Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 12,159 in Rutland, East Midlands.
Oakham grades A+ overall against UK towns: better than 97% of UK towns. Its strongest subject is cost of living (A): median sale £290,000, 4.7 years of area income; rent £961 a month.
The 3 things Oakham 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 Oakham is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 121 buildings inside Oakham’s built-up area, 5 of them Grade I, and 2 scheduled monuments.
10% 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 1914.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Oakham.
Oakham sits below Rutland’s towns (£349K) and close to England’s towns (£308K) on this measure. No town in Rutland costs less to buy into than Oakham, at £290,000, the lowest of 3.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £410,000 | 300 |
| Semi-detached | £260,000 | 145 |
| Terraced | £225,000 | 163 |
| Flat or maisonette | £157,500 | 69 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
English Martyrs' Catholic Voluntary Academy’s results beat 85% of schools in England like it. Three of its 6 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brooke Hill AcademyLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 275 | B+ |
| Catmose CollegeLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,153 | B+ |
| English Martyrs' Catholic Voluntary AcademyTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 152 | A |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 29% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Short trips to work, under 5 km: 47%, above Rutland’s towns (38%) and close to England’s towns (45%). 27% of commuters went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
That puts Oakham above both Rutland’s towns (24%) and England’s towns (18%). Half the people of Oakham are older than 46.9. Under-15s account for 16% of the population.
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
| Oakham | Rutland | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 15% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 21% | 22% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 25% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 27% | 24% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 15% | 13% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.2% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 35% | 37% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Rutland and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Women here live to 85.6 on average and men to 82.1 (2019–23). The nearest A&E to Oakham is Leicester Royal Infirmary, 17.2 miles away. One GP practice serves the town; 72% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Oakham | Rutland | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 83% | 84% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4% | 3.6% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 18% | 16% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Only one town in Rutland has more listed buildings for its size than Oakham. Oakham’s listed buildings include Church of All Saints, Grade I. 10% of its homes were built before 1919, below both Rutland’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (16%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Homes saw 9.7 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year, above Rutland’s towns (4.6) and close to England’s towns (9.4). Police recorded 619 crimes inside Oakham’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 109 reports of anti-social behaviour. Among the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, Oakham has less crime per resident than 79% of them.
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
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Oakham. Best known first.
CastleOakham Castlein town
MuseumRutland County Museumin town
MuseumRocks by Rail2.7 km outside town, to the northeastTheme parkTheme parkMini Monstersin townCastleCastleGunthorpe Hall2.5 km outside town, to the southWildlife parkWildlife parkRutland Falconry & Owl Centre3.5 km outside town, to the eastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
121 listed buildings in Oakham, 5 of them Grade I.
Oakham Castle: Photo: Simon Garbutt. SiGarb · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Church of All Saints: Photo: Photographer: Simon Garbutt · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Market Cross: Photo: Simon Garbutt. SiGarb · CC BY-SA 3.0 · White Lion Public House: Photo: Alan Murray-Rust · CC BY-SA 2.0
11 notable people were born in Oakham.
Titus Oates: Frederick Wentworth, Public domain · Simon Parke: Luděk Kovář, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Gary Knight: Theconcernedphotographer, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakham | 12,159 | — | A+ | A | B− | A− |
| Barleythorpe | 1,344 | 0.9 | — | A | A | A− |
| Langham | 1,400 | 1.7 | — | B | A+ | B+ |
| Greetham | 2,807 | 5 | A+ | A− | A+ | A− |
| Uppingham | 4,272 | 5.7 | A+ | A | C+ | A |
| South Witham | 1,590 | 7.8 | — | A+ | B+ | B+ |
| Ketton | 1,618 | 8.1 | — | B | A− | A |
| Clipsham | 1,150 | 8.1 | — | A | A+ | B |
Barleythorpe, Langham, South Witham, Ketton and Clipsham have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 4.1 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include Gateway to Oakham Castle. It also has 2 scheduled monuments. 10% of Oakham’s homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Band D council tax in Oakham is £2,737 for 2026–27, more than in 98% 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.
Police recorded 619 crimes inside Oakham’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 38% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
Town in Rutland, England
Oakham is a built-up area of 12,159 people, in the Rutland 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.