Photo: Steve Daniels · CC BY-SA 2.0How Oxfordshire stacks up
People in Oxfordshire can expect long, healthy lives: healthy life expectancy at birth is 69.7 years, 3rd of 55 areas with figures. All told, Oxfordshire grades A, 7th of 65 graded areas with a score of 91. It offers easy getting about (28% of commuters on foot, bike, bus or train) and fast growth (+17% since 2011), but at the cost of high costs against local pay and real flood risk.
Each subject puts the official figure for the whole county beside a measure built from our town grades. How this works
Safety
13th of 65A−81/100 Consistently safe. Nearly every town does well here, Goring and Adderbury and Twyford among them. Violent crime runs at 28.5 offences per 1,000 residents a year, the 15th lowest rate of 65 areas with police.uk figures. No neighbour beats it on safety; Wiltshire comes closest.
With theft, burglary and the rest counted too, 63 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 19th lowest.
Source: police.uk street-level crime, September 2025 to August 2026 (each crime placed by its LSOA); Census 2021 residents. Greater Manchester Police publishes none.
Measure: recorded crime against residents (violence, burglary, vehicle crime, criminal damage), as in our Safety grades. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,138 graded towns. 38 Oxfordshire towns.
Few weak spots, town by town
At the quiet end sit Long Hanborough (#101), Kennington (#103) and Kingston Bagpuize (#150) of 2,138 towns. By population, 58% of its town residents are in top-quarter towns and almost none in bottom-quarter ones.
| County | Safest quarter | Most-crime quarter | Split |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ards and North Down | 100% | 0% | |
| Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | 100% | 0% | |
| Lisburn and Castlereagh | 100% | 0% | |
| Mid Ulster | 100% | 0% | |
| Antrim and Newtownabbey | 78% | 0% | |
| Oxfordshire | 58% | 0% |
Town centres and the people who live there
Each crime on police.uk is pinned to a nearby street or public place, not an address; both figures count crimes where those points fall. The county-wide rate takes in town centres, stations and shopping streets, where many offences are recorded but few people live. Our town grades leave shop theft and other town-centre crime out and count violence, burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage, the crimes that reach people at home.
Schools
33rd of 90B64/100 Somewhat above-average schools. Oxfordshire’s eleven-year-olds rank 17th highest in the national tests: 63% reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths. 13% of town residents live in a top-quarter town, 15% in a bottom-quarter one; Eynsham ranks highest.
GCSE: an average Attainment 8 score of 46.9, 13th highest. The grade weighs primary and GCSE results equally.
Source: DfE key stage 2 results 2024/25 and key stage 4 (Attainment 8), every state school in the county, pupil-weighted. England only.
Measure: our Schools grade: primary and secondary results of the schools in and around each town. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,331 graded towns. 38 Oxfordshire towns.
Cost of living
81st of 98C−18/100 Homes cost a lot of income here. 12% of town residents live in a top-quarter town, 33% in a bottom-quarter one; Berinsfield ranks highest. At £400,000 for a typical home and £66,000 of household income, prices run 6.1 times income, the 12th highest ratio of 98 areas.
The middle home sold for £400,000 over the past year, 6th highest of the areas.
Private rent £1,481 a month (6th highest); Band D council tax £2,604 (6th highest). Shown for context.
Source: HM Land Registry Price Paid, standard sales September 2025 to August 2026; ONS small-area income estimates (financial year ending 2023); ONS Price Index of Private Rents (August 2026); council Band D 2026/27.
Measure: our Cost of living grade: prices and rents against local income, plus council tax. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,515 graded towns. 38 Oxfordshire towns.
Health
4th of 98A+97/100 Healthy nearly everywhere. Of a life expectancy of 82.9 years, 69.7 are expected in good health (3rd longest among the areas). Only Surrey puts more town residents in the healthiest quarter of towns. It leads its neighbours on health, ahead of Berkshire.
Total life expectancy is 82.9 years (3rd longest).
Source: ONS life expectancy and healthy life expectancy by small area (MSOA), 2019 to 2023, men and women averaged.
Measure: our Health grade: ONS life and healthy life expectancy, Census health, and OHID indicators in England. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,515 graded towns. 38 Oxfordshire towns.
Jobs & income
3rd of 98A+98/100 Well off, town after town. Only Surrey puts more town residents in the best-off quarter of towns. Oxfordshire ranks 6th highest for household income, at £66,000 a year before tax. No neighbour beats it on incomes; Gloucestershire comes closest.
Claimant rate: 2.2% of 16 to 64-year-olds claim out-of-work benefits (August 2026), 9th lowest. Counted half in the grade.
Source: ONS small-area income estimates (financial year ending 2023), household-weighted; DWP claimant count (August 2026) by council.
Measure: our Jobs & income grade: household income. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,156 graded towns. 38 Oxfordshire towns.
Getting about
7th of 98A94/100 Among the easiest places to get about without a car. 28% of commuters walk, cycle or take the bus or train to work, against 26% across England and Wales (9th highest of 98 areas). It leads its neighbours on walkability, ahead of Berkshire. Town by town it lands near the middle, with Oxford its best at #20 of 2,515.
Worked mainly from home at the 2021 Census: 38% of workers (context; they are left out of the commuting share).
Source: ONS Census 2021, method of travel to work (TS061) by council; people working mainly from home left out.
Measure: our Walkability grade: how many everyday places are within reach on foot. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,515 graded towns. 38 Oxfordshire towns.
