My Area UK

Wilstead

Wilstead is a village in Bedfordshire, England, with a population of around 2,177. It has one pharmacy, around three restaurants and cafés, two bus stops, and the nearest railway station is Kempston Hardwick, 4.4 km away. There were around 51 recorded street crimes in June 2026, most commonly violence & sexual offences. This page gathers weather, crime, food hygiene, transport, flood risk, house prices, population, deprivation and your local MP for the Wilstead area — all from official UK open data.

On deprivation, the Bedford area is around the average in England (IoD2025). The wider council area has around 185,227 residents at roughly 389 people per km².

Council
Bedford
County
Bedfordshire
Constituency
Mid Bedfordshire
Police force
Bedfordshire
46/ 100

My Area Score

Mixed

Ranked 174th of 294 English council areas — better than 41% of them.

Low crime51
Home affordability39
Affordable rents46
Good schools69
Life expectancy42
Low deprivation48
Employment22
Low council tax40

A percentile blend of eight open measures (100 = best in England); bars show this area’s England-wide percentile on each. See the rankings · methodology

Weather

11°CPatchy rain nearby

  • Today: 11° / 6° · 48% rain
  • Tomorrow: 12° / 8° · Patchy rain nearby

Source: WeatherAPI

Daylight

Sunrise 06:58Sunset 16:31

9h 33m of daylight today

Next bank holiday: Christmas Day, Fri 25 Dec

Source: sunrise-sunset.org · gov.uk

Air quality

34US AQI · Good

Main pollutant: fine particles (PM2.5)

Source: WAQI · Northampton Spring Park, United Kingdom

Air pollution (PM2.5)

  • 7.1 µg/m³ average fine-particle (PM2.5) concentration
  • 5.3% of adult (30+) deaths estimated attributable to fine-particle pollution

Lower is better for both figures.

Source: OHID Fingertips · 2024

Crime

56 reported · August 2026▲ 22% YoY

  • Violence & sexual offences25
  • Anti-social behaviour14
  • Criminal damage & arson4
  • Other theft4

Neighbourhood team: Wilstead, Shortstown, Willington · Bedfordshire

Local policing priorities

  • Community Priority for New Cardington and Shortstown. During the priority setting meeting held on 31st January 2026 your local councillor…

Source: data.police.uk (within ~1 mile)

Road safety

293 reported road collisions (2025)

69 killed or seriously injured · 383 casualties · 15.8 collisions per 10,000 residents

Source: DfT reported road collisions (STATS19)

Food hygiene

27 food businesses within 2 miles

  • 25 rated 4–5 ★ (22 top)
  • 1 rated 0–2 (poor)

Source: Food Standards Agency

Flood risk

No active flood warnings nearby.

Buses & trains

  • Nearest station: Kempston Hardwick (4.0 km)
  • 2 bus stops within ~½ mile

Live trains from Kempston Hardwick (4.0 km):

Loading live departures…

Source: OpenStreetMap, National Rail

House prices

£330,462 average▲ 1.1% YoY

Across Bedford · to 2026-08

Detached£557,923
Semi-detached£348,256
Terraced£278,279
Flat£159,840

Source: UK House Price Index (HM Land Registry)

Private rents

£1,173 average monthly rent▲ 3% YoY

  • 1 bed £800
  • 2 bed £1,029
  • 3 bed £1,260

Source: ONS Price Index of Private Rents · to 2026-08

Affordability

9.1× house price to earnings

A typical home costs 9.1 times median annual pay (9.3× for cheaper homes vs lower pay).

Source: ONS house price to workplace earnings ratio · 2025

Property sales

2,128 property sales in the last 12 months

12 months to May 2026

A busier or quieter market is not by itself good or bad. Monthly counts are small and volatile, so only the annual total is shown.

Source: HM Land Registry UK HPI, 12 months to 2026-05

Fuel prices

  • Cheapest petrol: 168.9p · Asda (11.4 km)
  • Cheapest diesel: 195.9p · ESSO (9.7 km)

3 stations within ~8 miles

Source: CMA fuel price scheme

EV charging

52 charging locations within ~8 km

  • 14 with rapid charging (50 kW+)
  • Fastest nearby: 300 kW
  • Nearest: The Knife and Cleaver (3 km)

Source: Open Charge Map

Sport & leisure

  • Swimming pools3
  • Sports pitches7
  • Playgrounds11

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

Population

185,227 residents in Bedford · 389/km²

  • Under 16: 20%
  • 16–64: 63%
  • 65+: 17%

Source: ONS Census 2021 (local authority)

Internal migration

  • Moves in from elsewhere in the UK10,498
  • Moves out to elsewhere in the UK10,187
  • Net moves+311

Residential moves between local authorities (counts of moves, not people) · ONS Internal migration, YE Jun 2025

Deprivation

Around the average in England

Ranked 141 of 296 English local authorities (1 = most deprived)

4% of neighbourhoods are in England’s most deprived 10%

Source: English Indices of Deprivation 2025

Council tax

£2,472 a year · Band D, 2026-27

Most homes here are Band C (25% of 80,810)

A £1,648
B £1,922
C £2,197
D £2,472
E £3,021
F £3,570
G £4,120
H £4,943

Source: VOA council-tax stock · MHCLG band levels 2026-27

Schools

84 schools · 35,150 pupils

53 primary · 12 secondary · 19 other

Ofsted: 35 of 38 graded schools rated Good or Outstanding (92%)

