Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 14,830 in Surrey, South East.
Ashtead grades A+ overall against UK towns: better than 98% of UK towns, and #2 of 65 in Surrey. Its strongest subject is jobs & income (A+): mean household income £80,064; 1.2% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Its weakest is cost of living (C−): median sale £715,000, 10.1 years of area income; rent £1,551 a month.
The 3 things Ashtead 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 Ashtead is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 47 buildings inside Ashtead’s built-up area, 3 of them Grade II*, and 1 scheduled monument.
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 Ashtead. Best known first.
Theme parkChessington World of Adventures3 km outside town, to the north
AttractionDragon's Fury3 km outside town, to the north
AttractionVampire2.7 km outside town, to the north
AttractionBlack Buccaneer2.8 km outside town, to the north
AttractionThe Blue Barnacle2.8 km outside town, to the north
AttractionTiny Truckers2.9 km outside town, to the northPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Ashtead.
St Andrew's Catholic School’s results beat 95% of schools in England like it. Three of its 6 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Greville Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 650 | A− |
| St Andrew's Catholic SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,594 | A+ |
| St Peter's Catholic Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 433 | A |
That puts Ashtead close to Surrey’s towns (87%) and above England’s towns (82%). Women here live to 86.5 on average and men to 83.4 (2019–23). One GP practice serves the town; 92% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Ashtead | Surrey | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 87% | 87% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.4% | 3.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 14% | 14% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 52% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
52% of workers worked mainly from home, above both Surrey’s towns (44%) and England’s towns (31%).
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Violence came to 12.6 per 1,000 residents a year, below both Surrey’s towns (19.4) and England’s towns (22). Homes see 7.1 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year. Police recorded 389 crimes inside Ashtead’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 43 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
On this, Ashtead is above both Surrey’s towns (70%) and England’s towns (61%). Private renters make up 10% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £900,000 | 221 |
| Semi-detached | £675,000 | 154 |
| Terraced | £567,500 | 48 |
| Flat or maisonette | £360,000 | 99 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Ashtead has 47 listed buildings inside its built-up area on Historic England’s list: 0 Grade I, 3 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
In the comparison, Ashtead comes above both Surrey’s towns (42%) and England’s towns (34%). 24% of residents are 65 or over. Ashtead has a median age of 47.
52% women, 48% men
About 92 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.
| Ashtead | Surrey | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 19% | 25% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 24% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 10% | 13% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 3.6% | 4.2% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 14% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 49% | 42% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Surrey and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
47 listed buildings in Ashtead.
Church of St Giles: Photo: Thomas Grant · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Leg of Mutton and Cauliflower Public House: Photo: P L Chadwick · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Bridge at Rookery Hill: Photo: Colin Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph · The Howard Memorial Fountain: Photo: Hassocks5489 · CC0
7 notable people were born in Ashtead.
Pete Brown: Shu Tomioka, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Julian Gascoigne: Toni Frissell, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashtead | 14,830 | — | A+ | C− | A− | A |
| Leatherhead | 11,482 | 1.2 | B+ | B | D | B− |
| Langley Vale | 1,515 | 1.9 | — | C− | A− | A |
| Epsom | 35,857 | 2.3 | A− | C+ | C− | B+ |
| Tadworth and Epsom Downs | 27,095 | 3.2 | A− | C− | C+ | A− |
| Great Bookham and Fetcham | 21,655 | 3.4 | A | C− | A− | A+ |
| Ewell | 27,509 | 3.6 | A− | C | C+ | A− |
| Cobham | 17,505 | 3.8 | A | C− | B− | A+ |
Langley Vale 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 £715,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £360,000, terraced houses £567,500, semi-detached houses £675,000 and detached houses £900,000.
Police recorded 389 crimes inside Ashtead’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 45% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
Among the strongest in England: GCSE results beat 98% of towns in England, and primary results beat 95% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Town in Surrey, England
Ashtead is a built-up area of 14,830 people, in the Mole Valley 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.