My Area UK

Shaftesbury

Shaftesbury is a town in Wiltshire, England, with a population of around 7,314. It has around 1 restaurant and café. The average sold house price is around £367,534, and there were around 63 recorded street crimes in June 2026, most commonly anti-social behaviour. This page gathers weather, crime, food hygiene, transport, flood risk, house prices, population, deprivation and your local MP for the Shaftesbury area — all from official UK open data.

On deprivation, the Wiltshire area is less deprived than the average in England (IoD2019). The wider council area has around 510,333 residents at roughly 157 people per km².

Council
Wiltshire
County
Wiltshire
Constituency
South West Wiltshire
Police force
Wiltshire
63/ 100

My Area Score

Good

Ranked 55th of 294 English council areas — better than 81% of them.

Low crime95
Home affordability43
Affordable rents52
Good schools29
Life expectancy85
Low deprivation73
Employment86
Low council tax18

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

18°CPatchy rain nearby

  • Today: 21° / 11° · 22% rain
  • Tomorrow: 18° / 16° · Patchy rain nearby

Source: WeatherAPI

Daylight

Sunrise 06:37Sunset 19:32

12h 54m of daylight today

Next bank holiday: Christmas Day, Fri 25 Dec

Source: sunrise-sunset.org · gov.uk

Air quality

25US AQI · Good

Main pollutant: ozone

Source: WAQI · Bournemouth, United Kingdom

Crime

88 reported · July 2026 5% YoY

  • Anti-social behaviour38
  • Violence & sexual offences20
  • Vehicle crime7
  • Other theft5

2 stop & searches · mostly controlled drugs

Neighbourhood team: Gillingham and Shaftesbury · Dorset

Local policing priorities

  • Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Location: Trinity Road Issue: Drug related ASB in the area at all times of day and night, blighting the lives…
  • ASB Driving Location: Car Parks High Street Gillingham Issue: Young people with car driving in an anti-social manner and causing damage t…

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

Road safety

880 reported road collisions (2024)

172 killed or seriously injured · 1,180 casualties · 17.2 collisions per 10,000 residents

Source: DfT reported road collisions (STATS19)

Food hygiene

85 food businesses within 2 miles

  • 83 rated 4–5 ★ (78 top)
  • 1 rated 0–2 (poor)

Source: Food Standards Agency

Flood risk

No active flood warnings nearby.

Buses & trains

  • Nearest station: Gillingham (6.4 km)
  • 4 bus stops within ~½ mile

Live trains from Gillingham (Dorset) (6.4 km):

Loading live departures…

Source: OpenStreetMap, National Rail

House prices

£328,908 average 2.7% YoY

Across Wiltshire · to 2026-06

Detached£519,308
Semi-detached£328,456
Terraced£264,866
Flat£158,975

Source: UK House Price Index (HM Land Registry)

Private rents

£1,072 average monthly rent 5.9% YoY

  • 1 bed £743
  • 2 bed £964
  • 3 bed £1,209

Source: ONS Price Index of Private Rents · to 2026-07

Affordability

8.8× house price to earnings

A typical home costs 8.8 times median annual pay (8.6× for cheaper homes vs lower pay).

Source: ONS house price to workplace earnings ratio · 2025

Fuel prices

  • Cheapest petrol: 158.9p · Esso (6.7 km)
  • Cheapest diesel: 188.9p · Asda (0.6 km)

4 stations within ~8 miles

Source: CMA fuel price scheme

EV charging

7 charging locations within ~8 km

  • 3 with rapid charging (50 kW+)
  • Fastest nearby: 120 kW
  • Nearest: Tesco Superstore-Shaftesbury (0.2 km)

Source: Open Charge Map

Sport & leisure

  • Swimming pools1
  • Sports pitches20
  • Playgrounds11

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

Population

510,333 residents in Wiltshire · 157/km²

  • Under 16: 18%
  • 16–64: 60%
  • 65+: 22%

Source: ONS Census 2021 (local authority)

Deprivation

Less deprived than the average in England

Ranked 231 of 317 English local authorities (1 = most deprived)

Source: English Indices of Deprivation 2019

Council tax

£2,572 a year · Band D, 2026-27

Most homes here are Band C (25% of 233,060)

A £1,715
B £2,000
C £2,286
D £2,572
E £3,143
F £3,715
G £4,286
H £5,144

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

Schools

268 schools · 74,579 pupils

201 primary · 28 secondary · 39 other

Ofsted: 106 of 128 graded schools rated Good or Outstanding (83%)

235inspected under Ofsted’s 2024+ framework (graded by area, no single overall grade)

Secondary schools:

