Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 9,645 in Somerset, South West.
Shepton Mallet grades C− overall against UK towns: better than 16% of UK towns, and #37 of 49 in Somerset. Its strongest subject is walkability (B+): 19% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is schools (D): primary results beat 26% of towns in England; secondary results beat 9% of towns in England. The median home sold for £247,750 in the last three years, 4.7 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 Shepton Mallet 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 Shepton Mallet is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 211 buildings inside Shepton Mallet’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I, and 2 scheduled monuments.
19% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 1 old photo or postcard going back to 1903.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Shepton Mallet.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
That puts Shepton Mallet above both Somerset’s towns (90) and England’s towns (39). Shepton Mallet’s listed buildings include Church of St Peter and St Paul, Grade I. Shepton Mallet has 211 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 1 Grade I, 9 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Paul's Church of England VC Junior SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 324 | C− |
| WhitstoneLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 545 | C− |
On this, Shepton Mallet is above both Somerset’s towns (27) and England’s towns (22). Police recorded 778 crimes inside Shepton Mallet’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 117 reports of anti-social behaviour. Among the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Shepton Mallet has more crime per resident than 86% of them.
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 20% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
In the comparison, Shepton Mallet comes above both Somerset’s towns (2.1%) and England’s towns (2.3%). The car carried 79% of commuters at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
82% of Shepton Mallet’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 | Shepton Mallet | Somerset | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 82% | 82% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.3% | 5.1% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 16% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
Half the homes sold went for more than £248K, below both Somerset’s towns (£311K) and England’s towns (£308K).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £422,500 | 68 |
| Semi-detached | £279,225 | 138 |
| Terraced | £230,000 | 141 |
| Flat or maisonette | £145,000 | 75 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
For Shepton Mallet, that is below both Somerset’s towns (32%) and England’s towns (34%). Those aged 15 to 24 account for 9.8% of residents. Shepton Mallet has a median age of 41.4.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Shepton Mallet | Somerset | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.8% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 27% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 19% | 23% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 19% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.6% | 6.1% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 19% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 26% | 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 Shepton Mallet. Best known first.
211 listed buildings in Shepton Mallet, 1 of them Grade I.
Church of St Peter and St Paul: Photo: Wurzeller · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Market Cross: Photo: Rodw · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Anglo Trading Estate: Photo: Martin Bodman · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Bridge over Lower Lane: Photo: Neil Owen · CC BY-SA 2.0
11 notable people were born in Shepton Mallet.
Frederick Clarke Withers: upload by Gloucester1692, CC BY-SA 4.0 · John Lewis: Elliott & Fry, Public domain · Vincent Pyke: Photographer unidentified, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shepton Mallet | 9,645 | — | C− | B | C− | C+ |
| Pilton | 1,104 | 2.3 | — | D | C+ | A+ |
| Evercreech | 2,165 | 3.4 | — | B | B− | B− |
| Wells | 12,097 | 4.6 | D | C− | C− | B− |
| Chilcompton | 1,857 | 5.4 | — | D | A− | B |
| Coleford | 2,235 | 5.6 | — | B | B+ | B− |
| Bruton | 2,816 | 6.9 | B | C | C+ | A− |
| Castle Cary | 3,451 | 7 | B− | C+ | C− | B+ |
Pilton, Evercreech, Chilcompton and Coleford 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 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of St Peter and St Paul. It also has 2 scheduled monuments.
Band D council tax in Shepton Mallet is £2,693 for 2026–27, more than in 95% 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.
Police recorded 778 crimes inside Shepton Mallet’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 56% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
Town in Somerset, England
Shepton Mallet is a built-up area of 9,645 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.