Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Population 14,640: a town in Oxfordshire, South East.
Plenty in its favour, and one clear drawback. Its strongest subject is walkability: on the way to work, 32% walk, cycle or take a bus or train. At A− overall, Kidlington is better than 82% of UK towns and ranks #15 of 38 in Oxfordshire. Add jobs & income to its strengths: the mean household earns £57,469 a year. What counts against it is cost of living: homes sell for a median £375,000, about 6.1 times local household income. Elsewhere it is close to typical: B− for safety, B for health and B− for hazard risk.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · income and life expectancy, ONS · claimants, DWP · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · flood risk, Environment Agency.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Kidlington is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things Kidlington does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 65 buildings inside Kidlington’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
4% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →65 listed buildings in Kidlington, 1 of them Grade I.
Nos 1-6 Morton Almshouses: Photo: Motacilla · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Oxford Canal Kidlington Green Lock: Photo: Mertbiol · CC0 · Old Priest's House: Photo: Dave.Dunford · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Barn and Attached Outbuildings Approximately 15 Metres West of Mill House: Photo: Sarah Charlesworth · CC BY-SA 2.0
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Kidlington.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 35% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
66% of commuters took the car to work at the census. Work in town: 19% of resident commuters. Jobs per working resident: 1.4.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Attainment 8 at the 2 secondary schools within 3 km averages 49.2, and 53% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths. Kidlington’s four primaries and one secondary have 1,897 pupils between them. At the town’s 4 primary schools, 64% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edward Feild Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 293 | C+ |
| Gosford Hill SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 825 | B− |
| St Thomas More Catholic Primary School, KidlingtonTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 235 | A− |
Those aged 15 to 24 account for 9.2% of residents. 23% of residents are 65 or over, above Oxfordshire’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. Half of Kidlington is older than 44.7, half younger. Degrees are held by 36% of adults.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Kidlington | Oxfordshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.2% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 27% | 27% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 23% | 18% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 17% | 14% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.6% | 4.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 15% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 36% | 42% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Oxfordshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
The social rented sector houses 10% of households. Private rents average £1,304 a month across the Cherwell council area. Behind the median of £375,000: 517 standard sales inside Kidlington’s built-up area, September 2023 to August 2026.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £525,000 | 94 |
| Semi-detached | £390,000 | 216 |
| Terraced | £330,000 | 121 |
| Flat or maisonette | £220,000 | 86 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
4.1% of residents described their health as bad or very bad, higher than Oxfordshire’s towns (3.5%) yet lower than England’s towns (5.2%). 2 GP practices serve the town; 68% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. Disability touches 16% of Kidlington’s population.
| Census 2021 | Kidlington | Oxfordshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 83% | 86% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.1% | 3.5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 16% | 15% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Because the census answers ignore age, a younger population lifts them; that is why the Health Grade is built on age-adjusted measures like life expectancy and early deaths.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
4% of its homes were built before 1919, below both Oxfordshire’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (16%). Kidlington’s listed buildings include the Church of St Mary, Grade I. 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
Over the year to August 2026, 719 offences were reported in Kidlington, along with 73 incidents of anti-social behaviour. Of all the crimes, 42% were violence and sexual offences. Homes saw 8.9 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year, between Oxfordshire’s towns (6.8) and England’s towns (9.4).
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.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Kidlington. Best known first.
Historic houseBlenheim Palace2.1 km outside town, to the northwest
Historic houseWoodstock Palace2.1 km outside town, to the northwest
MuseumOxford Bus Museum3 km outside town, to the westMuseumMuseumSoldiers of Oxfordshire Museum2 km outside town, to the northwestCastleCastleBletchingdon Park3.2 km outside town, to the northMuseumMuseumCombe Mill4.5 km outside town, to the westPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
4 notable people were born in Kidlington.
Callum O'Dowda: Rogan200, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Callum Slattery: Timmy96, CC0
Town in Oxfordshire, England
Kidlington is a built-up area of 14,640 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
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kidlington | 14,640 | — | A− | C | B− | B |
| Yarnton | 3,227 | 1.1 | A− | C− | B | B+ |
| Wolvercote | 1,328 | 2.5 | — | D− | C− | A |
| Woodstock | 3,522 | 3.4 | A+ | C | B+ | A+ |
| Tackley | 1,073 | 4.4 | — | C+ | A− | A |
| Eynsham | 5,321 | 4.5 | A+ | C+ | B+ | A− |
| Long Hanborough | 3,034 | 4.7 | A+ | C+ | A | A |
| Freeland | 1,520 | 5.1 | — | C | A+ | A |
Wolvercote, Tackley and Freeland have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Band D council tax in Kidlington is £2,647 for 2026–27, more than in 92% 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.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £375,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £220,000, terraced houses £330,000, semi-detached houses £390,000 and detached houses £525,000.
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.