Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
7,268 people call this town in Oxfordshire, South East home.
Chinnor’s grades pull in different directions. Residents are healthier than most: men here can expect to live to 83, women to 85.6. It is strong on jobs & income as well (A−): the mean household earns £72,952 a year. The catch is walkability: on the way to work, 10% walk, cycle or take a bus or train. Homes sell for a median £425,000, about 6.1 years of what households in the South Oxfordshire council area earn. All told, that adds up to an A− overall, better than 82% of UK towns. In the ranking it comes #16 of 38 in Oxfordshire.
Figures: life expectancy and income, ONS · claimants, DWP · commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
The 3 things Chinnor 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 Chinnor is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 28 buildings inside Chinnor’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
6% 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 Chinnor.
87% of people in Chinnor rate their own health good or very good. At the census, 13% of people here had a disability, lower than both Oxfordshire’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (17%). The nearest A&E to Chinnor is Stoke Mandeville Hospital, 8.2 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Chinnor | Oxfordshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 87% | 86% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 2.8% | 3.5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 13% | 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.
Between them, two primaries teach 642 pupils in Chinnor. Below is one of its 2 schools, and why it was picked. 59% of pupils at the town’s 2 primary schools met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Andrew's Church of England Primary School, ChinnorLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 411 | C |
Violence and sexual offences accounted for 55% of recorded crime. A year of reports to August 2026 adds up to 240 offences in Chinnor and 48 cases of nuisance behaviour. Violent crime ran at 15.5 per 1,000 residents a year, below both Oxfordshire’s towns (19) and England’s towns (22).
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 Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 38% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
1.8% of 16 to 64s claimed unemployment benefits in 2026, below Oxfordshire’s towns (2%) and England’s towns (2.3%) alike. Driving is how 89% of commuters got to work at the census. Of the commuters living in Chinnor, 9% work in the town itself. For every resident in work, Chinnor has 0.3 jobs.
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.
Per 10,000 residents, Chinnor counts 39 listed buildings, below Oxfordshire’s towns (107) and close to England’s towns (39). Its listed buildings include the Church of St Andrew, Grade I. 6% of homes were built before 1919.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Social housing holds 11% of households. 78% of households own their home, above Oxfordshire’s towns (63%) and England’s towns (61%) alike. 321 standard sales inside Chinnor’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put the median at £425,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £570,000 | 101 |
| Semi-detached | £423,750 | 126 |
| Terraced | £380,000 | 79 |
| Flat or maisonette | £228,000 | 15 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Degrees are held by 37% of adults, below Oxfordshire’s towns (42%) but above England’s towns (34%). Under-15s account for 19% of the population. Those 65 and older account for 20% of residents.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Chinnor | Oxfordshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 26% | 27% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 25% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 20% | 18% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 12% | 14% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.6% | 4.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 37% | 42% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Oxfordshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Chinnor. Best known first.
Heritage railwayChinnor and Princes Risborough Railwayin town
CastleThame Park House3.9 km outside town, to the northwestAttractionAttractionLW579 51 Squadron memorial4.9 km outside town, to the southwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
28 listed buildings in Chinnor, 1 of them Grade I.
The Red Lion Public House: Photo: Ian S · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Old Forge: Photo: Robert Eva · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinnor | 7,268 | — | A− | B− | A− | A |
| Stokenchurch | 4,351 | 3 | B− | B | B+ | B− |
| Longwick | 1,528 | 3.3 | — | C | A− | A |
| Princes Risborough | 7,528 | 3.9 | B+ | C+ | C+ | A− |
| Thame | 12,952 | 4.1 | A+ | C+ | B+ | A |
| Lacey Green and Loosley Row | 1,135 | 4.4 | — | C | A+ | A |
| Haddenham | 5,603 | 5 | A | C | B+ | A |
| Watlington | 2,438 | 5.5 | — | B− | C+ | A |
Longwick, Lacey Green and Loosley Row and Watlington have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £425,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £228,000, terraced houses £380,000, semi-detached houses £423,750 and detached houses £570,000. Household incomes are higher than in 93% of UK towns, so cost of living still grades B−.
Primary results trail 65% of towns in England (Department for Education, Key Stage 2). Chinnor has 2 state schools; places are handled by Oxfordshire council.
Town in Oxfordshire, England
Chinnor is a built-up area of 7,268 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.
