The weak point is safety — 35.7 violent and sexual offences and 12.3 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Against UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, it has more crime per resident than 19%. Overall, Swindon earns a C+, better than 43% of UK towns. Its place in the ranking is #27 of 30 in Wiltshire. Buying the median home, at £260,000, takes 4.8 years of household income in the Swindon council area. Fewer journeys need a car: nearly a quarter of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. The rest of its grades are middling: B− for schools and C+ for jobs & income.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · incomes, ONS · claimants, DWP.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Swindon is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Swindon.
Work & commuteJobs & income grade C+
3.7% of 16 to 64s in Swindon claim unemployment benefits, more than in Wiltshire’s towns and across England’s towns
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.
Of the commuters living in Swindon, 48% work in the town itself. There are 0.9 jobs in Swindon for each resident in work. 56% of commuters travelled under 5 km, above Wiltshire’s towns (44%) and England’s towns (45%) alike. Household income averages £54K a year before tax.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
SchoolsB−
On exam results, Swindon’s schools trail 53% of towns in England
Holy Rood Catholic Primary School’s results beat 92% of schools in England like it. At the town’s 46 primary schools, three in five pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Three of its 65 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. Attainment 8 at the town’s 9 secondary schools averages 45.9, and 45% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths.
Department for Education · GIAS, Key Stage 2 and GCSE resultsSee all 65 schools →
Safety
Among the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, Swindon records less crime per resident than four in five them
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 18.6 reports per 1,000, above both Wiltshire’s towns (7.9) and England’s towns (7.8). 13,546 crimes and 3,448 reports of anti-social behaviour: that is what police recorded inside Swindon’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026. Violence and sexual offences were 48% of the crimes.
35.7violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a yearC−Safety Grade
Compared with UK towns its sizeLess crime per resident than 81% of the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more: less crime than most for its size. Context only, not part of the grade.
More crimeLess crime
Reports by type · Sep 2025 to Aug 2026
Violence & sexual6,440
Public order1,394
Shoplifting1,364
Damage & arson1,157
Other theft793
Vehicle crime666
Drugs433
Other crime344
Anti-social3,448
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.
35.7
violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
12.3
burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
18.6
anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 (not graded)
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.
Health
84% of residents say their health is good or very good
15 GP practices serve the town; 73% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. At the census, 16% of people here had a disability, below both Wiltshire’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (17%). Men in Swindon can expect to live to 79, women to 83.1 (2019–23).
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.
HousingCost of living grade B
Swindon gets a B for cost of living grade
22% rent privately, above Wiltshire’s towns (18%) and close to England’s towns (21%). The median sale, £260,000, comes from 6,747 standard sales inside Swindon’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Private rents average £1,096 a month across the Swindon council area.
£260Kmedian sale
Median sale price · Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
Swindon£260K
Typical UK town£277K
By type
Median
Sales
Detached
£392,000
1,197
Semi-detached
£290,000
1,712
Terraced
£240,000
2,822
Flat or maisonette
£146,000
1,016
60%
of households own their home · England 61%
22%
rent privately · England 21%
£1,096
average private rent a month, Swindon council area
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
History
Swindon has 187 listed buildings
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Scaled to its population, that is 10 listed buildings for every 10,000 people in Swindon. Homes from before 1919 make up 15% of the total, lower than both Wiltshire’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (16%). Grade II* covers 9 of them.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Who lives here
Few people in Swindon are 65 or over: 14%, below Wiltshire’s towns and England’s towns
Children under 15 count for a fifth of the people here. Swindon has a median age of 38.1. 28% of adults hold a degree, lower than both Wiltshire’s towns (31%) and England’s towns (34%).
38.1median age
SwindonWiltshireEngland
Ages · share of residents
11%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications18%
Apprenticeship6%
A levels or similar16%
Degree level28%
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
WomenEnglandMen
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Billie Piper: Kevin Paul, CC BY 4.0 · Diana Dors: Silver Screen Collections, Public domain · Dean Ashton: Keven Law, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Rick Davies: Ueli Frey, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Mehdi Hasan: SWinxy, CC BY 4.0 · Richard Jefferies: Unknown, irrelevant due to age, Public domain
Wanborough and Chiseldon have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Questions about Swindon
Is Swindon safe?
Against all UK towns, most of them far smaller, it grades C−.
Does Swindon flood?
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Who lives in Swindon?
At the 2021 Census, 11% of Swindon’s 183,687 residents were 15 to 24 and 14% were 65 or over, against 12% and 18% across England’s towns.
About Swindon
City in Wiltshire, England
Swindon is a built-up area of 183,687 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
Population
183,687 (Census 2021)
Council
Swindon (mostly)
County
Wiltshire
Region
South West
Area
15.6 sq mi (40.4 km²)
ONS code
E63004848
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.
