Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 13,562 in Clwyd, Wales.
Buckley grades B− overall against UK towns: better than 46% of UK towns, and #9 of 39 in Clwyd. Its strongest subject is hazard risk (A): 0% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. Its weakest is health (C): 6% in bad or very bad health, 19% disabled (adjusted for age in the grade). The median home sold for £213,000 in the last three years, 4.6 times what households in the Flintshire council area earn in a year.
This town's Health Grade uses ONS's small-area life expectancy and healthy life expectancy for 2019 to 2023, and two Census 2021 measures, bad health and disability, adjusted for age. English towns' grades also use OHID's small-area early deaths, hospital admissions and child obesity, which OHID publishes for England only.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within Wales), ordered by how far Buckley is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Cadw lists 6 buildings inside Buckley’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade II*.
12% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Buckley.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Buckley has 6 listed buildings inside its built-up area on Cadw’s list: 0 Grade I, 1 Grade II*. 12% of its homes were built before 1919.
Cadw list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. Wales publishes no school-level results, so its schools have no letters.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mountain Lane C.P. SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 462 | – |
| Elfed High SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 901 | – |
10% of residents are 15 to 24 and 20% are 65 or over, against 10% and 23% across Clwyd’s towns. 27% of residents 16 and over have a degree-level qualification (Clwyd 29%, Wales 31%).
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
| Buckley | Clwyd | Wales | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 17% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 10% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 25% | 23% | 25% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 27% | 26% |
| 65+ | 20% | 23% | 21% |
| No qualifications | 17% | 20% | 20% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.4% | 6.5% | 5.6% |
| A levels or similar | 19% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 27% | 29% | 31% |
ONS Census 2021 · Clwyd and Wales: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
That puts Buckley below both Clwyd’s towns (22%) and Wales’s towns (22%). The nearest A&E to Buckley is The Countess of Chester Hospital, 8 miles away. These answers aren’t adjusted for age, so young towns look healthier; the Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy.
| Census 2021 | Buckley | Clwyd | Wales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 81% | 79% | 78% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6% | 6.5% | 7.1% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 19% | 22% | 22% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · ONS, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 21% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
On this, Buckley is below both Clwyd’s towns (39%) and Wales’s towns (41%). At the census, 11% of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
In the comparison, Buckley comes above both Clwyd’s towns (66%) and Wales’s towns (65%). 13% of households live in social housing.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £278,000 | 241 |
| Semi-detached | £185,000 | 233 |
| Terraced | £167,304 | 84 |
| Flat or maisonette | £125,000 | 21 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
For Buckley, that is below both Clwyd’s towns (10.7) and Wales’s towns (10.7). Police recorded 726 crimes inside Buckley’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 168 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences were 59% of the crimes; the police category includes harassment and stalking.
Not gradedAnti-social behaviour, shoplifting and other theft are shown but left out of the Safety Grade, which counts violence and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident.
data.police.uk street-level crime · points inside the ONS built-up-area boundary · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Buckley. Best known first.
Castle · CadwCastell Ewloe1.5 km outside town, to the north
CastleOld Hawarden Castle3 km outside town, to the east
Historic housePlas Teg3.4 km outside town, to the south
CastleHawarden Castle3.3 km outside town, to the eastMuseumMuseumMold Library2.8 km outside town, to the westPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
6 listed buildings in Buckley.
Buckley Town Council Offices and Library: Photo: Rept0n1x · CC BY-SA 3.0 · The Tivoli: Photo: Jaggery · CC BY-SA 2.0
9 notable people were born in Buckley.
Blake Pelly: Damien Parer, Public domain · Frederick Birks: photographer not identified, Public domain · John Lyons: Postillion, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Keith Lyons: Postillion, CC BY-SA 3.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buckley | 13,562 | — | B− | B+ | C+ | C |
| Mynydd Isa | 4,738 | 1.4 | A− | B | A | B |
| Penyffordd | 3,822 | 1.9 | A | C+ | A | A+ |
| Hawarden | 14,284 | 2.3 | B | B | B− | C+ |
| Northop Hall | 1,826 | 2.3 | — | B− | A− | B+ |
| Aston | 2,847 | 2.4 | A− | B | B+ | B |
| Soughton | 1,697 | 2.6 | — | B− | A+ | B+ |
| Leeswood | 1,948 | 2.7 | — | A− | B | C+ |
Northop Hall, Soughton and Leeswood have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
It has less crime than most places its size: less crime per resident than 67% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. Against all UK towns, most of them smaller, it grades C+.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £213,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £125,000, terraced houses £167,304, semi-detached houses £185,000 and detached houses £278,000.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on Natural Resources Wales’s flood risk service.
Town in Clwyd, Wales
Buckley is a built-up area of 13,562 people, in the Flintshire council area. TownRatings uses ONS’s 2022 built-up areas as towns: the physical town, as people mean the word, rather than a council district, so its figures cover the town itself.
Built from ONS geography and Census 2021
Sources: ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area · HM Land Registry Price Paid (standard sales, September 2023 to August 2026) · ONS Price Index of Private Rents (August 2026, by council) · MHCLG and Welsh Government council tax, Band D 2026–27 (with parish precepts in England) · data.police.uk street-level crime, 36 months to August 2026, points inside the built-up-area boundary · ONS small-area life expectancy and healthy life expectancy, 2019 to 2023 (England and Wales), OHID Fingertips small-area indicators (England) and Census 2021 health, adjusted for age · ONS small-area income estimates (financial year ending 2023) · DWP claimant count via Nomis (January to August 2026) · Cadw listed buildings, scheduled monuments and registered historic parks and gardens via DataMapWales, October 2026, inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary · Valuation Office Agency, Council Tax: stock of properties by build period (31 March 2025) · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
