Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
It is a town of 3,776 residents in Oxfordshire, South East.
Residents are healthier than most: men here can expect to live to 83, women to 88.2. Cholsey’s overall grade is A, better than 92% of UK towns. Its place in the ranking is #8 of 38 in Oxfordshire. At a median £435,000, a home costs 6.2 times the yearly income of households in the South Oxfordshire council area. It is strong on jobs & income as well — households earn a mean £77,950 a year, and 2.3% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Its remaining grades are unremarkable: B for safety and B for walkability.
Figures: life expectancy and income, ONS · claimants, DWP · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · commuting, Census 2021.
The 3 things Cholsey 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 Cholsey is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 44 buildings inside Cholsey’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
11% 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 Cholsey.
Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 3% of the town. Cholsey has no GP practice of its own; the nearest is 1.8 miles away. Asked at the census, 88% of residents of Cholsey said they were in good or very good health. At the census, 14% of people here had a disability, near Oxfordshire’s towns (15%) and lower than England’s towns (17%).
| Census 2021 | Cholsey | Oxfordshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 88% | 86% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3% | 3.5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 14% | 15% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · A young population flatters these answers, which are not age-adjusted; the Health Grade instead uses measures that allow for age, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
Its only school is listed below. At the 6 primary schools within 3 km, 65% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). The town’s primary school has 332 pupils.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cholsey Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 332 | B− |
52% of the crimes fell under violence and sexual offences. Cholsey logged 150 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 20 complaints of anti-social conduct. Among the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Cholsey has less crime per resident than 69% of them.
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.
Cholsey’s listed buildings include the Church of St. Mary, Grade I. Listed buildings per head: 117 for every 10,000 residents of the town. 11% of its homes were built before 1919, lower than both Oxfordshire’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (16%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 44% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
83% of commuters drove to work at the census. Short trips to work, under 5 km: 26%, below both Oxfordshire’s towns (46%) and England’s towns (45%). Home was the main workplace for 44% of workers at the census. About 6% of its commuters stay in Cholsey for work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
68% of households are owner-occupiers. Private rents average £1,402 a month across the South Oxfordshire council area. 161 standard sales inside Cholsey’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put the median at £435,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £575,000 | 43 |
| Semi-detached | £418,000 | 67 |
| Terraced | £385,000 | 29 |
| Flat or maisonette | £300,000 | 22 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Degrees are held by 46% of adults, above both Oxfordshire’s towns (42%) and England’s towns (34%). People aged 15 to 24 make up 7.9% of the town. Half the people of Cholsey are older than 41.4.
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Cholsey | Oxfordshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 21% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 7.9% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 27% | 27% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 18% | 18% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 12% | 14% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 4.8% | 4.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 46% | 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 Cholsey. Best known first.
CastleWallingford Castle2.9 km outside town, to the northeast
Historic houseBraziers Park3.8 km outside town, to the southeast
MuseumWallingford Museum2.5 km outside town, to the northeast
Heritage railwayCholsey and Wallingford Railway2 km outside town, to the northMuseumMuseumWallingford Phone Box Museum3 km outside town, to the northPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
44 listed buildings in Cholsey, 1 of them Grade I.
Fair Mile Hospital Chapel: Photo: Bill Nicholls · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Barn Approximately 70 Metres North of Manor Farmhouse: Photo: Bill Nicholls · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Celsea Cottage: Photo: Bill Nicholls · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 44, Honey Lane: Photo: Simon Burchell · CC BY-SA 4.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cholsey | 3,776 | — | A | B− | B | A |
| Wallingford | 8,455 | 2.2 | A− | B− | B− | B+ |
| Crowmarsh Gifford | 1,329 | 2.5 | — | C+ | B− | A |
| Brightwell-cum-Sotwell | 1,244 | 3 | — | C | A− | A− |
| Goring | 3,434 | 3.4 | A+ | C | A | A+ |
| Blewbury | 1,708 | 3.5 | — | C+ | A | A− |
| Benson | 5,236 | 3.7 | A | C+ | A− | A+ |
| Woodcote | 2,198 | 4.4 | — | C+ | B+ | A+ |
Crowmarsh Gifford, Brightwell-cum-Sotwell, Blewbury and Woodcote have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 4.8 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of St. Mary.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £435,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £300,000, terraced houses £385,000, semi-detached houses £418,000 and detached houses £575,000. Household incomes are higher than in 97% of UK towns, so cost of living still grades B−.
Band D council tax in Cholsey is £2,580 for 2026–27, more than in 82% 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 Oxfordshire, England
Cholsey is a built-up area of 3,776 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.