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 32% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
73% of commuters drove, higher than both Oxfordshire’s towns (69%) and England’s towns (70%). Work in town: 40% of resident commuters. Jobs per working resident: 1.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Attainment 8 at the town’s 3 secondary schools averages 45.5, and 44% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths. Two of its 14 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. Some 6,385 pupils attend Bicester’s ten primaries and three secondaries.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Edburg's Church of England (VA) SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 598 | B+ |
| The Bicester SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,176 | B− |
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
A year of reports to August 2026 adds up to 3,072 offences in Bicester and 254 cases of nuisance behaviour. 37% of the crimes fell under violence and sexual offences. There were 6.1 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), higher than Oxfordshire’s towns (4.8) yet lower than England’s towns (7.8).
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.
Social housing holds 12% of households. Private rents average £1,304 a month across the Cherwell council area. Nearly two thirds of households own their home, about level with Oxfordshire’s towns (63%) and above England’s towns (61%).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £480,000 | 492 |
| Semi-detached | £359,500 | 420 |
| Terraced | £299,000 | 563 |
| Flat or maisonette | £210,000 | 158 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
87% of Bicester’s residents described their health as good or very good at the census, about level with Oxfordshire’s towns (86%) and above England’s towns (82%). Disability touches 13% of the town’s population. The nearest A&E to Bicester is John Radcliffe Hospital, 10 miles away. 3 GP practices serve the town; 81% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Bicester | Oxfordshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 87% | 86% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.1% | 3.5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 13% | 15% | 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.
Bicester’s listed buildings include the Church of St Edburg, Grade I. Scaled to its population, Bicester has 38 listed buildings per 10,000 people, about level with England’s towns (39) and below Oxfordshire’s towns (107). 3% of homes were built before 1919. At the top of the list, 1 are Grade I and 2 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Bicester has a median age of 37.8. Just over a tenth of the population is aged 15 to 24, below Oxfordshire’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (12%) alike. Under 15: 18% of residents.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Bicester | Oxfordshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 32% | 27% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 13% | 18% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 15% | 14% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.2% | 4.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 35% | 42% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Oxfordshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
142 listed buildings in Bicester, 1 of them Grade I.
White Hart Inn: Photo: Steve Daniels · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Station House Approximately 15 Metres North West of Level Crossing: Photo: Motacilla · CC BY-SA 4.0 · The Old Court House: Photo: Motacilla · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 35, Market Square: Photo: Steve Daniels · CC BY-SA 2.0
21 notable people were born in Bicester.
Kieran Bird: National Lottery Good Causes, CC BY 3.0 · Andrew Watson: Edn575, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Maud Franklin: James McNeill Whistler, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bicester | 37,748 | — | B | C+ | C+ | B− |
| Launton | 1,374 | 1.6 | — | C | A− | B− |
| Chesterton | 1,179 | 1.8 | — | C− | A | A− |
| Ambrosden | 2,736 | 2.5 | B | C | B | B− |
| Upper Arncott | 1,659 | 4.1 | — | B | A | B |
| Upper Heyford | 2,481 | 4.5 | — | C | C | A− |
| Tackley | 1,073 | 6.3 | — | C+ | A− | A |
| Calvert | 1,434 | 6.6 | — | C+ | B+ | A− |
Launton, Chesterton, Upper Arncott, Upper Heyford, Tackley and Calvert 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: 39% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people report less crime per resident. Against all UK towns, most of them smaller, it grades C+.
Band D council tax in Bicester is £2,607 for 2026–27, more than in 87% 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
Bicester is a built-up area of 37,748 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.