Weston-super-Mare grades D overall against UK towns: better than 8% of UK towns, and #43 of 49 in Somerset. Its strongest subject is walkability (A−): 20% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is safety (D): 57.4 violent and sexual offences and 17.2 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026. Among UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, it has less crime per resident than 20%. The median home sold for £254,995 in the last three years, 4.5 times what households in the North Somerset council area earn in a year.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Weston-super-Mare is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Weston-super-Mare.
Safety
Weston-super-Mare has more crime per resident than 95% of UK towns
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Violence came to 57.4 per 1,000 residents a year, above both Somerset’s towns (27) and England’s towns (22). Police recorded 9,319 crimes inside Weston-super-Mare’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 1,477 reports of anti-social behaviour. Among the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, Weston-super-Mare has more crime per resident than 80% of them.
57.4violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a yearDSafety Grade
Compared with UK towns its sizeLess crime per resident than 20% of the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more: more crime than most for its size. Context only, not part of the grade.
More crimeLess crime
Reports by type · Sep 2025 to Aug 2026
Violence & sexual4,585
Public order955
Shoplifting852
Damage & arson811
Other theft630
Vehicle crime348
Burglary307
Other crime231
Anti-social1,477
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.
57.4
violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
17.2
burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
17.9
anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 (not graded)
Department for Education · GIAS, Key Stage 2 and GCSE resultsSee all 28 schools →
Health
Disability is more common in Weston-super-Mare than in Somerset’s towns or across England’s towns: 22% of residents
On this, Weston-super-Mare is above both Somerset’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (17%). Women here live to 82.8 on average and men to 78.3 (2019–23). 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.
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
Work & commuteJobs & income grade C
3.6% of 16 to 64s in Weston-super-Mare claim unemployment benefits, more than in Somerset’s towns and England’s towns
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 22% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
In the comparison, Weston-super-Mare comes above both Somerset’s towns (2.1%) and England’s towns (2.3%). The average household earns £48K a year before tax.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Who lives here
Degrees are less common in Weston-super-Mare than in Somerset’s towns or across England’s towns: 27% of adults
For Weston-super-Mare, that is below both Somerset’s towns (32%) and England’s towns (34%). Young adults of 15 to 24 are 10% of the population. Half the people of Weston-super-Mare are older than 43.1.
43.1median age
Weston-super-MareSomersetEngland
Ages · share of residents
21%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications18%
Apprenticeship6%
A levels or similar19%
Degree level27%
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
WomenEnglandMen
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
ONS Census 2021 · Somerset and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
History
83 listed buildings, 0 of them Grade I
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Weston-super-Mare has 83 listed buildings inside its built-up area on Historic England’s list: 0 Grade I, 7 Grade II*. 23% of its homes were built before 1919.
John Cleese: Miguel Discart & Kiri Karma, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ritchie Blackmore: kitmasterbloke, CC BY 2.0 · Rupert Graves: Rupert_Graves_2010.jpg: Ian Smith from London, England derivative work: RanZag, CC BY-SA 2.0 · John Polkinghorne: Jack1956, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Augustus Edward Hough Love: Antique wood engraved print taken from The Graphic (British Newspaper), Public domain · Con O'Neill: Super Festivals from Ft. Lauderdale, USA, CC BY 2.0
Kewstoke, Hutton, West Wick, Banwell and Berrow and Brean have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Questions about Weston-super-Mare
Is Weston-super-Mare safe?
Police recorded 9,319 crimes inside Weston-super-Mare’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 49% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
Does Weston-super-Mare flood?
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Are schools in Weston-super-Mare good?
GCSE results trail 73% of towns in England, and primary results trail 78% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
About Weston-super-Mare
Large town in Somerset, England
Weston-super-Mare is a built-up area of 84,600 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
Population
84,600 (Census 2021)
Council
North Somerset
County
Somerset
Region
South West
Area
7.2 sq mi (18.7 km²)
ONS code
E63005323
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.
