Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A village of 2,062 in Somerset, South West.
Ilchester has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Its strongest subject is cost of living (A): median sale £188,500, 3.6 years of area income; rent £1,016 a month. Its weakest is hazard risk (C−): 1.9% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea.
ONS publishes one rent for all of Somerset, so this town's Cost Grade uses house prices and council tax only.
The 3 things Ilchester 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 Ilchester is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists them inside Ilchester’s built-up area, along with 2 scheduled monuments.
11% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Ilchester, Maryland, is named after Ilchester.
USUS editionIlchester, Maryland, settled in 1761, takes its name from this village.
Named after: each U.S. town’s Wikipedia article. Grades compare each town with towns in its own country, so they aren’t a head-to-head.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Ilchester.
Ilchester sits above both Somerset’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (21%) on this measure. Owners make up 50% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £304,975 | 8 |
| Semi-detached | £240,000 | 14 |
| Terraced | £200,000 | 37 |
| Flat or maisonette | £126,000 | 27 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ilchester Community SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 322 | B |
That puts Ilchester above both Somerset’s towns (27) and England’s towns (22). Police recorded 168 crimes inside Ilchester’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 15 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences were 43% of the crimes; the police category includes harassment and stalking.
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 heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
On this, Ilchester is above both Somerset’s towns (90) and England’s towns (39). Ilchester has 48 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 0 Grade I, 2 Grade II*. 11% of homes were built before 1919.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
In the comparison, Ilchester comes above both Somerset’s towns (82%) and England’s towns (82%). Ilchester has no GP practice of its own; the nearest is 4.4 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 | Ilchester | Somerset | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 86% | 82% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4% | 5.1% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 15% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 27% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
For Ilchester, that is below both Somerset’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (27%). 32% of commuters travelled under 5 km to work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
14% of residents are 65 or over, below both Somerset’s towns (23%) and England’s towns (18%). Those aged 15 to 24 account for 8.8% of residents. The median resident of Ilchester is 35.3 years old.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Ilchester | Somerset | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 24% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.8% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 31% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 23% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 14% | 23% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 12% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.3% | 6.1% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 22% | 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 Ilchester. Best known first.
MuseumIlchester Museumin town
MuseumFleet Air Arm Museum2.7 km outside town, to the east
Historic house · National TrustLytes Cary2.7 km outside town, to the northGardenGardenTintinhull Garden3.5 km outside town, to the southwestGardenGarden · National TrustTintinhull Garden3.1 km outside town, to the southwestMuseumMuseumCobham Hall2.8 km outside town, to the eastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
4 notable people were born in Ilchester.
Elizabeth Rowe: Frontispiece to Friendship in Death 1752, Public domain · Benedict Arnold: Sarnold17 (Uploads), CC BY 3.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ilchester | 2,062 | — | — | A | C | B |
| Somerton | 5,106 | 4.1 | C− | C− | C+ | B |
| Martock | 4,079 | 4.5 | C | B− | C | C+ |
| Yeovil | 50,170 | 4.7 | C+ | B | D | C |
| Keinton Mandeville | 1,216 | 4.7 | — | D | A+ | B+ |
| Stoke sub Hamdon | 1,360 | 4.8 | — | C+ | C | B |
| Langport | 3,578 | 6.6 | B | C+ | C | B− |
| Barwick and Stoford | 1,095 | 6.8 | — | A− | C | B− |
Keinton Mandeville, Stoke sub Hamdon and Barwick and Stoford have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 9.6 times the typical UK town for its size. It also has 2 scheduled monuments.
Primary results beat 78% of towns in England (Department for Education, Key Stage 2). One state school is inside the town; places are handled by Somerset council.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Village in Somerset, England
Ilchester is a built-up area of 2,062 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.