Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Over-65s are only 6% of the population. 4,013 people call this town in Wiltshire, South West home.
Easy on the wallet, harder on other counts. It does especially well on schools: primary results beat 70% of towns in England; secondary results beat 90% of towns in England. Cost of living is another plus — the median home sold for £310,500, 5.2 years of area income. The trade-off is safety — 39 violent and sexual offences and 11.6 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Against UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, it has more crime per resident than 82%. All told, that adds up to an A− overall, better than four fifths of UK towns. That places it #6 of 30 in Wiltshire. Its remaining grades are unremarkable: B for health, B for jobs & income and B for walkability.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · life expectancy and income, ONS · claimants, DWP · commuting, Census 2021.
The 2 things Old Sarum 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 Old Sarum is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 5 buildings inside Old Sarum’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade II*.
0% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Old Sarum. Best known first.
CathedralSalisbury Cathedral3.7 km outside town, to the south
CathedralOld Sarum Cathedral900 m outside town, to the southwest
CastleClarendon Palace4.2 km outside town, to the southeast
Museum · National TrustMompesson House3.5 km outside town, to the south
CastleOld Sarum Castle900 m outside town, to the southwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Old Sarum.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Relative to its size, Old Sarum keeps 12 listed buildings per 10,000 residents, below both Wiltshire’s towns (124) and England’s towns (39). Of the town’s land, 11% lies in conservation areas, above Wiltshire’s towns (10%) and England’s towns (7%) alike.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
There is one school here; it is shown below. At the 10 primary schools within 3 km, nearly two thirds of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). The town’s primary school has 242 pupils.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Old Sarum Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 242 | D− |
Violence and sexual offences made up 63% of the total. In the 12 months to August 2026, police logged 254 crimes and 64 reports of anti-social behaviour inside Old Sarum’s built-up area. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 15.8 reports per 1,000, above both Wiltshire’s towns (7.9) and England’s towns (7.8).
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.
47% of households are owner-occupiers. Private renters make up 15% of households, below Wiltshire’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (21%) alike. The £310,500 median rests on 185 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £450,000 | 64 |
| Semi-detached | £317,500 | 48 |
| Terraced | £285,000 | 45 |
| Flat or maisonette | £160,500 | 28 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · 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.
Just over four in five commuters drove to work at the census. Unemployment benefit claims came to 2.6% of 16 to 64s in 2026, above Wiltshire’s towns (2.1%) and England’s towns (2.3%) alike. Of the commuters living in Old Sarum, 5% work in the town itself. For every resident in work, Old Sarum has 0.7 jobs.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
At the census, 15% of people here had a disability, below Wiltshire’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (17%) alike. 3% of residents report bad or very bad health. Old Sarum has no GP practice of its own; the nearest is 2.2 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Old Sarum | Wiltshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 88% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3% | 4.4% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 15% | 17% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · No age adjustment applies to these census answers, which flatter younger towns; the Health Grade’s measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them, do allow for age.
Degrees are held by 38% of adults, higher than both Wiltshire’s towns (31%) and England’s towns (34%). Children under 15 make up 28% of residents. The middle age in Old Sarum is 31.8. 9.1% of residents are aged 15 to 24.
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Old Sarum | Wiltshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 28% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.1% | 10% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 39% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 17% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 6.3% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 9.1% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 4.5% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 22% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 38% | 31% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Wiltshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Old Sarum | 4,013 | — | A− | A− | C− | B |
| Salisbury | 47,690 | 2.2 | B+ | B+ | C− | C+ |
| Wilton | 4,300 | 3.6 | B− | B | B− | B+ |
| Amesbury | 12,676 | 4.5 | C+ | B+ | C | C |
| Whaddon | 2,283 | 5.1 | — | B− | A | A+ |
| Middle Winterslow | 1,563 | 6 | — | C+ | A+ | A+ |
| Bulford | 4,923 | 6.3 | A | A | A− | B+ |
| Larkhill | 2,728 | 6.5 | A | A− | A− | A− |
Whaddon and Middle Winterslow have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Secondary schools stand out: GCSE results beat 90% of towns in England. Primary results beat 70%. One state school is inside the town; places are handled by Wiltshire council.
Burglary was rare, with 4 reports in the year.
Town in Wiltshire, England
Old Sarum is a built-up area of 4,013 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.