74 inspected under Ofsted’s 2024+ framework (graded by area, no single overall grade)

Secondary schools:

  • Bedford Free SchoolOutstanding
  • Bedford AcademyGood
  • Goldington AcademyGood
  • St Thomas More Catholic SchoolGood
  • Mark Rutherford SchoolRequires improvement
  • Wixams AcademyRequires improvement
  • Biddenham International School and Sports College
  • Daubeney Academy
  • Kempston Academy
  • Lincroft Academy
  • Sharnbrook Academy
  • Wootton Academy

Source: DfE Get Information about Schools · Ofsted · Bedford

Care & health services

269 CQC-registered services

  • Care homes73
  • GP practices34
  • Dentists50
  • Homecare agencies81
  • Hospitals & hospices8

CQC ratings: 82% of rated services Good or Outstanding · 7 Inadequate

Source: Care Quality Commission · Bedford

Heritage & planning

  • Not in the Green Belt
  • 20 listed buildings within ~1.5 km

Source: planning.data.gov.uk (England)

Planning decisions

321 applications decided

79.4% granted · 255 granted, 66 refused

Source: MHCLG planning statistics (PS2) · 2026 Q2

Your MP

Blake Stephenson

Conservative

Mid Bedfordshire

Recent votes:

  • NoDraft Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications, Deemed Applications, Requests and Site Visits) (England) (Amendment and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2026
  • NoWithdrawal Agreement (Windsor Framework and Governance) (Amendment) Regulations 2026
  • NoDraft Code of Practice on Access and Unfair Practices During the Recognition and Derecognition Process
  • NoDraft Railways (Interoperability in Northern Ireland) (Convention on International Carriage by Rail) (Amendment) Regulations 2026

Source: UK Parliament

Council control

Conservative majority · directly-elected mayor

  • Lab 12
  • Con 14
  • LD 13
  • Grn 4
  • Oth 3

Source: Open Council Data UK (CC BY-SA)

Amenities nearby

  • Schools7
  • Pharmacies1
  • Parks & greens9
  • Restaurants & cafés5

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

Local businesses

8,405 active business enterprises in the area

Source: ONS UK Business Counts (2026)

Jobs

1 jobs advertised · £26,436 avg

e.g. Sales Administrator

Source: Adzuna

Local economy

£780 median full-time weekly pay

4.5% of residents aged 16–64 claim unemployment-related benefits

£24,626 disposable income per head (2024)

Source: ONS / Nomis (claimant count · ASHE) · ONS regional GDHI

Energy efficiency

54% of homes rated EPC C or above

Most common band: C · 90,060 certificates

9.5% of households were in fuel poverty (2023)

Source: MHCLG EPC statistics · DESNZ sub-regional fuel poverty

Grid electricity

83% low-carbon electricity

Wind 46% · Gas 17% · Nuclear 16% · Solar 12%

76 gCO₂/kWh · low intensity

Latest estimate for East England · National Grid ESO

Health

Life expectancy: 83.4 yrs women · 80.2 yrs men

Healthy life expectancy: 62.7 women · 62.5 men

73% of adults overweight or obese

Source: OHID Fingertips · 2025

Wellbeing

  • Life satisfaction7.5
  • Feeling worthwhile7.7
  • Happiness yesterday7.6
  • Anxiety yesterday (lower is better)3.4

Average rating out of 10 · ONS personal well-being 2022-23

Health services

8 GP surgeries · 5 pharmacies in MK45

  • Greensand Surgery (Ampthill)
  • Flitwick Surgery
  • Dr A Sulakshana & Partners

Source: NHS Organisation Data Service

Local petitions

Open UK Parliament petitions most signed in Mid Bedfordshire:

Source: petition.parliament.uk · as of 2026-10-05

Notable places nearby

  • Wixams Academy · 1.5 km

    Wixams Academy is a co-educational secondary school and sixth form located in Wixams in the English county of Bedfordshire.

  • Wixams · 1.9 km

    Wixams is a new town and civil parish located in Bedfordshire, England, which has been under construction since early 2007. It is expected to become the third largest settlement in the Borough of Bedford after Bedford…

  • Wilstead · 1.9 km

    Wilstead is a village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, just off the A6 Bedford to Luton road, about five miles south of Bedford town centre, and within the Borough of Bedford. The name of the village has bee…

  • ROF Elstow · 1.9 km

    Royal Ordnance Factory (ROF) Elstow was one of sixteen UK Ministry of Supply, World War II, Filling Factories. It was a medium-sized filling factory, Filling Factory No. 16, which filled and packed munitions. It was…

  • List of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Bedfordshire · 2.2 km

    Bedfordshire is a county in the East of England. It is bounded by Hertfordshire to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, and Buckinghamshire to the west. It has an area of 1,…

  • Bedfordshire · 2.2 km

    Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and south-east, and Buckinghamshire to the west…

Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA)

Compare Bedford with nearby areas

Frequently asked questions

Where is Wilstead?
Wilstead is a town in Bedfordshire, England, in the Bedford local authority.
What is the population of Wilstead?
Wilstead has an approximate settlement population of 2,177.
How deprived is Wilstead?
The Bedford local authority, which includes Wilstead, is around the average in England on the IoD2025.