Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A large town of 27,904 in Somerset, South West.
Frome grades D overall against UK towns: better than 13% of UK towns, and #41 of 49 in Somerset. Its strongest subject is walkability (A−): 20% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is schools (C−): primary results beat 14% of towns in England; secondary results beat 28% of towns in England. The median home sold for £320,000 in the last three years, 6 times what households in the Mendip 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 2 things Frome 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 Frome is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 368 buildings inside Frome’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade I, and 1 scheduled monument.
18% 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 Frome.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Frome has 368 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 2 Grade I, 21 Grade II*. For its size, Frome has 132 listed buildings per 10,000 residents, above both Somerset’s towns (90) and England’s towns (39). Frome’s listed buildings include Former Rook Lane Congregational Chapel, Grade I.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Two of its 11 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avanti Park SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 503 | C− |
| Frome Community CollegeLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,298 | C |
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Frome sits above both Somerset’s towns (27) and England’s towns (22) on this measure. Homes see 12.8 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year. Police recorded 2,446 crimes inside Frome’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 454 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
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £432,750 | 274 |
| Semi-detached | £325,000 | 345 |
| Terraced | £295,000 | 493 |
| Flat or maisonette | £177,750 | 182 |
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 29% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
That puts Frome above both Somerset’s towns (2.1%) and England’s towns (2.3%). 77% of commuters drove to work at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
82% of Frome’s residents described their health as good or very good in 2021, against 82% across Somerset’s towns. 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 | Frome | Somerset | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 82% | 82% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.9% | 5.1% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 18% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
On this, Frome is below both Somerset’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (12%). Children under 15 make up 18% of residents. Frome has a median age of 42.6.
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Frome | Somerset | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.5% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 25% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 20% | 23% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 16% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.8% | 6.1% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 34% | 32% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Somerset and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Frome. Best known first.
MuseumFrome Museumin town
Historic houseLongleat House4.4 km outside town, to the southeast
Castle · English HeritageNunney Castle2.8 km outside town, to the southwest
Wildlife parkLongleat Safari Park4.4 km outside town, to the southeastAttractionAttractionJetEx Simulationin townAttractionAttractionValentine Gas Lampin townPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
368 listed buildings in Frome, 2 of them Grade I.
The Blue House: Photo: Cheesy mike · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Christ Church: Photo: Humphrey Bolton · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Blue Boar Inn: Photo: Derek Harper · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Bridge: Photo: Michael Dibb · CC BY-SA 2.0
16 notable people were born in Frome.
Jenson Button: Engyles, CC BY 2.0 · Charlie Higson: Christopher William Adach from London, UK, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Joseph Robson Tanner: Shimer College, Public domain · Will Thorp: Richard Hopkins, CC BY 2.0 · Chris Stokes: Bruce Fenn, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frome | 27,904 | — | D | C− | C− | B− |
| Beckington | 1,001 | 3 | — | D | B | A |
| Dilton Marsh | 1,958 | 4.5 | — | A− | B+ | B+ |
| Norton St Philip | 1,004 | 5 | — | D | A | A |
| Coleford | 2,235 | 5.5 | — | B | B+ | B− |
| Southwick | 1,856 | 6 | — | A | B− | A− |
| Westbury | 16,394 | 6.1 | B− | A− | C+ | C |
| Warminster | 18,018 | 6.1 | B | A− | C+ | C+ |
Beckington, Dilton Marsh, Norton St Philip, Coleford and Southwick have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 5.4 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include Former Rook Lane Congregational Chapel. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
Band D council tax in Frome is £2,684 for 2026–27, more than in 94% 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.
It has more crime per resident than most places its size: 67% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people report less. Police recorded 2,446 crimes inside Frome’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 46% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
Large town in Somerset, England
Frome is a built-up area of 27,904 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.