Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The town has 16,317 residents and lies in Somerset, South West. 47% of households own their home outright.
A town with more to fix than most. The local economy is weaker than most: mean household income £42,653; 3% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. It also trails on schools: primary results beat 39% of towns in England; secondary results beat 11% of towns in England. Fewer journeys need a car (B+): on the way to work, 19% walk, cycle or take a bus or train. At a median £270,000, a home costs 5.4 times the yearly income of households in the Sedgemoor council area. Put together, the subjects come to a D overall, ranking #44 of 49 in Somerset. On that grade it does better than 7% of UK towns.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · income, ONS · claimants, DWP · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
ONS publishes one rent for all of Somerset, so this town's Cost Grade uses house prices and council tax only.
The 3 things Burnham-on-Sea 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 Burnham-on-Sea is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 12 buildings inside Burnham-on-Sea’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
16% 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 Burnham-on-Sea.
People aged 15 to 24 make up 8.3% of the town, below both Somerset’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (12%). 13% of residents are children under 15. Ages in Burnham-on-Sea split evenly at 53.3: half are older, half younger. Degrees are held by nearly a quarter of adults.
52% women, 48% men
About 92 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.
| Burnham-on-Sea | Somerset | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 13% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.3% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 18% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 33% | 23% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 22% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.6% | 6.1% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 23% | 32% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Somerset and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Burnham-on-Sea’s three primaries and one secondary have 1,978 pupils between them. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. GCSE results at the one secondary school within 3 km: 30% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 40.7.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Andrew's Church Junior SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 290 | C |
| The King Alfred SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,269 | C− |
There were 13.5 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), above Somerset’s towns (7.2) and England’s towns (7.8) alike. The 12 months to August 2026 brought 1,250 recorded crimes inside Burnham-on-Sea’s built-up area, and 293 reports of anti-social behaviour. Of all the crimes, 52% were violence and sexual offences.
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.
At the census, 75% of people in Burnham-on-Sea called their health good or very good, below both Somerset’s towns (82%) and England’s towns (82%). Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 7.4% of the town. Men in Burnham-on-Sea can expect to live to 78.1, women to 82.5 (2019–23). The nearest A&E to Burnham-on-Sea is Weston General Hospital, 6 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Burnham-on-Sea | Somerset | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 75% | 82% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 7.4% | 5.1% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 24% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Young towns look healthier on these answers, which aren’t adjusted for age; the Health Grade uses measures that are, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 20% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
About just over a quarter of its commuters stay in Burnham-on-Sea for work. Working from home was the norm for a fifth of workers at the census. Also worth knowing: this Somerset town counts 0.6 jobs per working resident.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Social housing holds nearly one in ten households, below both Somerset’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (18%). The £270,000 median rests on 841 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026). Private rents average £1,016 a month across the Somerset council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £340,000 | 275 |
| Semi-detached | £275,000 | 275 |
| Terraced | £221,000 | 176 |
| Flat or maisonette | £145,000 | 115 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Scaled to its population, that is 7 listed buildings for every 10,000 people in Burnham-on-Sea. Its listed buildings include the Church of St Andrew, Grade I. Conservation areas cover 2% of the town’s land, below both Somerset’s towns (8%) and England’s towns (7%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Burnham-on-Sea. Best known first.
PierBurnham Pierin town
Theme parkBrean Leisure Park2.9 km outside town, to the northAttractionAttractionRich's Cider Farm3 km outside town, to the southeastTheme parkTheme parkBrean Theme Park2.9 km outside town, to the northPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
12 listed buildings in Burnham-on-Sea, 1 of them Grade I.
Church of St Andrew: Photo: Major Slateley Boncass · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Burnham High Lighthouse: Photo: Tanya Dedyukhina · CC BY 3.0 · Stoddens Farmhouse: Photo: Roger Cornfoot · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Drinking Fountain at the Junction of Sea View and Berrow Road: Photo: Strange Media · CC BY-SA 4.0
7 notable people were born in Burnham-on-Sea.
Charles Brooke: Unknown authorUnknown author; probably Alexander Bassano (10 May 1829 – 21 October 1913, Public domain · William Wiggins: Bassano Ltd, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burnham-on-Sea | 16,317 | — | D | C | C− | C− |
| Highbridge | 5,366 | 1.2 | D− | C+ | D− | D |
| Berrow and Brean | 2,252 | 2.9 | — | D | C− | C+ |
| Puriton | 2,265 | 4.8 | — | C+ | B+ | B |
| Woolavington | 2,324 | 5.4 | — | C | C− | B− |
| Cannington | 2,315 | 6.7 | — | C | B+ | B |
| Hutton | 1,686 | 6.7 | — | C | A− | B+ |
| Wembdon | 1,772 | 7.2 | — | D | A | B+ |
Berrow and Brean, Puriton, Woolavington, Cannington, Hutton and Wembdon have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
GCSE results trail 89% of towns in England, and primary results trail 61% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
About the middle for its size: 61% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people report less crime per resident. Against all UK towns, most of them smaller, it grades C−.
Town in Somerset, England
Burnham-on-Sea is a built-up area of 16,317 people, in the Sedgemoor 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.