Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 11,482 in Surrey, South East.
Leatherhead grades B+ overall against UK towns: better than 74% of UK towns, and #47 of 65 in Surrey. Its strongest subject is schools (A): primary results beat 85% of towns in England; secondary results beat 98% of towns in England. Its weakest is safety (D): 40.3 violent and sexual offences and 18.5 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026. Among UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, it has less crime per resident than 24%. The median home sold for £360,000 in the last three years, 5.1 times what households in the Mole Valley council area earn in a year.
The 2 things Leatherhead 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 Leatherhead is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 61 buildings inside Leatherhead’s built-up area, 3 of them Grade II*.
16% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 1 old photo or postcard going back to 1928.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Leatherhead. Best known first.
Historic houseBeaverbrookin town
MuseumLeatherhead Museum of Local Historyin town
Historic house · National TrustPolesden Lacey Estate3.9 km outside town, to the southwest
Theme parkChessington World of Adventures4.1 km outside town, to the north
AttractionDragon's Fury3.8 km outside town, to the north
CastleBetchworth Castle4.4 km outside town, to the southPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Leatherhead.
Two of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leatherhead Trinity School and NurseryLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 350 | C+ |
| Therfield SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,075 | B+ |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 41% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
28% of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train at the census, above Surrey’s towns (23%) and close to England’s towns (27%). The car carried 69% of commuters at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Violence came to 40.3 per 1,000 residents a year, above both Surrey’s towns (19.3) and England’s towns (22). Police recorded 1,191 crimes inside Leatherhead’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 216 reports of anti-social behaviour. Among the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, Leatherhead has more crime per resident than 76% of them.
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
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Leatherhead has 61 listed buildings inside its built-up area on Historic England’s list: 0 Grade I, 3 Grade II*. 16% of its homes were built before 1919.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Leatherhead is the second cheapest of the 66 towns in Surrey, at £360,000. Owners make up 58% of households, below both Surrey’s towns (70%) and England’s towns (61%). Private renters make up 23% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £897,500 | 80 |
| Semi-detached | £486,250 | 100 |
| Terraced | £440,000 | 71 |
| Flat or maisonette | £260,500 | 260 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
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 | Leatherhead | Surrey | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 84% | 87% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4% | 3.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 16% | 14% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
On this, Leatherhead is below both Surrey’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (18%). People aged 15 to 24 make up 10% of the town. Leatherhead has a median age of 40.7.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Leatherhead | Surrey | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 29% | 25% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 19% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 14% | 13% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 4.2% | 4.2% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 41% | 42% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Surrey and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
61 listed buildings in Leatherhead.
Church of St Mary and St Nicholas: Photo: Colin Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Running Horse Public House: Photo: MartynDavies · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Thorndike Theatre: Photo: Thomas Grant · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Moss Cottage: Photo: Ian Capper · CC BY-SA 2.0
24 notable people were born in Leatherhead.
Deborah Findlay: Raph_PH, CC BY 2.0 · Sir John Duckworth, 1st Baronet: William Beechey, Public domain · Harry Cooper: Unknown authorUnknown author (ACME), Public domain · Martin Johnson: Darkroomwithaview, CC BY-SA 3.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leatherhead | 11,482 | — | B+ | B | D | B− |
| Ashtead | 14,830 | 1.2 | A+ | C− | A− | A |
| Great Bookham and Fetcham | 21,655 | 2.2 | A | C− | A− | A+ |
| Langley Vale | 1,515 | 2.8 | — | C− | A− | A |
| Cobham | 17,505 | 3.3 | A | C− | B− | A+ |
| Epsom | 35,857 | 3.5 | A− | C+ | C− | B+ |
| Box Hill | 1,271 | 3.7 | — | B | A− | B |
| Tadworth and Epsom Downs | 27,095 | 4.3 | A− | C− | C+ | A− |
Langley Vale and Box Hill have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 2.2 times the typical UK town for its size.
GCSE results beat 98% of towns in England, and primary results beat 85% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Police recorded 1,191 crimes inside Leatherhead’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 39% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Town in Surrey, England
Leatherhead is a built-up area of 11,482 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.