Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 14,287 in Somerset, South West.
Chard grades C overall against UK towns: better than 28% of UK towns, and #30 of 49 in Somerset. Its strongest subject is walkability (A): 24% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is jobs & income (D): mean household income £41,184; 3.6% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. The median home sold for £237,500 in the last three years, 4.6 times what households in the South Somerset council area earn in a year.
ONS publishes one rent for all of Somerset, so this town's Cost Grade uses house prices and council tax only.
The 3 things Chard 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 Chard is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 156 buildings inside Chard’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade I.
12% 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 Chard.
On this, Chard is below both Somerset’s towns (32%) and England’s towns (34%). Over-65s are 24% of the population. The median resident of Chard is 44.5 years old.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Chard | Somerset | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 24% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 24% | 23% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 22% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.7% | 6.1% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 20% | 32% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Somerset and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Three of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manor Court Community Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 448 | A |
| Holyrood AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,282 | C |
| The Redstart Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 444 | A− |
In the comparison, Chard comes above both Somerset’s towns (27) and England’s towns (22). Homes see 15.5 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year. Police recorded 1,558 crimes inside Chard’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 219 reports of anti-social behaviour.
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 Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 16% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Short trips to work, under 5 km: 53%, above both Somerset’s towns (46%) and England’s towns (45%). 16% of workers worked mainly from home at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
For Chard, that is below both Somerset’s towns (82%) and England’s towns (82%). The nearest A&E to Chard is Musgrove Park Hospital, 11.8 miles away. These answers aren’t adjusted for age, so young towns look healthier; the Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
| Census 2021 | Chard | Somerset | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 79% | 82% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.9% | 5.1% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 20% | 18% | 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.
Chard has 156 listed buildings inside its built-up area on Historic England’s list: 2 Grade I, 8 Grade II*. 12% of its homes were built before 1919.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Chard sits above both Somerset’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (18%) on this measure.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £340,000 | 197 |
| Semi-detached | £242,500 | 170 |
| Terraced | £185,000 | 201 |
| Flat or maisonette | £105,000 | 67 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Chard. Best known first.
MuseumChard Museumin town
CastleForde Abbey3.7 km outside town, to the southeast
MuseumPerry's Cider Mill4.9 km outside town, to the northeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
156 listed buildings in Chard, 2 of them Grade I.
The Guildhall: Photo: Mike Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Main building at Chard School: Photo: Ken Grainger · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Happy Return Public House: Photo: Lewis Clarke · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Former Joint Railway Station: Photo: Derek Harper · CC BY-SA 2.0
7 notable people were born in Chard.
Margaret Bondfield: Harris & Ewing, Public domain · Ben Hamer: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rorals/, CC BY 2.0 · Sheila Allen: PBS, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chard | 14,287 | — | C | B | D | C− |
| Tatworth | 2,287 | 2.1 | — | B− | A | A− |
| Ilminster | 5,961 | 3.9 | C | B− | B− | B− |
| Horton and Broadway | 1,212 | 4 | — | D | A | B |
| Axminster | 6,094 | 6.5 | D | B | D | C+ |
| Crewkerne | 7,067 | 7.2 | C | B− | C | C+ |
| Merriott | 2,068 | 7.6 | — | B− | A | B |
| Misterton | 1,037 | 8.2 | — | B | B− | B− |
Tatworth, Horton and Broadway, Merriott and Misterton have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
At the 2021 Census, 10% of Chard’s 14,287 residents were 15 to 24 and 24% were 65 or over, against 12% and 18% across England’s towns.
That is 4.5 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include Church of St Mary the Virgin.
It has more crime per resident than most places its size: 88% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people report less. Police recorded 1,558 crimes inside Chard’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 48% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
Town in Somerset, England
Chard is a built-up area of 14,287 people, in the South Somerset 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.