Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A large town of 22,823 in Surrey, South East.
Ashford grades B overall against UK towns: better than 59% of UK towns, and #54 of 65 in Surrey. Its strongest subject is walkability (A−): 21% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is cost of living (C−): median sale £450,000, 6.8 years of area income; rent £1,696 a month.
The 2 things Ashford 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 Ashford is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 8 buildings inside Ashford’s built-up area.
10% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Ashford. Best known first.
Garden · National TrustRunnymede4.8 km outside town, to the west
AttractionColossus3.4 km outside town, to the southwest
Abbey or prioryChertsey Abbey3.8 km outside town, to the southwest
AttractionThe Swarm3.3 km outside town, to the southwest
AttractionStealth3.4 km outside town, to the southwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Ashford.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Ashford has 8 listed buildings inside its built-up area on Historic England’s list: 0 Grade I, 0 Grade II*. 10% of its homes were built before 1919.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
St Michael Catholic Primary School & Nursery’s results beat 94% of schools in England like it. Three of its 7 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ashford Park Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 645 | B− |
| Thomas Knyvett CollegeLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 671 | D |
| St Michael Catholic Primary School & NurseryTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 482 | A |
10% live in social housing, below both Surrey’s towns (12%) and England’s towns (18%). 72% of households own their home.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £587,000 | 136 |
| Semi-detached | £500,000 | 281 |
| Terraced | £440,000 | 113 |
| Flat or maisonette | £280,000 | 220 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 33% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
In the comparison, Ashford comes above both Surrey’s towns (2.1%) and England’s towns (2.3%). Household income averages £66K a year before tax.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
For Ashford, that is above both Surrey’s towns (10.5) and England’s towns (9.4). Violent crime runs at 31.5 per 1,000 residents a year. Police recorded 1,673 crimes inside Ashford’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 266 reports of anti-social behaviour.
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
85% of Ashford’s residents described their health as good or very good in 2021, against 87% across Surrey’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 | Ashford | Surrey | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 85% | 87% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.6% | 3.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 14% | 14% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
Ashford sits below both Surrey’s towns (42%) and England’s towns (34%) on this measure. People aged 15 to 24 make up 10% of the town. Half the people of Ashford are older than 40.9.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Ashford | Surrey | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 28% | 25% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 18% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 17% | 13% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.4% | 4.2% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 31% | 42% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Surrey and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
8 listed buildings in Ashford.
Ashford War Memorial: Photo: Mertbiol · CC0 · Church of St Hilda: Photo: Rachel Keegan · CC BY-SA 2.0
38 notable people were born in Ashford.
Ruth Wilson: Mingle MediaTV, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Roger Johnson: Dtrc1969, CC BY-SA 3.0 · James Younghusband: Philippine Information Agency, Public domain · Ray Dorset: Harald Bischoff, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Dorothy Popenoe: Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation., CC0 · Robert Evans (British politician): Rjeevans, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashford | 22,823 | — | B | C− | C | B+ |
| Ashford Common | 8,333 | 1.2 | B+ | C− | B | B |
| Staines-upon-Thames | 21,327 | 1.4 | C+ | C− | D | B+ |
| Stanwell | 11,728 | 1.5 | C | C− | D | C− |
| Laleham | 2,521 | 1.7 | B | D | B | A− |
| Shepperton Green | 4,358 | 2.1 | B | D | B | B |
| Sunbury-on-Thames | 21,476 | 2.4 | B− | D | C− | B |
| Upper Halliford | 2,337 | 2.4 | — | D | B− | B |
Upper Halliford has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £450,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £280,000, terraced houses £440,000, semi-detached houses £500,000 and detached houses £587,000.
Primary schools stand out: Key Stage 2 results beat 75% of towns in England. Secondary results beat 72%.
About the middle for its size: 54% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people report less crime per resident. Against all UK towns, most of them smaller, it grades C. Police recorded 1,673 crimes inside Ashford’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 38% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
Large town in Surrey, England
Ashford is a built-up area of 22,823 people, in the Spelthorne 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.
