Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
It is a town of 3,792 residents in Wiltshire, South West.
One weak subject stands out against an otherwise good record. It is easy to get around without a car: on the way to work, 19% walk, cycle or take a bus or train. Pewsey’s overall grade, B, puts it better than 64% of UK towns. That places it #18 of 30 in Wiltshire. Cost of living is a strength too (B+): homes sell for a median £338,000, about 5.6 times local household income. The trade-off is jobs & income — mean household income £54,352; 2.8% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Hazard risk is weaker too — 4.4% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. The rest of its grades are middling: B for safety and B for health.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · income and life expectancy, ONS · claimants, DWP · flood risk, Environment Agency · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026.
The 3 things Pewsey 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 Pewsey is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 52 buildings inside Pewsey’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
17% 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 Pewsey.
7.6% of the population is aged 15 to 24, below both Wiltshire’s towns (10%) and England’s towns (12%). Over-65s are 28% of the population. Line up the people of Pewsey by age and the one in the middle is 51.8.
52% women, 48% men
About 91 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
| Pewsey | Wiltshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 14% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 7.6% | 10% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 19% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 31% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 28% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 15% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.2% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 34% | 31% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Wiltshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Nearly two thirds of pupils at the 2 primary schools within 3 km met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Its two schools are listed below. Secondary results at the one secondary school within 3 km: an Attainment 8 score of 34.4, with 28% at grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pewsey Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 134 | B+ |
| Pewsey Vale SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 330 | D |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Scaled to its population, Pewsey has 137 listed buildings per 10,000 people, above Wiltshire’s towns (119) and England’s towns (39) alike. The town’s listed buildings include the Church of St John the Baptist, Grade I. It has 52 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 1 Grade I.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 32% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
About 29% of its commuters stay in Pewsey for work. Nearly four in five commuters drove, near Wiltshire’s towns (77%) and higher than England’s towns (70%). There are 0.9 jobs in Pewsey for each resident in work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Council and housing-body homes hold just over a fifth of households. The median sale, £338,000, comes from 159 standard sales inside Pewsey’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Private rents average £1,082 a month across the Wiltshire council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £470,000 | 63 |
| Semi-detached | £310,000 | 32 |
| Terraced | £283,750 | 42 |
| Flat or maisonette | £172,500 | 22 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
There is no GP practice in Pewsey: the nearest is 3.6 miles off. The nearest A&E to Pewsey is Great Western Hospital, 13.9 miles away. Women here live to 85.2 on average and men to 80.5 (2019–23).
| Census 2021 | Pewsey | Wiltshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 82% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.8% | 4.4% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 19% | 17% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · A young population flatters these answers, which are not age-adjusted; the Health Grade instead uses measures that allow for age, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
134 crimes and 26 reports of anti-social behaviour: that is what police recorded inside Pewsey’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026. Violence and sexual offences were 53% of the crimes. Burglary and damage come to 7.2 per 1,000 residents a year.
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.
52 listed buildings in Pewsey, 1 of them Grade I.
Bridge on Drive to the Old Rectory: Photo: Michael Dibb · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Cooper's Arms: Photo: Des Blenkinsopp · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Court House: Photo: Michael Dibb · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Coachman's Cottage: Photo: Michael Dibb · CC BY-SA 2.0
4 notable people were born in Pewsey.
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pewsey | 3,792 | — | B | B+ | B | B |
| Burbage | 1,322 | 4.5 | — | C+ | A− | A |
| Marlborough | 8,829 | 5.8 | A− | B− | B+ | B+ |
| Netheravon | 1,068 | 7 | — | A− | B+ | A |
| Great Bedwyn | 1,194 | 7.9 | — | B− | B+ | A |
| Tidworth | 10,693 | 8.4 | B+ | A | B− | C+ |
| Ludgershall | 5,400 | 8.9 | C+ | A− | C | C |
| Perham Down | 1,397 | 9 | — | A | A+ | B− |
Burbage, Netheravon, Great Bedwyn 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.
That is 5.6 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of St John the Baptist.
An older town. At the 2021 Census, 28% of residents were 65 or over and 31% were 45 to 64, against 18% and 25% across England’s towns; 14% were under 15.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Town in Wiltshire, England
Pewsey is a built-up area of 3,792 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.