Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Walking, cycling and public transport carry 16% of commuters. 7,932 people call this town in Wiltshire, South West home.
Floods and other hazards weigh less here (A). A median £275,000 buys a home here, 5 times what households in the Swindon council area earn in a year. Safety is a strength too: 18.7 violent or sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, plus 7.8 home and vehicle crimes. Put together, the subjects come to a B+ overall, better than 72% of UK towns. It ranks #13 of 30 in Wiltshire. Elsewhere it is close to typical: B− for schools, B for health, B− for jobs & income and B for walkability.
Figures: flood risk, Environment Agency · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · incomes and life expectancy, ONS · claimants, DWP · commuting, Census 2021.
The 3 things Highworth 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 Highworth is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 94 buildings inside Highworth’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I, and 1 scheduled monument.
10% 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 Highworth.
15% are under 15, lower than both Wiltshire’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (18%), and the 15-to-24 age group makes up 9.1% of residents. Highworth has a median age of 49.3. Graduates make up 29% of adults.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Highworth | Wiltshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.1% | 10% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 21% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 27% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 17% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.6% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 29% | 31% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Wiltshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Some 1,300 pupils attend Highworth’s three primaries and one secondary. Of its 4 schools, two are shown below, each with the reason. At the town’s 2 primary schools, 63% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Westrop Primary & Nursery SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 369 | B− |
| Highworth Warneford SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 636 | C+ |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
A tenth of its homes were built before 1919, lower than both Wiltshire’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (16%). Highworth’s listed buildings include the Church of St Michael, Grade I. It has 119 listed buildings for every 10,000 residents.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Among the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Highworth has less crime per resident than 71% of them. 326 crimes and 55 reports of anti-social behaviour: that is what police recorded inside the town’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026. Violence and sexual offences accounted for nearly half of recorded crime.
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 Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 30% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Households had £55K a year before tax, below Wiltshire’s towns (£63K) and close to England’s towns (£55K). 82% of commuters took the car to work at the census. About 14% of its commuters stay in Highworth for work. There are 0.4 jobs in Highworth for each resident in work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
One GP practice serves the town; 78% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. The nearest A&E to Highworth is Great Western Hospital, 6.6 miles away. Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 4.3% of the town.
| Census 2021 | Highworth | Wiltshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 81% | 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 · 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.
71% of households own their home, above both Wiltshire’s towns (65%) and England’s towns (61%). Social housing holds 15% of households. 342 standard sales inside Highworth’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put the median at £275,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £422,500 | 84 |
| Semi-detached | £300,000 | 73 |
| Terraced | £239,950 | 145 |
| Flat or maisonette | £149,975 | 40 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Highworth. Best known first.
Historic house · National TrustBuscot House5 km outside town, to the northeastMuseumMuseumRoyal Army Chaplains' Museum4.6 km outside town, to the southeastAttractionAttractionRoves Farm Visitor Centre2.9 km outside town, to the southPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
94 listed buildings in Highworth, 1 of them Grade I.
Highworth Court Highworth House: Photo: Michael Dibb · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 24, High Street: Photo: Michael Dibb · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The King and Queen Inn: Photo: Michael Dibb · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Parsonage Farmhouse: Photo: Michael Dibb · CC BY-SA 2.0
9 notable people were born in Highworth.
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highworth | 7,932 | — | B+ | B− | B+ | B |
| Shrivenham and Watchfield | 5,353 | 3.5 | B | B | C+ | A |
| Broad Blunsdon | 6,507 | 3.8 | B+ | C− | B | A− |
| Stratton St Margaret | 20,689 | 4 | C+ | B− | C | C+ |
| Lechlade-on-Thames | 2,208 | 4.7 | — | C− | B− | A− |
| Faringdon | 8,625 | 5.5 | B | B+ | C | B |
| Swindon | 183,687 | 5.5 | C+ | B | C− | C |
| Fairford | 4,240 | 5.9 | A | C− | A− | A− |
Lechlade-on-Thames has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 4.9 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of St Michael. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Town in Wiltshire, England
Highworth is a built-up area of 7,932 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.