Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
It is a village of 2,009 residents in Somerset, South West. Over-65s are 32% of the population.
Where it does best is schools: primary results beat 95% of towns in England. Housing is expensive: homes sell for a median £340,000, about 6.6 times local household income. Its remaining grades are unremarkable: B− for safety, B for health and C+ for jobs & income. Hazard risk is lower than in most UK towns (A).
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · life expectancy and income, ONS · claimants, DWP · flood risk, Environment Agency. Curry Rivel is graded on each subject, but towns under 2,500 get no overall grade.
ONS publishes one rent for all of Somerset, so this town's Cost Grade uses house prices and council tax only.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Curry Rivel is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Curry Rivel is graded on each subject, but towns under 2,500 get no overall grade.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things Curry Rivel does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists them inside Curry Rivel’s built-up area.
23% 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 Curry Rivel.
Young adults of 15 to 24 account for 10% of the town. 14% are under 15, below Somerset’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. Residents of Curry Rivel have a median age of 52.6.
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.
| Curry Rivel | Somerset | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 14% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 16% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 32% | 23% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 15% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.7% | 6.1% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 35% | 32% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Somerset and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
74% of pupils at the 2 primary schools within 3 km met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). The one school in town appears below. The town’s primary school has 183 pupils.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Curry Rivel Church of England VC Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 183 | C+ |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Nearly a quarter of homes were built before 1919. Curry Rivel’s listed buildings include the Church of St Andrew, Grade I. Historic England’s list names 32 listed buildings in the town: 1 Grade I, 3 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Owners make up 75% of households, above both Somerset’s towns (67%) and England’s towns (61%). Private rents average £1,016 a month across the Somerset council area. Council and housing-body homes hold 14% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £390,000 | 51 |
| Semi-detached | £277,500 | 25 |
| Terraced | £315,000 | 6 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 33% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Short trips to work, under 5 km: 25%, below Somerset’s towns (46%) and England’s towns (45%) alike. 89% of commuters drove to work at the census. Among 16 to 64s, 1.7% claimed unemployment benefits in 2026.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
At the census, four fifths of people in Curry Rivel called their health good or very good, lower than both Somerset’s towns (82%) and England’s towns (82%). This Somerset town has no GP practice of its own; the nearest is 2.2 miles away. 4.4% of residents report bad or very bad health.
| Census 2021 | Curry Rivel | Somerset | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 80% | 82% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.4% | 5.1% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 21% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · No age adjustment applies to these census answers, which flatter younger towns; the Health Grade’s measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them, do allow for age.
Police recorded 93 crimes inside Curry Rivel’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 17 reports of anti-social behaviour. Among the 1,541 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, Curry Rivel has more crime per resident than 69% of them. Burglary and damage came to 8 per 1,000 residents a year, below both Somerset’s towns (8.6) and England’s towns (9.4).
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 Curry Rivel. Best known first.
FortAthelney4.8 km outside town, to the northwest
Historic house · English HeritageMuchelney Abbey3 km outside town, to the east
Historic house · National TrustPriest's House3 km outside town, to the east
Historic houseWillows and Wetlands Visitor Centre4.2 km outside town, to the northwestAttractionAttractionCoates English Willow Visitor Centre4.6 km outside town, to the westPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Village in Somerset, England
Curry Rivel is a built-up area of 2,009 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
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Curry Rivel | 2,009 | — | — | C− | B− | B |
| Langport | 3,578 | 2.4 | B | C+ | C | B− |
| North Curry | 1,057 | 4.4 | — | D | A+ | A− |
| Martock | 4,079 | 5.7 | C | B− | C | C+ |
| South Petherton | 3,096 | 5.9 | C | D | C | B |
| Somerton | 5,106 | 6.1 | C− | C− | C+ | B |
| Westonzoyland | 1,463 | 6.4 | — | B− | B+ | B |
| Ilminster | 5,961 | 7 | C | B− | B− | B− |
North Curry and Westonzoyland have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Primary results beat 95% of towns in England (Department for Education, Key Stage 2). One state school is inside the town; places are handled by Somerset council.
That is 6.5 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of St Andrew.
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.