Guildford grades B+ overall against UK towns: better than 75% of UK towns, and #43 of 65 in Surrey. Its strongest subject is walkability (A+): 35% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is safety (D): 44.3 violent and sexual offences and 15.2 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 50%. The median home sold for £474,500 in the last three years, 6.6 times what households in the Guildford 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 Guildford is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Guildford.
Who lives here
Guildford skews young, with 22% of residents aged 15 to 24, more than Surrey’s towns or England’s towns
That puts Guildford above both Surrey’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (12%). 14% of residents are 65 or over. The median resident of Guildford is 34.7 years old.
34.7median age
GuildfordSurreyEngland
Ages · share of residents
22%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications10%
Apprenticeship3%
A levels or similar22%
Degree level46%
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
WomenEnglandMen
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Safety
Guildford has more crime per resident than 88% 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 44.3 per 1,000 residents a year, above both Surrey’s towns (19.3) and England’s towns (22). Police recorded 7,311 crimes inside Guildford’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 1,144 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences were 41% of the crimes; the police category includes harassment and stalking.
44.3violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a yearDSafety Grade
Compared with UK towns its sizeLess crime per resident than 50% of the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more: about the middle for its size. Context only, not part of the grade.
More crimeLess crime
Reports by type · Sep 2025 to Aug 2026
Violence & sexual3,014
Shoplifting1,015
Public order916
Damage & arson639
Other theft585
Drugs257
Vehicle crime257
Other crime168
Anti-social1,144
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.
44.3
violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
15.2
burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
14.7
anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 (not graded)
data.police.uk street-level crime · points inside the ONS built-up-area boundary · OGL
History
283 listed buildings, 11 of them Grade I
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Guildford has 283 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 11 Grade I, 14 Grade II*. Guildford’s listed buildings include Church of Holy Trinity, Grade I.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Health
Is Guildford a healthy place? 88% of its people say their health is good, above Surrey’s towns and England’s towns
In the comparison, Guildford comes above both Surrey’s towns (87%) and England’s towns (82%). Women here live to 85.5 on average and men to 81.4 (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.
Lily Collins: Montclair Film, CC BY 2.0 · Piers Morgan: Number 10, CC BY 2.0 · David Hemmings: Dario Argento (director), Luigi Kuveiller (cinematographer), Seda Spettacoli (production), Public domain · Alex McCarthy: Hayden Schiff from Cincinnati, USA, CC BY 2.0 · Peter Molyneux: DanielAlexanderSmith, CC BY 2.5 · Celia Imrie: JaceMerlyn, CC BY-SA 4.0
Jacobs Well, Fairlands, Wood Street Village, Chilworth and West Clandon have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Questions about Guildford
Are schools in Guildford good?
GCSE results beat 95% of towns in England, and primary results beat 76% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Is Guildford safe?
Against all UK towns, most of them far smaller, it grades D.
Is Guildford expensive to live in?
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £474,500, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £280,000, terraced houses £439,650, semi-detached houses £510,000 and detached houses £875,000.
About Guildford
Large town in Surrey, England
Guildford is a built-up area of 77,870 people, in the Guildford 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
77,870 (Census 2021)
Council
Guildford
County
Surrey
Region
South East
Area
7.7 sq mi (20 km²)
ONS code
E63005577
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.
