Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Some 19,725 people live in this town, in Wiltshire, South West.
Low prices, and some weak spots to weigh against them. Its schools fall short: primary results beat 5% of towns in England; secondary results beat 8% of towns in England. Health outcomes fall short of most towns: men here can expect to live to 78.5, women to 84.3. Prices are modest for what you get (A−): a typical home costs £272,000 and rent runs £1,082 a month. It is easy to get around without a car (B+): 18% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. The overall grade comes out at B−, #23 of 30 in Wiltshire. Set against the rest, it does better than nearly half of UK towns. Elsewhere it is close to typical: B− for safety, B− for jobs & income and C+ for hazard risk.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · commuting, Census 2021 · life expectancy and income, ONS · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · claimants, DWP · flood risk, Environment Agency.
The 2 things Calne 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 Calne is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 179 buildings inside Calne’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I, and 1 scheduled monument.
11% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 2 old photos and postcards going back to 1900.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Calne.
48% of pupils at the town’s 5 primary schools met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Two of its 7 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. GCSE results at the one secondary school within 3 km: 33% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 37.2.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fynamore Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 411 | C− |
| Kingsbury Green AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,077 | D |
Two thirds of households own their home, close to Wiltshire’s towns (65%) and above England’s towns (61%). From September 2023 to August 2026, 1,001 homes sold inside Calne’s built-up area at standard prices; the middle one went for £272,000. Council and housing-body homes hold 17% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £400,000 | 261 |
| Semi-detached | £275,000 | 285 |
| Terraced | £238,845 | 345 |
| Flat or maisonette | £150,000 | 110 |
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.
Homes built before 1919 account for 11% of the housing. Calne’s listed buildings include the Church of St Mary, Grade I. Relative to its size, Calne keeps 91 listed buildings per 10,000 residents, below Wiltshire’s towns (124) but above England’s towns (39). Grade II* covers 13 of them, Grade I 1.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 31% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Average household income comes to £57K a year before tax. Four in five commuters drove, higher than both Wiltshire’s towns (77%) and England’s towns (70%). Also worth knowing: in 2026, 2.6% of 16 to 64s were claiming unemployment benefits.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
2 GP practices serve the town; just over three quarters of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. The nearest A&E to Calne is Great Western Hospital, 13.6 miles away. Women here live to 84.3 on average and men to 78.5 (2019–23).
| Census 2021 | Calne | Wiltshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 83% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.3% | 4.4% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 17% | 17% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Self-reported health favours young towns, since these answers ignore age; the Health Grade leans on age-adjusted measures such as life expectancy and early deaths.
Half of Calne is older than 42.6, half younger. Young adults of 15 to 24 account for just over a tenth of the town. 19% of residents are 65 or over, close to both Wiltshire’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (18%).
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Calne | Wiltshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 10% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 24% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 19% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 16% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.2% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 20% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 28% | 31% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Wiltshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Of all the crimes, 58% were violence and sexual offences. Police figures for Calne’s built-up area: 910 crimes and 229 anti-social behaviour reports in the 12 months to August 2026. Homes saw 6.5 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year, below both Wiltshire’s towns (7.4) and England’s towns (9.4). Among the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, Calne has less crime per resident than nearly four fifths of them.
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.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Calne. Best known first.
MuseumAtwell-Wilson Motor Museumin town
Historic houseBowood House1.6 km outside town, to the southwestMuseumMuseumCalne Heritage Centrein townHistoric siteHistoric siteCherhill White Horse2.7 km outside town, to the eastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
179 listed buildings in Calne, 1 of them Grade I.
Church of St Mary: Photo: Derek Voller · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Lansdowne Arms Hotel and Former Coach House, Stable and Brewhouse: Photo: Oscar Taylor · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Tounson Almshouses: Photo: Derek Voller · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Town Hall: Photo: My another account · CC0
10 notable people were born in Calne.
Andy Sandell: Mattythewhite, CC BY-SA 3.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calne | 19,725 | — | B− | A− | B− | C+ |
| Derry Hill and Studley | 1,027 | 2.6 | — | B− | B+ | A− |
| Bromham | 1,066 | 4.2 | — | B+ | A | B+ |
| Lyneham | 4,645 | 4.8 | A+ | A | A+ | B+ |
| Chippenham | 36,084 | 5.4 | B+ | B+ | C+ | B− |
| Sutton Benger | 1,270 | 5.7 | — | B− | A− | A+ |
| Devizes | 19,491 | 6.1 | B− | A− | C− | C+ |
| Melksham | 18,277 | 7.3 | C+ | A− | C | C |
Derry Hill and Studley, Bromham and Sutton Benger have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 3.7 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of St Mary. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
Band D council tax in Calne is £2,661 for 2026–27, more than in 93% of UK towns (council, county, police and fire, plus the parish or town council). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
Town in Wiltshire, England
Calne is a built-up area of 19,725 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.