What it's like to live in Westbury

Housing in the wider Wiltshire area leans heavily towards ownership: 66.8% of homes are owner-occupied, 17.4% are privately rented and 14.5% are socially rented. That social rented share is a little below the England figure of 17.1%, split between housing associations at 10.9% and the council at 3.6%, which means most social tenants here have a housing association rather than Wiltshire Council as a landlord.

The largest social landlords across the area are GreenSquareAccord with 6,712 homes, Selwood Housing Society with 6,634, Aster Communities with 5,794, Wiltshire Council with 5,351 and Sovereign Network Group with 2,178. Average weekly social rents in 2024/25 were £99 for a one bed, £116 for two beds and £128 for three.

The age profile is older than England's: 21.9% of Wiltshire residents are 65 or over against 18.4% nationally, with 17.8% under 16. Wiltshire's housing register held 3,999 households at the end of March 2025, which is a reminder that mutual exchange is often the quicker route.

Westbury is well set up for school-age children. Bitham Brook Primary School is 0.3 miles from the centre, with Westbury Infant School at 0.4 miles and Westbury Church of England Junior School at 0.5 miles. Westbury Leigh CofE Primary School is around a mile out, and Dilton Marsh CofE Primary School is 1.8 miles away for families on that side of town.

For older children, Matravers School is the main secondary, just 0.3 miles from the centre. There are also smaller specialist and alternative settings nearby, including Compass Community School Athelstan Park, On Track Education Westbury and The Eaves Learning Centre. Places and catchments change, so check directly with Wiltshire Council before you plan a move around a particular school.

Outside school hours, the parks do a lot of the work. Grassacres Park is the closest to the centre, and Bridge Court, Penleigh and Vivash parks are all within a mile. Westbury Library and the community halls at Leigh Park, Westbury Leigh and Heywood and Hawkeridge are the usual homes for children's groups and clubs.

Westbury station is about 0.8 miles from the town centre, and it is the main reason people rate the town's connections. Dilton Marsh station sits 1.3 miles out and gives a second, quieter option if you live on that side.

The town itself is walkable. The centre, the library, the pharmacies and the Morrisons are clustered together, with Aldi and Lidl only a short walk further. Most of the primary schools are within a mile, and Matravers School is 0.3 miles from the centre, so plenty of families here manage the daily routine on foot.

If you drive, Westbury is handy for the surrounding Wiltshire towns and the countryside beyond, and parking at home is generally easier than in a bigger city. Buses serve the town and the nearby villages, though as in much of rural Wiltshire, evening and Sunday services are thinner than weekday ones, so it is worth checking the specific route for your street before you commit to a swap.

Westbury's social life is traditional town life. There's a cluster of pubs within a few minutes of the centre, including The Crown, Market Tavern, The Angel and The Ludlow Arms, plus The Railway Inn a little further out near the station. Venom, about 1.4 miles away, is the one late-night option locally.

For quieter days, Westbury Library sits in the town centre and the parks give you somewhere to walk or let children run. Grassacres Park is the handiest, with Penleigh Park and Vivash Park a short walk further, and Upton Scudamore Village Green a couple of miles out if you fancy a longer stroll into the countryside.

Community centres carry much of the town's organised activity: Leigh Park Community Centre, Westbury Leigh Community Hall, Heywood and Hawkeridge Village Hall and The Jubilee Hall all host local groups. If you want bigger cinemas, theatres or a wider choice of restaurants, the train and the road links to neighbouring Wiltshire towns do the job.

Across the Wiltshire council area, which has a population of about 510,000, the jobs picture is healthier than the national average. At the 2021 census, 60.2% of adults were in work, compared with 57.4% across England, and unemployment stood at 2.3% against 3.5% nationally.

That pattern has held. In August 2026, 2.3% of 16 to 64 year olds in Wiltshire were claiming unemployment-related benefits, well below the England figure of 4%. It suggests a steady local labour market rather than one dependent on a single employer.

For Westbury specifically, the railway matters as much as any local employer. The station puts other Wiltshire and West Country towns within commuting reach, so a lot of households here work outside the town and travel in and out. If you are moving for a job, it is worth mapping your actual journey, by train or by car, before you decide which part of town you want to land in.