Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The large town has 30,167 residents and lies in Oxfordshire, South East.
A town of contrasts. Where it does best is walkability (A) — nearly a quarter of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. Jobs & income is another plus (B+) — the mean household earns £61,263 a year. What holds it back is schools (C−) — primary results beat 26% of towns in England; secondary results beat 31% of towns in England. Police record more crime here than in most towns: 31.9 violent and sexual offences and 8.2 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Set beside UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, its crime per resident is higher than in 40%. Natural hazards weigh more here: 1.7% of homes face a high or medium risk of river or sea flooding. It takes 5.2 years of household income in the West Oxfordshire council area to buy the median home, at £340,000. The overall grade lands at B, #33 of 38 in Oxfordshire. Set against the rest, it does better than 59% of UK towns.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · income, ONS · claimants, DWP · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · flood risk, Environment Agency · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
The thing Witney 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 Witney is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 273 buildings inside Witney’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade I, and 3 scheduled monuments.
7% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 1 old photo or postcard going back to 1903.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Witney.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 31% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Of the commuters living in Witney, 42% work in the town itself. At the census, 24% went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport, lower than both Oxfordshire’s towns (29%) and England’s towns (27%). This Oxfordshire town counts 1 jobs per working resident.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
At the town’s 8 primary schools, 57% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Below are two of its 13 schools, each with why it was picked. GCSE results at the town’s 2 secondary schools: just over two in five pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 42.7.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Witney Primary School & NurseryLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 434 | B− |
| Wood Green SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,335 | C+ |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Witney’s listed buildings include the Church of St Mary, Grade I. 7% of its homes were built before 1919, below both Oxfordshire’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (16%). Grade II* covers 11 of them, Grade I 2.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Police recorded 1,738 crimes inside Witney’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 284 reports of anti-social behaviour. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 10.3 reports per 1,000, higher than both Oxfordshire’s towns (4.8) and England’s towns (7.8). Violence and sexual offences accounted for nearly half of recorded crime.
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 rent privately. Private rents average £1,305 a month across the West Oxfordshire council area. Social housing holds 16% of households, above Oxfordshire’s towns (15%) but below England’s towns (18%).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £487,500 | 291 |
| Semi-detached | £355,000 | 413 |
| Terraced | £317,000 | 348 |
| Flat or maisonette | £210,000 | 310 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The nearest A&E to Witney is John Radcliffe Hospital, 11.7 miles away. 3 GP practices serve the town; 78% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 3.8% of the town.
| Census 2021 | Witney | Oxfordshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 84% | 86% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.8% | 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.
Nearly a fifth of residents are 65 or over, above both Oxfordshire’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (18%). The median resident of Witney is 41.5 years old. Graduates make up 35% of adults.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Witney | Oxfordshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 27% | 27% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 19% | 18% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 15% | 14% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.7% | 4.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 35% | 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 Witney. Best known first.
MuseumCogges Manor Farm Museumin town
Historic houseEynsham Hall2.6 km outside town, to the northeastMuseumMuseumThe Witney & District Museumin townMuseumMuseumWitney Blanket Hallin townMuseumMuseumHistory Hutin townZooZooCrocodiles of the World3.6 km outside town, to the westPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
273 listed buildings in Witney, 2 of them Grade I.
Church of St Mary: Photo: Brian Robert Marshall · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Henry Box School: Photo: Des Blenkinsopp · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Town Hall: Photo: Betty Longbottom · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Almshouses: Photo: Len Williams · CC BY-SA 2.0
18 notable people were born in Witney.
Michael Gorman: Enoch the Flaneur, CC0 · Lawson D'Ath: Mattythewhite, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Andrew Logan: Barry philip beckett, CC BY-SA 3.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Witney | 30,167 | — | B | B | C+ | B |
| Ducklington | 1,585 | 1.3 | — | B− | B+ | A |
| Minster Lovell | 1,270 | 2.7 | — | C | B+ | A |
| North Leigh | 1,733 | 2.8 | — | C+ | C+ | A |
| Freeland | 1,520 | 4.2 | — | C | A+ | A |
| Aston | 1,174 | 4.2 | — | C+ | A− | A− |
| Bampton | 2,994 | 4.6 | B | B− | B | A− |
| Carterton | 17,951 | 4.6 | B+ | B+ | B | B |
Ducklington, Minster Lovell, North Leigh, Freeland and Aston have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 3.7 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include Church of St Mary. It also has 3 scheduled monuments.
Band D council tax in Witney is £2,650 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.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
GCSE results trail 69% of towns in England, and primary results trail 74% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Large town in Oxfordshire, England
Witney is a built-up area of 30,167 people, in the West 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.