Melksham North
Wiltshire 020 · 5 sub-areas · 7,875 residents
Wiltshire 020 is a rural pocket of Wiltshire with around 7,875 residents and a distinctly owner-occupied character. A typical two-bedroom home lets for about £950 a month — notably below the UK median for a 2-bed — and over seven in ten households own their home outright or with a mortgage. It's car-dependent country, but greenspace is close and the nearest rail station is roughly a kilometre away.
Melksham North is a commuter neighbourhood within Wiltshire — train into Bristol runs in around 47 minutes, and the rhythm of weekday mornings is shaped by it. Most homes are owner-occupied, so turnover is low and many residents have been here a long time.
Overview
What's it like to live in Melksham North?
The area is unusually green for its density — 6 parks and 4 playgrounds sit within five minutes' walk of the centroid; The streets feel safe by national standards — police-recorded crime is well below the country-wide median; rents are roughly in line with the national norm, at around £1,056 a month for a typical home; gigabit broadband is effectively universal.
Generated from the latest May 2026 data · refreshed automatically
Figures are aggregated across 5 sub-areas — population-weighted means for rates, sums for counts. Sources cited beneath each section.
Melksham North in Wiltshire
Living in Melksham North
This part of Wiltshire sits firmly in the countryside belt — not a commuter suburb of a major city, but not entirely self-contained either. The pace is slower, the streets are quieter, and the trade-off for that is real car dependency: nearly two in three residents drive to work, and public transport accounts for less than 2% of commutes. What you gain is space, greenspace within easy reach, and rents that are well below what you'd pay in Bristol, Bath or London.
The cost picture here is one of the more compelling in the South West for buyers as well as renters. The median home price is around £271,000, and a typical deposit takes just over four years to save — reasonable by English standards. Rents have risen roughly 6.7% in the past year, in line with the wider national trend, but the absolute levels remain modest: a one-bed averages around £730 a month, a three-bed around £1,190.
The population skews older and more settled than most urban neighbourhoods. Around one in five residents is aged 65 or over, and a similar share is under 18 — suggesting a mix of families and older homeowners rather than a young professional crowd. Owner-occupation sits at over 71%, well above the national average, which shapes everything from the housing stock to the community feel.
For day-to-day practical matters: the nearest rail station is about 1 km away in a straight line, roughly a 13-minute walk, and the rail journey to London takes around 90 minutes. If you're considering a move here, the sub-areas and streets listed below give a more granular picture of which pockets sit closer to amenities or transport links.
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Frequently asked
- Is Wiltshire 020 a nice place to live?
- It's a quiet, rural part of Wiltshire with low crime, plenty of greenspace nearby, and affordable rents by South West standards. The trade-off is real car dependency — public transport is limited — and the school catchment picture is weaker than the national average. It suits people who want space and calm over urban convenience.
- What is the rent in Wiltshire 020?
- A one-bedroom home averages around £730 a month, a two-bedroom around £950, and a three-bedroom roughly £1,190. These figures are estimates scaled from council-level ONS data using local sale prices. Rents rose about 6.7% in the past year, so expect continued upward pressure.
- Is Wiltshire 020 safe?
- Yes, relatively. The crime rate runs at around 48 incidents per 1,000 residents a year, well below the UK national rate of roughly 80 per 1,000. The area's low density and high owner-occupation contribute to a lower overall crime profile than most urban neighbourhoods.
- What's the commute from Wiltshire 020 to the nearest major city?
- The nearest mainline rail station is about a 13-minute walk away. The rail journey to London takes around 90 minutes by public transport, and the nearest major employment hub is reachable in roughly 47 minutes. Most residents drive rather than use public transport — 63% commute by car.
- Who lives in Wiltshire 020?
- Predominantly families and older homeowners. Over 71% of households own their home, and the population is evenly spread across age groups, with around one in five residents aged 65 or over. It's a settled, predominantly UK-born community with relatively low turnover compared to urban rental areas.
- What schools are near Wiltshire 020?
- There are 22 schools within typical catchment distance, but only around 13% are rated Good or Outstanding — significantly below the national average of roughly 89%. The nearest Outstanding school is about 12.9 km away. It's worth checking individual Ofsted reports for schools serving your specific address before committing.
- Is Wiltshire 020 good for families?
- It has real family appeal in terms of space, low crime, and affordable housing — nearly 19% of households are couples with children, and greenspace is within easy walking distance for nearly half of residents. The main hesitation is the school quality picture, which is weaker locally than the national benchmark, and the near-total reliance on a car for daily life.