Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
With 18,277 residents, it is a town in Wiltshire, South West.
Homes are affordable here, though not without reasons. Its weakest is schools: primary results beat nearly one in ten towns in England; secondary results beat 9% of towns in England. With a C+ overall, Melksham is better than 35% of UK towns. Housing is within reach (A−): the median home sold for £270,000, 4.5 years of area income.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
The 3 things Melksham 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 Melksham is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 158 buildings inside Melksham’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade II*.
12% 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 Melksham.
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 38.3. One of its 4 schools is below, with the reason it’s listed. Melksham’s four primaries have 1,202 pupils between them.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forest and Sandridge Church of England Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 460 | B |
Owners make up 69% of households, higher than both Wiltshire’s towns (65%) and England’s towns (61%). Private rents average £1,082 a month across the Wiltshire council area. Behind the median of £270,000: 807 standard sales inside Melksham’s built-up area, September 2023 to August 2026.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £356,000 | 181 |
| Semi-detached | £280,000 | 314 |
| Terraced | £235,000 | 218 |
| Flat or maisonette | £126,000 | 94 |
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.
Grade II* covers 2 of them. For its size, Melksham has 86 listed buildings per 10,000 residents, lower than Wiltshire’s towns (124) yet higher than England’s towns (39). Homes from before 1919 make up 12% of the total.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
2 GP practices serve the town; 84% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. 19% of residents have a disability, above Wiltshire’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (17%) alike. The nearest A&E to Melksham is Royal United Hospital Bath, 11.3 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Melksham | Wiltshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 80% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.4% | 4.4% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 19% | 17% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Young towns look healthier on these answers, which aren’t adjusted for age; the Health Grade uses measures that are, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
Burglary and damage came to 11.1 per 1,000 residents a year, higher than both Wiltshire’s towns (7.2) and England’s towns (9.4). Police recorded 1,068 crimes inside Melksham’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 348 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences accounted for 51% 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 26% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
20% of commuters who live in Melksham also work there. The car took 83% of commuters, higher than both Wiltshire’s towns (77%) and England’s towns (70%). For 37% of commuters, work was under 5 km away.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
People 65 and over make up just over a fifth of the town, above both Wiltshire’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (18%). Young adults of 15 to 24 account for a tenth of the town. Melksham has a median age of 42.8.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Melksham | Wiltshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.9% | 10% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 25% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 21% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 18% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.5% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 20% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 24% | 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 Melksham. Best known first.
Abbey or priory · National TrustLacock Abbey2.9 km outside town, to the north
Historic house · National TrustGreat Chalfield Manor3.7 km outside town, to the west
Garden · National TrustThe Courts Garden4.1 km outside town, to the southwest
Museum · National TrustFox Talbot Museum2.9 km outside town, to the northPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
158 listed buildings in Melksham.
The Unicorn Public House: Photo: Michael Dibb · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Town Hall: Photo: Michael Dibb · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Quaker Cottage: Photo: Michael Dibb · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Gazebo in Garden of No 5 Halfway Farmhouse: Photo: Chris debian · CC BY-SA 4.0
8 notable people were born in Melksham.
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melksham | 18,277 | — | C+ | A− | C | C |
| Berryfield | 1,094 | 1.1 | — | B | D | B+ |
| Bowerhill | 3,976 | 1.2 | A− | B+ | B+ | A− |
| Holt | 1,704 | 3.1 | — | B− | A+ | A |
| Atworth | 1,293 | 3.1 | — | B− | B+ | A− |
| Bromham | 1,066 | 3.6 | — | B+ | A | B+ |
| Corsham | 10,887 | 4.7 | B+ | B | B+ | B+ |
| Trowbridge | 43,753 | 4.9 | C+ | A− | C | C+ |
Berryfield, Holt, Atworth and Bromham have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 3.5 times the typical UK town for its size.
Band D council tax in Melksham is £2,634 for 2026–27, more than in 91% 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.
About the middle for its size: 41% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people report less crime per resident. Against all UK towns, most of them smaller, it grades C.
Town in Wiltshire, England
Melksham is a built-up area of 18,277 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.