Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
It is a village of 1,001 residents in Somerset, South West. Over-65s are 28% of the population.
Health outcomes beat most towns (A): life expectancy 82.3 for men, 86.5 for women. It also does well on walkability: 18% of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. Homes are dear: the median home sold for £610,000, 11.5 years of area income. The rest of its grades are middling: B for safety, B− for schools and B for jobs & income.
Figures: life expectancy and income, ONS · commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · claimants, DWP. An overall grade needs 2,500 residents, so Beckington is graded subject by subject only.
ONS publishes one rent for all of Somerset, so this town's Cost Grade uses house prices and council tax only.
The 3 things Beckington 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 Beckington is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
An overall grade needs 2,500 residents, so Beckington is graded subject by subject only.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists them inside Beckington’s built-up area.
36% 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 Beckington.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
At the top of the list, 1 are Grade I and 5 Grade II*. Beckington’s listed buildings include the Church of St George, Grade I. Homes from before 1919 make up 36% of the total. Of the town’s land, 30% lies in conservation areas, higher than both Somerset’s towns (8%) and England’s towns (7%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
At the one primary school within 3 km, 65% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). The one school in town appears below. Attainment 8 at the one secondary school within 3 km averages 42.8, and nearly two in five pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beckington Church First SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 78 | – |
73% of households own their home, higher than both Somerset’s towns (67%) and England’s towns (61%). The median sale, £610,000, comes from 30 standard sales inside Beckington’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Private rents average £1,016 a month across the Somerset council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £703,500 | 17 |
| Semi-detached | £423,000 | 9 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
28% of residents are 65 or over. People aged 15 to 24 make up 7.4% of the town, below both Somerset’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (12%). The middle age in Beckington is 50.2.
53% women, 47% men
About 90 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.
| Beckington | Somerset | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 7.4% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 18% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 30% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 28% | 23% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 12% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 4.1% | 6.1% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 43% | 32% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Somerset and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Beckington’s share in bad or very bad health, 2.8%, is the second lowest of the 105 towns in Somerset, and on top of that 15% of residents have a disability, lower than both Somerset’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (17%). Self-reported good health: 85% of the town’s residents. One GP practice serves the town; four in five patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Beckington | Somerset | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 85% | 82% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 2.8% | 5.1% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 15% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · A young population flatters these answers, which are not age-adjusted; the Health Grade instead uses measures that allow for age, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 40% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
81% of commuters drove, above Somerset’s towns (76%) and England’s towns (70%) alike. The average household earns £61K a year before tax. Of the commuters living in Beckington, 8% work in the town itself. There are 1.2 jobs in Beckington for each resident in work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
There were 3 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), below Somerset’s towns (7.3) and England’s towns (7.8) alike. Over the year to August 2026, 53 offences were reported in Beckington, along with 3 incidents of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences were 38% of the crimes.
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.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Beckington. Best known first.
MuseumFrome Museum3.7 km outside town, to the southwestAttractionAttractionJetEx Simulation1.6 km outside town, to the southAttractionAttractionValentine Gas Lamp4 km outside town, to the southwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beckington | 1,001 | — | — | D | B | A |
| Norton St Philip | 1,004 | 2.9 | — | D | A | A |
| Frome | 27,904 | 3 | D | C− | C− | B− |
| Southwick | 1,856 | 3.1 | — | A | B− | A− |
| Dilton Marsh | 1,958 | 3.2 | — | A− | B+ | B+ |
| North Bradley | 1,555 | 3.9 | — | A− | A | A− |
| Westbury | 16,394 | 4.2 | B− | A− | C+ | C |
| Westwood | 1,001 | 4.4 | — | C+ | A+ | A+ |
Norton St Philip, Southwick, Dilton Marsh, North Bradley and Westwood have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £610,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: semi-detached houses £423,000 and detached houses £703,500.
That is 34.8 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of St George.
Village in Somerset, England
Beckington is a built-up area of 1,001 people, in the Mendip 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.