  • Bishop Wordsworth's Church of England Grammar SchoolOutstanding
  • Malmesbury SchoolOutstanding
  • Abbeyfield SchoolGood
  • Bradon Forest SchoolGood
  • Kingsbury Green AcademyGood
  • Matravers SchoolGood
  • Melksham Oak Community SchoolGood
  • Sheldon SchoolGood
  • South Wilts Grammar SchoolGood
  • St Augustine's Catholic CollegeGood
  • The Corsham SchoolGood
  • The Trafalgar School at DowntonGood
  • The Wellington AcademyGood
  • Pewsey Vale SchoolRequires improvement
  • St Joseph's Catholic SchoolRequires improvement
  • Avon Valley Academy
  • Devizes School
  • Hardenhuish School
  • Kingdown School
  • Lavington School
  • Royal Wootton Bassett Academy
  • Sarum Academy
  • St John's Marlborough
  • St Laurence School
  • The Clarendon Academy
  • The John of Gaunt School
  • The Stonehenge School
  • Wyvern St Edmund's Academy

Source: DfE Get Information about Schools · Ofsted · Wiltshire

Care & health services

514 CQC-registered services

  • Care homes163
  • GP practices61
  • Dentists98
  • Homecare agencies152
  • Hospitals & hospices8

CQC ratings: 91% of rated services Good or Outstanding · 6 Inadequate

Source: Care Quality Commission · Wiltshire

Heritage & planning

  • In a conservation area (Shaftesbury Conservation Area 1)
  • Not in the Green Belt
  • 279 listed buildings within ~1.5 km

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

Planning decisions

832 applications decided

92.2% granted · 767 granted, 65 refused

Source: MHCLG planning statistics (PS2) · 2026 Q1

Your MP

Simon Hoare

Conservative

North Dorset

Recent votes:

  • NoTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill: Second Reading
  • NoClosure motion
  • AyeSocial Housing Bill [Lords]: Reasoned Amendment to Second Reading
  • AyeHealth Bill: Report Stage: Amendment 1

Source: UK Parliament

Council control

Liberal Democrat / Independent coalition

  • Lab 1
  • Con 38
  • LD 43
  • Ref 10
  • Oth 6

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

Amenities nearby

  • Schools4
  • GPs & clinics1
  • Pharmacies2
  • Supermarkets2
  • Parks & greens9
  • Restaurants & cafés13

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

Local businesses

24,755 active business enterprises in the area

Source: ONS UK Business Counts (2025)

Jobs

257 jobs advertised · £45,162 avg

e.g. Senior Staff Nurse - Theatre, Deliver with Uber Eats - Sign Up and Start Earning, Looking For Part-Time Opportunities? - Deliver with Uber Eats

Source: Adzuna

Local economy

£751 median full-time weekly pay

2.2% of residents aged 16–64 claim unemployment-related benefits

£27,404 disposable income per head (2024)

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

Energy efficiency

46% of homes rated EPC C or above

Most common band: D · 241,404 certificates

9.5% of households were in fuel poverty (2023)

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

Grid electricity

50% low-carbon electricity

Wind 28% · Gas 26% · Imports 24% · Biomass 16%

137 gCO₂/kWh · moderate intensity

Latest estimate for South England · National Grid ESO

Health

Life expectancy: 85.4 yrs women · 82 yrs men

Healthy life expectancy: 63.7 women · 63.8 men

64% of adults overweight or obese

Source: OHID Fingertips · 2025

Wellbeing

  • Life satisfaction7.4
  • Feeling worthwhile7.7
  • Happiness yesterday7.3
  • Anxiety yesterday (lower is better)3.5

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

Local petitions

Open UK Parliament petitions most signed in North Dorset:

Source: petition.parliament.uk · as of 2026-08-06

Notable places nearby

  • Shaftesbury · 0.3 km

    Shaftesbury is a town and civil parish in Dorset, England. It is on the A30 road, 20 miles west of Salisbury and 23 miles north-northeast of Dorchester, near the border with Wiltshire. It is the only significant hillt…

  • Gold Hill, Shaftesbury · 0.3 km

    Gold Hill is a steep cobbled street in the town of Shaftesbury in the English county of Dorset. The view looking down from the top of the street has been described as "one of the most romantic sights in England."

  • Shaftesbury Town Hall · 0.3 km

    Shaftesbury Town Hall is a municipal building in the High Street, Shaftesbury, Dorset, England. The town hall, which is the meeting place of Shaftsbury Town Council, is a Grade II listed building.

  • Shaftesbury F.C. · 0.3 km

    Shaftesbury Football Club are a football club based in Shaftesbury, Dorset, England. The club is affiliated to the Dorset County Football Association and is a FA chartered Standard club. They are currently members of…

  • North Dorset (constituency) · 0.3 km

    North Dorset is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Simon Hoare of the Conservative Party.

  • Shaftesbury Abbey · 0.4 km

    Shaftesbury Abbey was an abbey that housed nuns in Shaftesbury, Dorset. It was founded in about 888, and dissolved in 1539 during the English Reformation by the order of Thomas Cromwell, minister to King Henry VIII. A…

Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA)

Compare Wiltshire with nearby areas

Frequently asked questions

Where is Shaftesbury?
Shaftesbury is a town in Wiltshire, England, in the Wiltshire local authority.
What is the population of Shaftesbury?
Shaftesbury has an approximate settlement population of 7,314.
How deprived is Shaftesbury?
The Wiltshire local authority, which includes Shaftesbury, is less deprived than the average in England on the IoD2019.