Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The town has 6,507 residents and lies in Wiltshire, South West.
A good place to live, if you can afford it. Overall, Broad Blunsdon earns a B+: better than 70% of UK towns, and #15 of 30 in Wiltshire. Work and incomes are strong (A+): households earn a mean £72,503 a year, and 1.8% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. It also does well on health (A−): men here can expect to live to 83, women to 84.1. Few people walk, cycle or take the bus to work: 9% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Homes sell for a median £380,000, about 7 years of what households in the Swindon council area earn. Its remaining grades are unremarkable: B for safety and B− for schools.
Figures: income and life expectancy, ONS · claimants, DWP · commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026.
The 3 things Broad Blunsdon 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 Broad Blunsdon is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 24 buildings inside Broad Blunsdon’s built-up area, 3 of them Grade II*.
6% 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 Broad Blunsdon.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 42% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Just over a third of commuters travelled under 5 km to work. Working mainly from home: just over two in five workers, above Wiltshire’s towns (32%) and England’s towns (31%) alike. The 2026 claimant rate among 16 to 64s was 1.8%. Work in town: 4% of resident commuters.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
One of its 2 schools is below, with the reason it’s listed. At the 18 primary schools within 3 km, three in five pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Between them, two primaries teach 324 pupils in Broad Blunsdon.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abbey Farm Educate Together PrimaryLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 184 | – |
Broad Blunsdon has no GP practice of its own; the nearest is 0.9 miles away. 2.8% of residents described their health as bad or very bad, lower than both Wiltshire’s towns (4.4%) and England’s towns (5.2%). Disability touches 12% of the town’s population. Women here live to 84.1 on average and men to 83 (2019–23).
| Census 2021 | Broad Blunsdon | Wiltshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 89% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 2.8% | 4.4% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 12% | 17% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · The census answers take no account of age, so a young town looks healthier; the Health Grade relies on age-adjusted measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them.
Social housing holds 7% of households, below both Wiltshire’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (18%). Just over four in five households own their home. No town in Wiltshire costs more to buy into than Broad Blunsdon, at £380,000, the highest of 33.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £450,000 | 215 |
| Semi-detached | £325,000 | 100 |
| Terraced | £302,500 | 78 |
| Flat or maisonette | £200,000 | 6 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Relative to its size, Broad Blunsdon keeps 37 listed buildings per 10,000 residents, below Wiltshire’s towns (124) and England’s towns (39) alike. Before 1919: that is when 6% of homes were built. Grade II* covers 3 of them.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Violence and sexual offences were 46% of the crimes. 300 crimes and 52 reports of anti-social behaviour: that is what police recorded inside Broad Blunsdon’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026. Burglary and damage came to 7.4 per 1,000 residents a year, close to Wiltshire’s towns (7.2) and below England’s towns (9.4).
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 15-to-24 age group: 9.2%, below Wiltshire’s towns (10%) and England’s towns (12%) alike. Retirement age and beyond: 14% of residents are 65 or older. Half the people of Broad Blunsdon are older than 38.6.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Broad Blunsdon | Wiltshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 21% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.2% | 10% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 30% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 25% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 14% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 11% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.8% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 21% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 34% | 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 Broad Blunsdon. Best known first.
MuseumSTEAM - Museum of the Great Western Railway4.3 km outside town, to the south
Heritage railwaySwindon and Cricklade Railway2.4 km outside town, to the west
MuseumMuseum of Computing4.8 km outside town, to the southMuseumMuseumMuseum & Art Swindon4.6 km outside town, to the southMuseumMuseumPurton Museum4.5 km outside town, to the southwestHistoric siteHistoric siteDitcheat Manor 78214.3 km outside town, to the southPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
24 listed buildings in Broad Blunsdon.
Church of St Leonard: Photo: Dave Kelly · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Rectory: Photo: Vieve Forward · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Broad Blunsdon | 6,507 | — | B+ | C− | B | A− |
| Swindon | 183,687 | 2.8 | C+ | B | C− | C |
| Stratton St Margaret | 20,689 | 2.8 | C+ | B− | C | C+ |
| Cricklade | 4,030 | 3.5 | A− | B | B+ | A− |
| Highworth | 7,932 | 3.8 | B+ | B− | B+ | B |
| Purton | 3,193 | 4.1 | A | B | A− | B |
| Wroughton | 7,276 | 5.9 | B | C | B+ | B− |
| Wanborough | 1,737 | 6 | — | D | A+ | A− |
Wanborough 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 £380,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £200,000, terraced houses £302,500, semi-detached houses £325,000 and detached houses £450,000.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
About the middle for its size: 34% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people report less crime per resident. Against all UK towns, it grades B.
Town in Wiltshire, England
Broad Blunsdon is a built-up area of 6,507 people, in the Swindon 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.
