Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 3,414 in Clwyd, Wales.
Ruabon grades C− overall against UK towns: better than 16% of UK towns, and #27 of 39 in Clwyd. Its strongest subject is cost of living (B+): median sale £180,000, 4.1 years of area income; rent £770 a month. Its weakest is safety (D): 48 violent and sexual offences and 19.3 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026. Among UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, it has less crime per resident than 7%.
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.
The 3 things Ruabon does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within Wales), ordered by how far Ruabon is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Cadw lists 40 buildings inside Ruabon’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I, and 2 scheduled monuments.
25% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 3 old photos and postcards going back to 1794.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Ruabon.
Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 26.7 reports per 1,000, higher than both Clwyd’s towns (15) and Wales’s towns (10.4). In the 12 months to August 2026, police logged 409 crimes and 117 reports of anti-social behaviour inside Ruabon’s built-up area. 43% of the crimes fell under violence and sexual offences.
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 · The police category of violence and sexual offences includes harassment and stalking.
Some 860 pupils attend Ruabon’s two primaries and one secondary. Two of them are shown below, each with the reason.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Mary's Primary (Ruabon) SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 213 | – |
| Ysgol RhiwabonLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 509 | – |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Scaled to its population, Ruabon has 117 listed buildings per 10,000 people, higher than both Clwyd’s towns (30) and Wales’s towns (18). The town’s listed buildings include the Church of St Mary, including churchyard walls and lych gate, Grade I. At the top of the list, 1 are Grade I and 1 Grade II*.
Cadw list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 18% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Households had £47K a year before tax, above both Clwyd’s towns (£45K) and Wales’s towns (£44K). 88% of commuters took the car to work at the census. About 6% of its commuters stay in Ruabon for work. There are 0.4 jobs in Ruabon for each resident in work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Four fifths of people in Ruabon rate their own health good or very good. One GP practice serves the town. Men in Ruabon can expect to live to 79.4, women to 83 (2019–23).
| Census 2021 | Ruabon | Clwyd | Wales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 80% | 79% | 78% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.1% | 6.5% | 7.1% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 20% | 22% | 22% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · ONS, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Self-reported health favours young towns, since these answers ignore age; the Health Grade leans on age-adjusted measures such as life expectancy.
58% of households own their home, below Clwyd’s towns (66%) and Wales’s towns (65%) alike. The £180,000 median rests on 93 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026). The private rented sector houses 16% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £255,000 | 29 |
| Semi-detached | £178,500 | 33 |
| Terraced | £141,750 | 30 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Half of Ruabon is older than 42.1, half younger. Retirement age and beyond: 19% of residents are 65 or older. One in ten residents are 15 to 24, close to Clwyd’s towns (10%) and below Wales’s towns (12%). Graduates make up 27% of adults.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
| Ruabon | Clwyd | Wales | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 17% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 10% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 25% | 23% | 25% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 27% | 26% |
| 65+ | 19% | 23% | 21% |
| No qualifications | 22% | 20% | 20% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.4% | 6.5% | 5.6% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 27% | 29% | 31% |
ONS Census 2021 · Clwyd and Wales: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Ruabon. Best known first.
Historic house · National TrustErddig Hall3.9 km outside town, to the northeast
Historic houseTrevor Hall4 km outside town, to the west
Historic housePen-y-Lan Hall3.1 km outside town, to the southeastPark or estatePark or estate · National TrustHafod y Bwch Commemorative Woodland1.6 km outside town, to the northPark or estatePark or estate · National TrustErddig Park4.1 km outside town, to the northeastAttractionAttractionPontcysyllte Aqueduct2.9 km outside town, to the southwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
40 listed buildings in Ruabon, 1 of them Grade I.
Ruabon Railway Station: Photo: Ansbaradigeidfran · Public domain · Almhouse: Photo: Dave.Dunford · CC BY-SA 4.0 · The Old Grammar School: Photo: Dave.Dunford · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wynnstay Arms PH: Photo: Maelor · Public domain
17 notable people were born in Ruabon.
Walter Clopton Wingfield: Unknown artist, Public domain · Alex Carlile, Baron Carlile of Berriew: Chris McAndrew, CC BY 3.0 · Ted Hughes: Ogden's Cigarettes, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ruabon | 3,414 | — | C− | B+ | D | C |
| Rhosllannerchrugog | 12,789 | 1.4 | C− | B+ | C− | D |
| Acrefair and Cefn-mawr | 6,905 | 1.5 | D | B+ | D | D |
| Trevor | 1,397 | 2.6 | — | B− | B− | C− |
| Rhostyllen | 2,760 | 3 | C | B | C | C |
| Chirk | 3,930 | 3.5 | C | B+ | C− | C |
| Marchwiel | 1,038 | 4 | — | B | B | C |
| Coedpoeth | 4,738 | 4.7 | C | B | C+ | C− |
Trevor and Marchwiel have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
40 on Cadw’s list, 1 of them Grade I and 1 Grade II*. That is 4.8 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of St Mary, including churchyard walls and lych gate. It also has 2 scheduled monuments.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £180,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: terraced houses £141,750, semi-detached houses £178,500 and detached houses £255,000.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on Natural Resources Wales’s flood risk service.
Town in Clwyd, Wales
Ruabon is a built-up area of 3,414 people, in the Wrexham 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.