Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A village of 1,287 in Wiltshire, South West.
Box has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Its strongest subject is safety (A+): 8.6 violent and sexual offences and 5.4 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026. Its weakest is cost of living (C+): median sale £470,500, 7.8 years of area income; rent £1,082 a month.
The 3 things Box 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 Box is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists them inside Box’s built-up area, along with 2 scheduled monuments.
38% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Box.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Box’s listed buildings include the Church of St Thomas a Becket, Grade I. It has 117 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 1 Grade I. 38% of homes date from before 1919.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
At the 3 primary schools within 3 km, 67% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Box Church of England Primary School’s results beat 75% of schools in England like it. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Box Church of England Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 144 | A− |
A year of reports to August 2026 adds up to 30 offences in Box and 14 cases of nuisance behaviour. Violence and sexual offences made up 43% 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.
One GP practice serves the town; 88% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. The nearest A&E to Box is Royal United Hospital Bath, 6.3 miles away. 19% of residents have a disability, above Wiltshire’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (17%) alike.
| Census 2021 | Box | Wiltshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 82% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.1% | 4.4% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 19% | 17% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · No age adjustment applies to these census answers, which flatter younger towns; the Health Grade’s measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them, do allow for age.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 46% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Unemployment benefit claims came to 1.5% of 16 to 64s in 2026, below both Wiltshire’s towns (2.1%) and England’s towns (2.3%). 46% of workers did their job mainly from home at the census. Of the commuters living in Box, 8% work in the town itself. At the census, nearly a fifth 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
Renting privately is how 11% of households live. Social housing holds 12% of households, below Wiltshire’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. The median sale, £470,500, comes from 68 standard sales inside Box’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £727,500 | 18 |
| Semi-detached | £470,000 | 28 |
| Terraced | £321,500 | 14 |
| Flat or maisonette | £145,000 | 8 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
At 49.3, the median resident of Box sits in the middle of the age range. 25% of residents are 65 or over, above both Wiltshire’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (18%). Young adults of 15 to 24 are nearly a tenth of the population.
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
| Box | Wiltshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9% | 10% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 17% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 31% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 25% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 13% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 4.9% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 14% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 48% | 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 Box. Best known first.
Historic houseCorsham Court4.6 km outside town, to the northeastPark or estatePark or estate · National TrustBathampton Meadows4.4 km outside town, to the westMuseumMuseumBox Rock Circus100 m outside town, to the northwestAttractionAttractionLady Margaret Hungerford Almshouses and Schoolroom4.4 km outside town, to the eastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
5 notable people were born in Box.
Jack MacBryan: unknown employee of "Sports and General" photography agency, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Box | 1,287 | — | — | C+ | A+ | A− |
| Rudloe | 2,863 | 1.4 | A+ | A− | A− | A− |
| Bathford | 1,153 | 2.4 | — | D | A− | A+ |
| Colerne | 2,415 | 2.5 | — | A− | A+ | A− |
| Corsham | 10,887 | 2.5 | B+ | B | B+ | B+ |
| Atworth | 1,293 | 2.8 | — | B− | B+ | A− |
| Batheaston | 3,878 | 3 | A | D | A− | A+ |
| Bathampton | 1,698 | 3.5 | — | D | A | A+ |
Bathford, Colerne, Atworth and Bathampton have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 37.3 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of St Thomas a Becket. It also has 2 scheduled monuments.
Primary results beat 78% of towns in England (Department for Education, Key Stage 2). One state school is inside the town; places are handled by Wiltshire council.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £470,500, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £145,000, terraced houses £321,500, semi-detached houses £470,000 and detached houses £727,500.
Village in Wiltshire, England
Box is a built-up area of 1,287 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.