Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Only 5% of residents are 65 or over. Population 4,923: a town in Wiltshire, South West.
What it saves you on housing, it gives back elsewhere. Cost of living is where it shines (A): homes sell for a median £260,000, about 4.3 times local household income. Work and incomes are strong: mean household income £72,770; 1.5% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Pupils here do less well than most (D−): primary results beat 1% of towns in England; secondary results beat 6% of towns in England. The overall grade comes out at A, better than 91% of UK towns.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · income, ONS · claimants, DWP. Bulford is a military garrison town: most residents serve or work for the armed forces and live in service housing, so it keeps its grades but isn’t ranked against other towns.
The 3 things Bulford 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 Bulford is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 12 buildings inside Bulford’s built-up area, and 1 scheduled monument.
4% 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 Bulford.
Some 430 pupils attend Bulford’s two primaries. Below is one of its 2 schools, and why it was picked. GCSE results at the 2 secondary schools within 3 km: 28% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 38.2.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kiwi Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 244 | D− |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 20% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
On foot, by bike or by bus and train: that was how 31% of commuters travelled at the census. Working mainly from home: a fifth of workers, lower than both Wiltshire’s towns (32%) and England’s towns (31%). 49% of commuters travelled under 5 km to work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Social housing holds 14% of households, below Wiltshire’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. Nearly two thirds of households are private tenants. Half of the 29 standard sales inside Bulford’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £260,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Semi-detached | £276,000 | 14 |
| Terraced | £251,500 | 8 |
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.
For its size, Bulford has 24 listed buildings per 10,000 residents, below Wiltshire’s towns (124) and England’s towns (39) alike. Before 1919: that is when 4% of homes were built. One scheduled monument lies in the town.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Reported offences in Bulford came to 139 over twelve months to August 2026; nuisance and anti-social incidents added 34. Violence and sexual offences accounted for 65% of recorded crime. For its size, Bulford records less crime per resident than 83% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
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.
92% of people in Bulford rate their own health good or very good. At the census, 1.8% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, lower than both Wiltshire’s towns (4.4%) and England’s towns (5.2%). Seeing a GP means leaving Bulford: the nearest practice is 2 miles away. Men in Bulford can expect to live to 81.2, women to 86.2 (2019–23).
| Census 2021 | Bulford | Wiltshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 92% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 1.8% | 4.4% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 9.1% | 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.
Typical age in Bulford: 28.4, the median. Children are 29% of the town. Young adults of 15 to 24 are 12% of the population.
45% women, 55% men
About 82 women for every 100 men. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Bulford is a garrison town: service personnel living in barracks count as residents.
| Bulford | Wiltshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 29% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 12% | 10% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 46% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 9.1% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 4.6% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 8.9% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 9.9% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 27% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 29% | 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 Bulford. Best known first.
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bulford | 4,923 | — | A | A | A− | B+ |
| Durrington | 5,718 | 1.5 | B+ | B+ | B | B |
| Amesbury | 12,676 | 1.9 | C+ | B+ | C | C |
| Larkhill | 2,728 | 3.1 | A | A− | A− | A− |
| Shipton Bellinger | 1,442 | 3.3 | — | A | B+ | A− |
| Netheravon | 1,068 | 3.9 | — | A− | B+ | A |
| Tidworth | 10,693 | 4.8 | B+ | A | B− | C+ |
| Perham Down | 1,397 | 5.8 | — | A | A+ | B− |
Shipton Bellinger, Netheravon and Perham Down have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Bulford has 2 state schools; places are handled by Wiltshire council.
Town in Wiltshire, England
Bulford is a built-up area of 4,923 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.