Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Over-65s are 30% of the population. 15,919 people call this town in Somerset, South West home.
Plenty to like here, at a price. Work and incomes are strong: the mean household earns £61,275 a year. Nailsea grades A overall, better than 85% of UK towns, and ranks #4 of 49 in Somerset. Its schools beat most: primary results beat 78% of towns in England; secondary results beat 77% of towns in England. Housing is expensive: a typical home costs £365,000 and rent runs £1,209 a month. Its remaining grades are unremarkable: B for safety and B for hazard risk.
Figures: income, ONS · claimants, DWP · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · flood risk, Environment Agency.
The 3 things Nailsea 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 Nailsea is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 35 buildings inside Nailsea’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I, and 2 scheduled monuments.
6% 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 Nailsea.
Those aged 15 to 24 account for 9.4% of residents. Children under 15 make up 14%, below Somerset’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. The median resident of Nailsea is 50.9 years old. Degrees are held by 36% of adults.
52% women, 48% men
About 93 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.
| Nailsea | Somerset | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 14% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.4% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 19% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 30% | 23% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 13% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.7% | 6.1% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 36% | 32% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Somerset and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Key Stage 2 results at the town’s 4 primary schools: two thirds of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). St Francis Catholic Primary School’s results beat nearly four in five schools in England like it. Three of its 8 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. Between them, five primaries and one secondary teach 2,247 pupils in Nailsea.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Golden Valley Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 401 | B+ |
| Nailsea SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,197 | B− |
| St Francis Catholic Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 142 | A− |
Private renters make up just over one in ten households, lower than both Somerset’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (21%). 7% of households live in social housing. The median sale, £365,000, comes from 853 standard sales inside Nailsea’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £489,000 | 303 |
| Semi-detached | £340,000 | 345 |
| Terraced | £293,000 | 133 |
| Flat or maisonette | £183,750 | 72 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The nearest A&E to Nailsea is UHBW Bristol Campus, 7.4 miles away. One GP practice serves the town; nine in ten patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. Men in Nailsea can expect to live to 81.1, women to 85 (2019–23).
| Census 2021 | Nailsea | Somerset | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 82% | 82% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.6% | 5.1% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 18% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Because the census answers ignore age, a younger population lifts them; that is why the Health Grade is built on age-adjusted measures like life expectancy and early deaths.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 38% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Unemployment benefit claims came to 1.8% of 16 to 64s in 2026, below Somerset’s towns (2.1%) and England’s towns (2.3%) alike. Nearly four in five commuters drove to work at the census. Of the commuters living in Nailsea, 27% work in the town itself. The census counted 38% of workers working mainly from home.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Homes built before 1919 account for 6% of the housing. Nailsea’s listed buildings include the Church of Holy Trinity, Grade I. For its size, Nailsea has 22 listed buildings per 10,000 residents.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Violence came to 18.8 per 1,000 residents a year, lower than both Somerset’s towns (27.3) and England’s towns (22). Over the year to August 2026, 711 offences were reported in Nailsea, along with 188 incidents of anti-social behaviour. Per 1,000 residents, 8.4 burglaries and acts of damage are recorded a year.
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 Nailsea. Best known first.
Historic house · National TrustTyntesfield House2 km outside town, to the east
Historic house · National TrustClevedon Court3.6 km outside town, to the west
MuseumOakham Treasures3.6 km outside town, to the northeastZooZooNoah's Ark Zoo Farm1.7 km outside town, to the northeastFortFort · National TrustCadbury Camp1.6 km outside town, to the northwestAttractionAttractionNorth Somerset Showground2 km outside town, to the eastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
35 listed buildings in Nailsea, 1 of them Grade I.
Nailsea Glassworks: Photo: British School · Public domain · Middle Engine Pit: Photo: Neil Owen · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Butchers Arms: Photo: Neil Owen · CC BY-SA 2.0 · East End Farmhouse: Photo: Philip Halling · CC BY-SA 2.0
4 notable people were born in Nailsea.
James Heappey: Chris McAndrew, CC BY 3.0 · Rebecca Holloway: Hameltion, CC BY-SA 4.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nailsea | 15,919 | — | A | C− | B | A− |
| Backwell | 4,347 | 1.4 | A | D | A− | A+ |
| Portishead | 26,351 | 3.7 | A− | D | C+ | A |
| Yatton | 7,704 | 3.9 | B | C− | C+ | A− |
| Clevedon | 21,084 | 4.1 | B+ | C | B− | B |
| Long Ashton | 5,184 | 4.1 | A− | D | B− | A+ |
| Pill | 4,956 | 4.6 | C+ | C− | C− | A |
| Congresbury | 2,795 | 4.8 | B− | D | C | B+ |
People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Police recorded 711 crimes inside Nailsea’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 43% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
GCSE results beat 77% of towns in England, and primary results beat 78% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £365,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £183,750, terraced houses £293,000, semi-detached houses £340,000 and detached houses £489,000.
Town in Somerset, England
Nailsea is a built-up area of 15,919 people, in the North 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.