Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A village in Somerset, South West, home to 1,360 people. Over-65s are 27% of the population.
Natural hazards are few (A). Its lowest grade is for walkability — 11% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. At a median £295,000, a home costs 5.7 times the yearly income of households in the South Somerset council area. Its remaining grades are unremarkable: B− for schools and B for health.
Figures: flood risk, Environment Agency · commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · incomes and life expectancy, ONS. Stoke sub Hamdon has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
ONS publishes one rent for all of Somerset, so this town's Cost Grade uses house prices and council tax only.
The 3 things Stoke sub Hamdon 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 Stoke sub Hamdon is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists them inside Stoke sub Hamdon’s built-up area, along with 2 scheduled monuments.
40% 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 Stoke sub Hamdon.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Stoke sub Hamdon’s listed buildings include The Priory, Or Parsonage Farmhouse, Grade I. Per 10,000 residents, Stoke sub Hamdon counts 272 listed buildings, above both Somerset’s towns (90) and England’s towns (39). Of the town’s 37 listed buildings on Historic England’s list, Grade I counts 1 and Grade II* 2.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
62% of pupils at the 7 primary schools within 3 km met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). The town has one school, shown below. Secondary results at the one secondary school within 3 km: an Attainment 8 score of 45.9, with 46% at grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Castle Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 136 | D |
Residents of Stoke sub Hamdon have a median age of 51.2. Young adults of 15 to 24 are nearly one in ten residents, lower than both Somerset’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (12%). Graduates make up 31% of adults.
52% women, 48% men
About 94 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.
| Stoke sub Hamdon | Somerset | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.8% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 20% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 30% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 27% | 23% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 16% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 8.4% | 6.1% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 19% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 31% | 32% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Somerset and England: all residents of their built-up areas · 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.
Household income came to £52K a year before tax, about level with Somerset’s towns (£55K) and below England’s towns (£55K). Driving is how 88% of commuters got to work at the census. The 2026 claimant rate among 16 to 64s was 1.9%.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
There were 12.8 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), higher than both Somerset’s towns (7.2) and England’s towns (7.8). The 12 months to August 2026 brought 95 recorded crimes inside Stoke sub Hamdon’s built-up area, and 24 reports of anti-social behaviour. Among the 1,541 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, Stoke sub Hamdon has more crime per resident than 83% of them. Violence and sexual offences accounted for 69% of recorded crime.
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 police category of violence and sexual offences includes harassment and stalking.
Social housing holds 13% of households, below Somerset’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. Owners make up 69% of households. Private rents average £1,016 a month across the Somerset council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £437,500 | 14 |
| Semi-detached | £263,500 | 14 |
| Terraced | £263,000 | 38 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
At the census, four fifths of people in Stoke sub Hamdon called their health good or very good, below Somerset’s towns (82%) and England’s towns (82%) alike. There is no GP practice in the town: the nearest is 3.7 miles off. Men in Stoke sub Hamdon can expect to live to 80.9, women to 85.4 (2019–23). The nearest A&E to Stoke sub Hamdon is Yeovil District Hospital, 5.1 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Stoke sub Hamdon | Somerset | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 80% | 82% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.5% | 5.1% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 20% | 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.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Stoke sub Hamdon. Best known first.
Historic house · National TrustStoke sub Hamdon Prioryin town
Historic house · National TrustMontacute House2.2 km outside town, to the east · 120K visitors a year (2011)
Historic house · National TrustTreasurer's House1.7 km outside town, to the northwestGardenGardenTintinhull Garden2.9 km outside town, to the northeastMuseumMuseumMontacute TV Radio & Toy Museum2.1 km outside town, to the eastGardenGardenEast Lambrook Manor Gardens3.9 km outside town, to the westPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stoke sub Hamdon | 1,360 | — | — | C+ | C | B |
| Martock | 4,079 | 1.4 | C | B− | C | C+ |
| South Petherton | 3,096 | 2.5 | C | D | C | B |
| Merriott | 2,068 | 3.7 | — | B− | A | B |
| Ilchester | 2,062 | 4.8 | — | A | C | B |
| Yeovil | 50,170 | 4.9 | C+ | B | D | C |
| Crewkerne | 7,067 | 5.4 | C | B− | C | C+ |
| Misterton | 1,037 | 5.8 | — | B | B− | B− |
Merriott, Ilchester and Misterton have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 11.2 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is The Priory, Or Parsonage Farmhouse. It also has 2 scheduled monuments.
Village in Somerset, England
Stoke sub Hamdon is a built-up area of 1,360 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.