Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Population 2,030: a village in Oxfordshire, South East.
Marcham’s best grade is for jobs & income (A): households earn a mean £69,933 a year, and 1.9% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Safety is another plus — 15.9 violent and sexual offences and 5.6 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Schools lag (D): primary results beat 9% of towns in England; secondary results beat 8% of towns in England. A median £431,000 buys a home here, 6.2 times what households in the Vale of White Horse council area earn in a year. Its other grades sit near the middle: C+ for walkability and B− for hazard risk.
Figures: income, ONS · claimants, DWP · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · commuting, Census 2021 · flood risk, Environment Agency. With fewer than 2,500 residents, Marcham has subject grades but no overall one.
The 3 things Marcham 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 Marcham is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
With fewer than 2,500 residents, Marcham has subject grades but no overall one.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists them inside Marcham’s built-up area.
13% 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 Marcham.
Secondary results at the one secondary school within 3 km: an Attainment 8 score of 39, with 30% at grade 5 or above in English and maths. Its only school is listed below. Just over half of pupils at the 4 primary schools within 3 km met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marcham Church of England (Voluntary Controlled) Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 168 | D |
Over the year to August 2026, 50 offences were reported in Marcham, along with 4 incidents of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences accounted for 64% of recorded crime. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 3.1 reports per 1,000, below Oxfordshire’s towns (4.8) and England’s towns (7.8) alike.
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.
There is no GP practice in Marcham: the nearest is 1.7 miles off. The nearest A&E to Marcham is John Radcliffe Hospital, 8.4 miles away. At the census, 16% of people here had a disability, between Oxfordshire’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (17%).
| Census 2021 | Marcham | Oxfordshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 86% | 86% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.7% | 3.5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 16% | 15% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · The census answers take no account of age, so a young town looks healthier; the Health Grade relies on 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.
Grade II* covers 3 of them. For its size, Marcham has 138 listed buildings per 10,000 residents. Of the town’s land, 18% lies in conservation areas, above Oxfordshire’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (7%) alike.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 41% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Marcham counts 0.5 jobs per working resident. 85% of commuters drove, above both Oxfordshire’s towns (69%) and England’s towns (70%). For a third of commuters, work was under 5 km away.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
67% of households own their home. Social housing holds 20% of households, above Oxfordshire’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. Private rents average £1,352 a month across the Vale of White Horse council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £570,000 | 37 |
| Semi-detached | £393,500 | 26 |
| Terraced | £395,000 | 15 |
| Flat or maisonette | £123,725 | 8 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Degrees are held by 43% of adults, about level with Oxfordshire’s towns (42%) and above England’s towns (34%). Children are 19% of the town. Those 65 and older account for a fifth of residents.
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Marcham | Oxfordshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.3% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 25% | 27% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 20% | 18% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 14% | 14% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.9% | 4.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 15% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 43% | 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 Marcham. Best known first.
Abbey or prioryAbingdon Abbey4.1 km outside town, to the east
Historic houseThe Abbey, Sutton Courtenay4.9 km outside town, to the southeast
Museum · English HeritageAbingdon County Hall Museum3.7 km outside town, to the east
Historic houseMilton Manor4.7 km outside town, to the southeastWildlife parkWildlife parkMillets Wildside Falconry and Wildlife Centre2.1 km outside town, to the westAttractionAttractionMillets Farm Centre2.2 km outside town, to the westPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marcham | 2,030 | — | — | B− | A− | B+ |
| Shippon | 1,894 | 2 | — | C+ | B+ | A− |
| Drayton | 3,110 | 2.1 | B | C+ | B+ | B+ |
| Wootton (Vale of White Horse) | 2,428 | 2.7 | — | B | B+ | B+ |
| Abingdon-on-Thames | 33,179 | 2.7 | A− | B+ | C+ | B+ |
| East Hanney | 1,233 | 3.2 | — | C+ | B− | A+ |
| Steventon | 2,211 | 3.2 | — | B− | A− | B+ |
| Kingston Bagpuize | 3,905 | 3.5 | A+ | B | A− | A+ |
Shippon, Wootton (Vale of White Horse), East Hanney and Steventon have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 5.7 times the typical UK town for its size.
GCSE results trail 92% of towns in England, and primary results trail 91% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). One state school is inside the town; places are handled by Oxfordshire council.
Against all UK towns, it grades A−.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £431,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £123,725, terraced houses £395,000, semi-detached houses £393,500 and detached houses £570,000. Household incomes are higher than in 88% of UK towns, so cost of living still grades B−.
Village in Oxfordshire, England
Marcham is a built-up area of 2,030 people, in the Vale of White Horse 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.