Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 12,676 people, this town lies in Wiltshire, South West.
Schools are its weak spot — primary results beat nearly a fifth of towns in England; secondary results beat 6% of towns in England. Buying a home costs less than in most towns: a typical home costs £311,500 and rent runs £1,082 a month. Overall, that makes a C+, good for #25 of 30 in Wiltshire. On that grade it does better than 45% of UK towns.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
The thing Amesbury 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 Amesbury is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 59 buildings inside Amesbury’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I, and 3 scheduled monuments.
2% 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 1907.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Amesbury.
Two of its 5 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. At the town’s 4 primary schools, 55% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Some 1,956 pupils attend Amesbury’s four primaries and one secondary.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amesbury Archer Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 403 | C |
| The Stonehenge SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,072 | C− |
The nearest A&E to Amesbury is Salisbury District Hospital, 8.6 miles away. 2 GP practices serve the town; just over four in five patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 4.5% of the town.
| Census 2021 | Amesbury | Wiltshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 83% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.5% | 4.4% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 17% | 17% | 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.
Social housing holds 20% of households, above both Wiltshire’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (18%). Half of the 546 standard sales inside Amesbury’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £311,500. Just over three in five households are owner-occupiers.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £400,000 | 191 |
| Semi-detached | £300,000 | 190 |
| Terraced | £265,000 | 121 |
| Flat or maisonette | £130,000 | 44 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 26% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Household income came to £60K a year before tax, lower than Wiltshire’s towns (£63K) yet higher than England’s towns (£55K). 80% of commuters drove to work at the census. Jobs per working resident: 1.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Over the year to August 2026, 762 offences were reported in Amesbury, along with 172 incidents of anti-social behaviour. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 15.6 reports per 1,000, above both Wiltshire’s towns (7.9) and England’s towns (7.8). Violence and sexual offences made up 53% of the total.
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.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Amesbury’s listed buildings include the Church of St Mary and St Melor, Grade I. Relative to its size, Amesbury keeps 47 listed buildings per 10,000 residents, lower than Wiltshire’s towns (124) yet higher than England’s towns (39). 2% of homes were built before 1919.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Half the people of Amesbury are older than 39.8. People 65 and over make up 16% of the town, below both Wiltshire’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (18%). Just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Amesbury | Wiltshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 10% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 27% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 16% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 16% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.1% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 21% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 27% | 31% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Wiltshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Amesbury. Best known first.
59 listed buildings in Amesbury, 1 of them Grade I.
Church of St Mary and St Melor: Photo: Matthew Black · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Kent House: Photo: Steve Roberts · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The New Inn: Photo: Trish Steel · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Toll House: Photo: Alan Rosevear · CC BY-SA 2.0
6 notable people were born in Amesbury.
Fidelis Morgan: The Cambridge Union, CC BY 3.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amesbury | 12,676 | — | C+ | B+ | C | C |
| Bulford | 4,923 | 1.9 | A | A | A− | B+ |
| Durrington | 5,718 | 2.1 | B+ | B+ | B | B |
| Larkhill | 2,728 | 2.8 | A | A− | A− | A− |
| Old Sarum | 4,013 | 4.5 | A− | A− | C− | B |
| Shipton Bellinger | 1,442 | 5 | — | A | B+ | A− |
| Netheravon | 1,068 | 5 | — | A− | B+ | A |
| Shrewton | 1,722 | 5.9 | — | B | B+ | A− |
Shipton Bellinger, Netheravon and Shrewton have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
About the middle for its size: 41% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people report less crime per resident. Against all UK towns, most of them smaller, it grades C.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Town in Wiltshire, England
Amesbury is a built-up area of 12,676 people, in the Wiltshire 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.