Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Some 21,476 people live in this large town, in Surrey, South East.
The picture is mixed. School results are strong: primary results beat 58% of towns in England; secondary results beat 94% of towns in England. At B− overall, Sunbury-on-Thames ranks #57 of 65 in Surrey. Nationally, it does better than 54% of UK towns. Homes are dear: the median home sold for £480,000, 7.3 years of area income. Safety is weaker too: police record 31.9 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, and 18 home and vehicle crimes. Set beside UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, its crime per resident is higher than in 61%.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026.
The 3 things Sunbury-on-Thames 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 Sunbury-on-Thames is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 56 buildings inside Sunbury-on-Thames’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade II*, and 1 scheduled monument.
6% 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 Sunbury-on-Thames. Best known first.
Historic house · Historic Royal PalacesHampton Court Palace3.2 km outside town, to the east
Historic houseStrawberry Hill House4.6 km outside town, to the northeast
Historic houseOatlands Palace2.7 km outside town, to the southwest
Historic houseClaremont4.9 km outside town, to the southeast
Historic houseBushy House3.3 km outside town, to the east
Abbey or prioryChertsey Abbey5 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 Sunbury-on-Thames.
Owners make up 67% of households. Social renters account for 14% of households. Private rents average £1,696 a month across the Spelthorne council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £799,950 | 153 |
| Semi-detached | £548,250 | 202 |
| Terraced | £445,000 | 179 |
| Flat or maisonette | £285,250 | 172 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
St Paul's Catholic College’s results beat 92% of schools in England like it. Below are three of its 9 schools, each with why it was picked. At the town’s 5 primary schools, 63% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Springfield Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 484 | B− |
| St Paul's Catholic CollegeLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,395 | A |
| The Bishop Wand Church of England SchoolTop results in townSecondary | Secondary | 1,229 | A− |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 37% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Household income came to £67K a year before tax, below Surrey’s towns (£72K) but above England’s towns (£55K). Work in town: 12% of resident commuters. Jobs per working resident: 0.9.
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.
Over the year to August 2026, 1,621 offences were reported in Sunbury-on-Thames, along with 256 incidents of anti-social behaviour. Of all the crimes, 45% were violence and sexual offences. There were 12.6 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), above both Surrey’s towns (7.3) and England’s towns (7.8).
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 police category of violence and sexual offences includes harassment and stalking.
A disability affects 14% of people in Sunbury-on-Thames. The nearest A&E to Sunbury-on-Thames is West Middlesex University Hospital, 5.5 miles away. One GP practice serves the town; 76% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Sunbury-on-Thames | Surrey | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 86% | 87% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.7% | 3.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 14% | 14% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Census health answers are raw, so younger towns score better on them; for the Health Grade we use age-adjusted figures like life expectancy and early deaths.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Homes from before 1919 make up 6% of the total, below both Surrey’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (16%). Grade II* covers 2 of them. One scheduled monument lies in Sunbury-on-Thames.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
9.9% of residents are aged 15 to 24. Line up the people of Sunbury-on-Thames by age and the one in the middle is 40.5. Degrees are held by 37% of adults.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Sunbury-on-Thames | Surrey | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.9% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 27% | 25% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 17% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 16% | 13% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 4.7% | 4.2% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 37% | 42% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Surrey and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
56 listed buildings in Sunbury-on-Thames.
Church of St Mary the Virgin: Photo: steve · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Magpie Hotel: Photo: Colin Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Sunbury War Memorial: Photo: James Emmans · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Three Fishes Public House: Photo: Robin Webster · CC BY-SA 2.0
16 notable people were born in Sunbury-on-Thames.
John Glen: The Conmunity - Pop Culture Geek from Los Angeles, CA, USA, CC BY 2.0 · May Clark: Cecil Hepworth and Percy Stow (1903), Public domain · Barry Sheerman: Chris McAndrew, CC BY 3.0 · Dominic Chappell: Nettlesome, CC BY-SA 4.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunbury-on-Thames | 21,476 | — | B− | D | C− | B |
| Ashford Common | 8,333 | 1.2 | B+ | C− | B | B |
| Upper Halliford | 2,337 | 1.2 | — | D | B− | B |
| Shepperton | 5,917 | 2 | A− | D | C+ | A+ |
| Walton-on-Thames | 27,016 | 2.2 | A− | C+ | C | A− |
| Shepperton Green | 4,358 | 2.2 | B | D | B | B |
| Ashford | 22,823 | 2.4 | B | C− | C | B+ |
| Weybridge | 15,918 | 3.4 | A | C | B− | A+ |
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 £480,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £285,250, terraced houses £445,000, semi-detached houses £548,250 and detached houses £799,950.
Secondary schools stand out: GCSE results beat 94% of towns in England. Primary results are closer to the middle, beating 58%.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Against all UK towns, most of them smaller, it grades C−.
Large town in Surrey, England
Sunbury-on-Thames is a built-up area of 21,476 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.