Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The town has 4,305 residents and lies in Oxfordshire, South East. Secondary school results beat 93% of towns in England.
Jobs & income is its strong suit: the mean household earns £65,901 a year. Buying the median home, at £442,100, takes 6.3 years of household income in the South Oxfordshire council area. The trade-off is hazard risk (C+): 0.8% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. Put together, the subjects come to an A overall, ranking #11 of 38 in Oxfordshire. Nationally, it does better than 88% of UK towns.
Figures: income, ONS · claimants, DWP · flood risk, Environment Agency · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
The 3 things Wheatley 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 Wheatley is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 73 buildings inside Wheatley’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I, and 2 scheduled monuments.
14% 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 Wheatley.
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.
The car took 76% of commuters, above Oxfordshire’s towns (69%) and England’s towns (70%) alike. 17% of commuters who live in Wheatley also work there. There are 0.7 jobs in Wheatley for each resident in work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Between them, one primary and one secondary teach 1,402 pupils in Wheatley. Of its 4 schools, two are shown below, each with the reason. Attainment 8 at the one secondary school within 3 km averages 55.8, and 62% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wheatley Church of England Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 256 | C− |
| Wheatley Park SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,146 | A |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Wheatley’s listed buildings include the Church of St Bartholomew, Grade I. Historic England’s list names 73 listed buildings in the town: 1 Grade I, 3 Grade II*. It has 2 scheduled monuments.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
At the census, 4% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, above Oxfordshire’s towns (3.5%) but below England’s towns (5.2%). One GP practice serves the town; 93% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. Self-reported good health: 84% of Wheatley’s residents.
| Census 2021 | Wheatley | Oxfordshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 84% | 86% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4% | 3.5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 16% | 15% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · These shares come straight from the census, without allowing for age, and young towns benefit; the Health Grade instead weighs age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
Reported offences in Wheatley came to 209 over twelve months to August 2026; nuisance and anti-social incidents added 28. Of all the crimes, 31% were violence and sexual offences. Burglary and damage come to 9.6 per 1,000 residents a year.
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.
17% of households are private tenants. Social housing holds 9% of households, lower than both Oxfordshire’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (18%). Private rents average £1,402 a month across the South Oxfordshire council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £645,000 | 55 |
| Semi-detached | £430,000 | 43 |
| Terraced | £350,000 | 23 |
| Flat or maisonette | £230,000 | 17 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
11% of the population is aged 15 to 24, below Oxfordshire’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (12%) alike. The 65-and-over age group makes up 24% of residents. Residents of Wheatley have a median age of 46.4. Degrees are held by 43% of adults.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Wheatley | Oxfordshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 14% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 23% | 27% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 24% | 18% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 13% | 14% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.4% | 4.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 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 Wheatley. Best known first.
Historic houseGarsington Manor3.1 km outside town, to the south
GardenWaterperry Gardens2.1 km outside town, to the east
Historic houseShotover House900 m outside town, to the northwestMuseumMuseumThe Kilns - CS Lewis's Home2 km outside town, to the westMuseumMuseumScience Oxford Centre2.4 km outside town, to the westMuseumMuseumMuseum of Rural Life2.1 km outside town, to the eastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
73 listed buildings in Wheatley, 1 of them Grade I.
Manor House: Photo: Bill Nicholls · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph · Church of St Mary: Photo: Christian Guthier · CC BY 2.0 · Lock Up: Photo: Bill Boaden · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Old Forge House: Photo: EugeneStarostin · CC BY-SA 4.0
5 notable people were born in Wheatley.
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wheatley | 4,305 | — | A | B− | B | A− |
| Horspath | 1,467 | 1.5 | — | C+ | A− | A |
| Garsington | 1,295 | 2.3 | — | B− | A− | A− |
| Oxford | 170,799 | 4.1 | C+ | D | C− | C+ |
| Oakley | 1,129 | 4.6 | — | C+ | A+ | A |
| Kennington | 4,595 | 5.1 | A | C+ | A | A |
| Berinsfield | 2,773 | 6 | C+ | A− | C+ | C |
| Chalgrove | 2,807 | 6 | B+ | B | B+ | A |
Horspath, Garsington and Oakley have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 7 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of St Bartholomew. It also has 2 scheduled monuments.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £442,100, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £230,000, terraced houses £350,000, semi-detached houses £430,000 and detached houses £645,000. Household incomes are higher than in 82% of UK towns, so cost of living still grades B−.
Band D council tax in Wheatley is £2,557 for 2026–27, more than in 78% 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
Wheatley is a built-up area of 4,305 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.