Flood risk
62nd of 87C29/100 More flood risk than most areas. Bodicote leads its towns at #282 of 2,452; 16% of town residents live in top-quarter towns. The Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales put 5,234 homes in its towns at high or medium flood risk, 2.0% of them.
Source: Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales flood-risk maps (rivers and the sea), homes in every town of the county.
Measure: our Hazard risk grade: the share of homes at high or medium flood risk. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,452 graded towns. 38 Oxfordshire towns.
Growth
11th of 98A90/100 Growing fast. Bodicote ranks #6 of 1,579 towns in the UK for growth. Since 2011 it has grown 16.6%, the 5th fastest change of 98 areas.
Since the 2021 Census: +5.0%, 6th fastest.
Source: ONS mid-year population estimates, 2011 and 2024.
Measure: population change from 2011 to 2024 (ONS estimates for built-up areas). The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 1,579 graded towns. 24 Oxfordshire towns. Covers 89% of residents of Oxfordshire’s graded towns.
How Oxfordshire compares to its neighbours
None of its neighbours (Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Gloucestershire, Warwickshire and Wiltshire) matches it on safety, health and jobs and income.
| Oxfordshire | Buckinghamshire | Berkshire | Gloucestershire | Warwickshire | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | A 917th of 65 | A− 8411th of 65 | A 889th of 65 | B+ 6722nd of 65 | A− 8014th of 65 |
| Safety | A− 8115th official · 58% in top towns | B+ 7223rd official · 39% in top towns | B+ 7021st official · 38% in top towns | B 5926th official · 28% in top towns | A− 7520th official · 43% in top towns |
| Schools | B 6417th official · 13% in top towns | A− 843rd official · 19% in top towns | A 935th official · 64% in top towns | B 5520th official · 5% in top towns | B+ 6625th official · 15% in top towns |
| Cost of living | C− 1887th official · 12% in top towns | C− 1690th official · 13% in top towns | D 1489th official · 6% in top towns | C− 2081st official · 7% in top towns | C 2972nd official · 18% in top towns |
| Health | A+ 973rd official · 88% in top towns | A 894th official · 39% in top towns | A 934th official · 58% in top towns | A 908th official · 50% in top towns | A− 8013th official · 37% in top towns |
| Jobs & income | A+ 986th official · 87% in top towns | A− 775th official · 34% in top towns | A 893rd official · 80% in top towns | A 9218th official · 37% in top towns | A− 7619th official · 31% in top towns |
| Getting about | A 949th official · 37% in top towns | C 3159th official · 0% in top towns | A− 8420th official · 23% in top towns | C+ 3654th official · 0% in top towns | C− 2373rd official · 0% in top towns |
| Flood risk | C 2937th official · 16% in top towns | B+ 7310th official · 24% in top towns | D 650th official · 3% in top towns | C 3330th official · 16% in top towns | B− 4522nd official · 14% in top towns |
| Growth | A 905th official · 40% in top towns | A+ 974th official · 73% in top towns | A+ 9511th official · 68% in top towns | A− 7712th official · 20% in top towns | A 927th official · 57% in top towns |
Each cell: the subject’s grade and score, the county’s rank on the official figure (1st = the better end), and the share of its town residents living in a top-quarter town for the UK. Neighbour names open their report cards.
How this report card works
Two measures, side by side. The left card is an official figure for the whole county, its towns, villages and countryside together, built from the small areas and councils that make it up and ranked against the other counties. The right card is built from our town grades: of everyone living in the county’s graded towns of 2,500 or more, the share whose town is in the top quarter for the UK. Quarters are of people, not towns: the top quarter is the best-placed towns that together hold a quarter of everyone living in graded towns, so a county of big cities is not marked down just for being urban. A county can do well on one measure and not the other; that difference is often the story.
Scores and grades. Each subject’s score (0–100) is the area’s standing in one UK league of 98: the ceremonial counties of England (London counts as one), Wales’s eight preserved counties, and Scotland’s 32 and Northern Ireland’s 11 council areas, each called by its own name. The two measures’ percentiles are averaged, then ranked again, the same method as our town grades. Where a nation publishes its own kind of figure, the official figure is ranked within that nation: school results everywhere, health in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and flood risk in Scotland. Each area’s figures are set beside its own nation’s. 100 is the best county, 0 the last. Letters use the town-grade scale (A+ from 95, A from 85, A− from 75 … D below 15). The overall score weighs safety 18, cost of living 18, schools 16, health 14, jobs & income 12, getting about 8, growth 8, flood risk 6 (out of 100), over the subjects a county has. Counties with fewer than 5 graded towns (Rutland, Bristol) are graded on the official figures alone.
What it is not. A county figure averages everyone, so it cannot show whether a county is evenly good or a mix of very good and struggling places. The town measure shows the mix but leaves out villages and towns under 2,500. Neither says anything about any one street.
Gaps. Wales publishes no school results that compare with England’s, so Welsh counties have no Schools grade. Greater Manchester Police publishes no street-level crime, so Greater Manchester has no Safety grade and, as for its towns, no overall grade. Nor does Police Scotland, so Scotland’s council areas have no Safety grade or overall grade yet. Scotland and Northern Ireland have no small-area income figures, so their household income is estimated from ONS household income per head. Flood risk has no county-wide official figure; it is the share of homes in the county’s towns at high or medium risk. Sources are named under each figure. How grades work
Sources: 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.