The picture is mixed. Its weakest is cost of living: a typical home costs £450,000 and rent runs £1,927 a month. With a C+ overall, Oxford is better than just over two fifths of UK towns. Fewer journeys need a car: on the way to work, 54% walk, cycle or take a bus or train. It is strong on jobs & income as well — mean household income £65,042; 2.6% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Its remaining grades are unremarkable: B for schools and C+ for health.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · income and life expectancy, ONS · claimants, DWP · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Oxford is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Museum of the History of Science: Wiki alf at English Wikipedia, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
The data
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Oxford.
Who lives here
Oxford skews young, with 23% of residents aged 15 to 24, more than in both Oxfordshire’s towns and England’s towns
People 65 and over make up 12% of the town, below Oxfordshire’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. The age that splits Oxford in two is 32. Degrees are held by 48% of adults.
32median age
OxfordOxfordshireEngland
Ages · share of residents
23%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications12%
Apprenticeship3%
A levels or similar20%
Degree level48%
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
WomenEnglandMen
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
ONS Census 2021 · Oxfordshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
SchoolsB
Results at Oxford’s schools beat 57% of towns in England
Of its 53 schools, three are shown below, each with the reason. Between them, 35 primaries and seven secondaries teach 19,240 pupils in Oxford. GCSE results at the town’s 7 secondary schools: 50% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 48.3.
Department for Education · GIAS, Key Stage 2 and GCSE resultsSee all 53 schools →
Work & commuteJobs & income grade A
More commuters in Oxford work nearby than in Oxfordshire’s towns or England’s towns: 69% travel under 5 km
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 39% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Driving is how 43% of commuters got to work at the census. Work in town: just over three quarters of resident commuters. There are 1.7 jobs in Oxford for each resident in work.
54%walk, cycle or ride
How commuters got to work · March 2021
Driving43%
On foot21%
Bicycle17%
Bus14%
Train1%
69%
of commuters travel under 5 km · England 45%
39%
worked mainly from home in March 2021
£65K
mean household income, before tax
2.6%
of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits (2026)
A+
Walkability: more walkable than almost every UK town
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
HousingCost of living grade D
Home ownership in Oxford, 47%, runs below Oxfordshire’s towns and England’s towns
Private renters make up 31% of households. Social housing holds a fifth of households, above both Oxfordshire’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (18%). Behind the median of £450,000: 3,958 standard sales inside the town’s built-up area, September 2023 to August 2026.
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
History
Oxford has 1,168 listed buildings, 197 of them Grade I
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Grade II* covers 82 of them, Grade I 197. 19% of homes were built before 1919. Of Oxford’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
Safety
Violence is recorded more often in Oxford than in Oxfordshire’s towns or across England’s towns: 37 per 1,000 residents a year
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Each year, 15.1 burglaries and acts of damage are recorded per 1,000 residents. The 12 months to August 2026 brought 16,240 recorded crimes inside Oxford’s built-up area, and 1,608 reports of anti-social behaviour. Among the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, Oxford has less crime per resident than 73% of them.
37violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a yearC−Safety Grade
Compared with UK towns its sizeLess crime per resident than 73% of the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more: less crime than most for its size. Context only, not part of the grade.
More crimeLess crime
Reports by type · Sep 2025 to Aug 2026
Violence & sexual6,064
Shoplifting2,176
Other theft1,536
Public order1,515
Damage & arson1,100
Bicycle theft922
Vehicle crime752
Drugs679
Anti-social1,608
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.
37
violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
15.1
burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
8.5
anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 (not graded)
data.police.uk street-level crime · points inside the ONS built-up-area boundary · OGL
Health
87% of people in Oxford rate their health good or very good
At the census, 3.3% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, near Oxfordshire’s towns (3.5%) and lower than England’s towns (5.2%). 16 GP practices serve the town; 82% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. A disability affects 15% of people in the town.
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.
Stephen Hawking: Tanya Hart, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Richard I of England: Matthew Paris, Public domain · Hugh Laurie: jmb1977, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Florence Pugh: Frank Sun, CC BY-SA 4.0
Horspath, Garsington, Wolvercote, Chawley and Radley have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Questions about Oxford
How many listed buildings are there in Oxford?
That is 2.8 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include All Souls College, East and West Ranges of the North Quadrangle. It also has 7 scheduled monuments.
Does Oxford flood?
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
How much is council tax in Oxford?
Band D council tax in Oxford is £2,670 for 2026–27, more than in 93% 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.
About Oxford
City in Oxfordshire, England
Oxford is a built-up area of 170,799 people, in the Oxford 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
Population
170,799 (Census 2021)
Council
Oxford (mostly)
County
Oxfordshire
Region
South East
Area
13.5 sq mi (34.9 km²)
ONS code
E63004458
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.
