Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 9,484 in Surrey, South East.
Esher grades A overall against UK towns: better than 94% of UK towns, and #10 of 65 in Surrey. Its strongest subject is jobs & income (A+): mean household income £91,384; 1.6% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Its weakest is cost of living (C−): median sale £1,167,500, 14.2 years of area income; rent £1,891 a month.
The 3 things Esher 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 Esher is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 70 buildings inside Esher’s built-up area, 3 of them Grade I, and 2 scheduled monuments.
21% 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 Esher. Best known first.
Historic houseClaremontin town
Historic house · Historic Royal PalacesHampton Court Palace1.5 km outside town, to the northeast
Garden · National TrustNational Trust - Claremont Landscape Gardens100 m outside town, to the southwest
Theme parkChessington World of Adventures2.9 km outside town, to the southeast
Historic houseOatlands Palace4.6 km outside town, to the west
Historic houseBushy House3.2 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 Esher.
In the comparison, Esher comes above both Surrey’s towns (87%) and England’s towns (82%). Women here live to 85.9 on average and men to 83.1 (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.
| Census 2021 | Esher | Surrey | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 90% | 87% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 2.4% | 3.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 11% | 14% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
Its two schools are below.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Esher Church SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 400 | B+ |
| St Paul's Catholic Primary School, Thames DittonTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 360 | A |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 63% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Working mainly from home: 63% of workers, above both Surrey’s towns (44%) and England’s towns (31%). At the census, 30% of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Esher has 70 listed buildings inside its built-up area on Historic England’s list: 3 Grade I, 5 Grade II*. 21% of its homes were built before 1919.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
For Esher, that is above both Surrey’s towns (70%) and England’s towns (61%). 7% of households live in social housing. No town in Surrey costs more to buy into than Esher, at £1,167,500, the highest of 66.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £1,690,000 | 180 |
| Semi-detached | £992,500 | 74 |
| Terraced | £608,000 | 49 |
| Flat or maisonette | £417,500 | 73 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Esher sits above both Surrey’s towns (42%) and England’s towns (34%) on this measure. Children are 19% of the town. The median resident of Esher is 45.4 years old.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Esher | Surrey | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 20% | 25% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 31% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 19% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 8.1% | 13% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 2.2% | 4.2% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 12% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 59% | 42% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Surrey and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
That puts Esher above both Surrey’s towns (10.5) and England’s towns (9.4). Police recorded 483 crimes inside Esher’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 64 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences were 40% of the crimes; the police category includes harassment and stalking.
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
70 listed buildings in Esher, 3 of them Grade I.
Church of St George: Photo: Motmit at en · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Claremont: Photo: ogwen · CC BY-SA 3.0 · The Bear Hotel: Photo: Hassocks5489 · CC0 · Friends' Meeting House: Photo: Hassocks5489 · CC0
3 notable people were born in Esher.
Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha: A. Gimm, Gotha, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Esher | 9,484 | — | A | C− | B− | A+ |
| West Molesey | 47,144 | 1.5 | A | C− | B | A |
| Hersham | 12,622 | 1.9 | A | C | B− | A− |
| Walton-on-Thames | 27,016 | 2.2 | A− | C+ | C | A− |
| Cobham | 17,505 | 2.9 | A | C− | B− | A+ |
| Kingston upon Thames | 166,333 | 3.7 | A | B | C+ | B+ |
| Weybridge | 15,918 | 3.8 | A | C | B− | A+ |
| Upper Halliford | 2,337 | 3.8 | — | 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 £1,167,500, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £417,500, terraced houses £608,000, semi-detached houses £992,500 and detached houses £1,690,000.
That is 3 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include Church of St George. It also has 2 scheduled monuments.
GCSE results beat 81% of towns in England, and primary results beat 95% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). Esher has 2 state schools; places are handled by Surrey council.
Town in Surrey, England
Esher is a built-up area of 9,484 people, in the Elmbridge 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.