What it's like to live in St Austell

St Austell sits within the Cornwall council area, where 12.8% of homes are social rented, below the England figure of 17.1%. Two thirds are owner occupied and 19.7% are privately rented, which is a high private rented share and part of why social homes are in demand here.

Average weekly social rents across Cornwall in 2024/25 were about £82 for a one bed, £94 for two beds and £106 for three beds. The largest social landlords in the area are Cornwall Council with 10,488 homes, LiveWest with 9,741, Coastline Housing with 5,311, Ocean Housing with 4,414 and Westward Housing Group with 1,286. Ocean Housing has a strong presence in this part of mid Cornwall.

The population skews older than England as a whole: 25.3% of Cornwall residents are 65 or over against 18.4% nationally, and under 16s make up 16.3%. Cornwall's housing register held 23,731 households at March 2025, with 1,422 lettings and 128 council mutual exchanges in 2024-25, so a swap is a route worth taking seriously.

There's a good choice of primary schools close in. Pondhu Primary School is half a mile from the centre, with Mount Charles School, Sandy Hill Academy and Carclaze Community Primary School all within a mile, and St Mewan Community Primary School just beyond. For most families in town, more than one option is within walking or short bus distance.

Secondary provision is unusually close by Cornish standards. Poltair School is four tenths of a mile away, Restormel Academy half a mile, and Penrice Academy about a mile. That means less of the long daily travel that older children face in many parts of the county.

For time outside school, Poltair Park and Cemetery Park are the nearest green spaces, with Sandy Hill Park and Linear Park about a mile out. St Austell Library is in the centre, and Young People Cornwall is based less than half a mile away. St Austell Community Hospital is just over a mile from the middle of town, which is reassuring when you have children at home.

St Austell station is about a tenth of a mile from the centre, which puts it closer than most town stations in Cornwall. It sits on the main line through the county, so trains are a genuine option rather than an afterthought for trips further afield.

The bus station is equally central, also around a tenth of a mile out, and is the hub for services linking the town with surrounding villages and other Cornish towns. If you don't drive, having both the train and the bus station within a few minutes' walk of the shops makes a real difference to everyday life.

Walking works well in the middle of town. The library, the pharmacies, Market House and White River Place are all within a couple of hundred metres of each other, and the nearest parks are barely further. Beyond the centre the ground rises and streets get steeper, so journeys to outlying estates feel longer than the map suggests. Drivers have good road links out of town in each direction, and the larger supermarkets with their car parks sit a short drive from the middle.

White River Place is the main focus for leisure in the centre, with the White River Cinema there and Market House close by. Everything sits within a few minutes' walk of the station, so an evening out doesn't need a car.

For eating and drinking, the town centre has a cluster of pubs and bars including the White Hart, The Station, the Queens Head, The Rann Wartha and Moustache Jacks, all within a few hundred metres. The Club covers later nights. It's a compact scene rather than a sprawling one, which suits people who like knowing the regulars.

If you prefer being outdoors, Poltair Park is the closest decent-sized green space, with Cemetery Park nearer still and Linear Park and Sandy Hill Park about a mile out. Three gyms sit within a third of a mile of the centre: PoleSquirrel Fitness, Snap Fitness and the Fitness Suite. Community venues such as Ertach Kernow, the British Legion, Sembal House and the Gover Community Centre and Larder host local activity and are worth asking about once you've moved.

Figures here are for the wider Cornwall council area rather than St Austell alone. Across Cornwall, 53.3% of adults are in work, below the England figure of 57.4%. That partly reflects the age profile: a quarter of residents are 65 or over, so a smaller share of the population is of working age.

Unemployment is lower than the national picture. Across Cornwall, 2.6% of adults were recorded as unemployed at the 2021 Census against 3.5% in England, and by August 2026 around 3% of 16 to 64 year olds were claiming unemployment-related benefits, compared with 4% nationally.

The practical point for anyone moving is that St Austell is a town where jobs and services cluster, and the train and bus station make commuting to other Cornish towns workable. Cornish work can be seasonal in places, so if you're moving for a job it's worth checking how steady the hours are before you commit to an exchange.