Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 3,967 in Cornwall, South West.
Carbis Bay grades C+ overall against UK towns: better than 38% of UK towns, and #5 of 35 in Cornwall. Its strongest subject is walkability (A): 24% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is cost of living (D−): median sale £397,500, 8.6 years of area income; rent £1,000 a month.
Devon And Cornwall Police published 33 of the 36 months; rates are per year over the months published.
The 3 things Carbis Bay does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Carbis Bay is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 6 buildings inside Carbis Bay’s built-up area.
16% 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 1911.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Carbis Bay. Best known first.
Art galleryTate St Ives1.1 km outside town, to the north · 214K visitors a year (2009)
MuseumBarbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden900 m outside town, to the north
Fort · National TrustTrencrom Hill1.5 km outside town, to the south
MuseumThe Leach Pottery1 km outside town, to the northwest
ZooParadise Park2.5 km outside town, to the southeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Carbis Bay.
Half of Carbis Bay is older than 53.3, half younger. Children under 15 make up 13%, below Cornwall’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. Aged 15 to 24: nearly one in ten residents.
52% women, 48% men
About 91 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
| Carbis Bay | Cornwall | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 13% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.5% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 17% | 22% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 32% | 24% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 16% | 17% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.1% | 6.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 30% | 30% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Cornwall and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Below are its two schools. GCSE results at the one secondary school within 3 km: 36% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 42.4. Some 815 pupils attend Carbis Bay’s one primary and one secondary.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Uny CofE AcademyLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 235 | C− |
| St Ives SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 580 | C |
Private renters make up 17% of households, lower than both Cornwall’s towns (20%) and England’s towns (21%). 8% of households live in social housing. Carbis Bay is the second most expensive of the 35 towns in Cornwall, at £397,500.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £550,000 | 108 |
| Semi-detached | £355,000 | 18 |
| Terraced | £275,000 | 25 |
| Flat or maisonette | £245,000 | 59 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 28% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
There are 0.9 jobs in Carbis Bay for each resident in work. 52% of commuters travelled under 5 km, above both Cornwall’s towns (42%) and England’s towns (45%). Driving is how 72% of commuters got to work at the census. Also worth knowing: about 13% of its commuters stay in Carbis Bay for work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Among the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Carbis Bay has less crime per resident than 82% of them. In the 12 months to August 2026, police logged 110 crimes and 21 reports of anti-social behaviour inside the town’s built-up area. Violence came to 18.1 per 1,000 residents a year, below both Cornwall’s towns (25.1) and England’s towns (22).
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 heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
16% of its homes are older than 1919.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The nearest A&E to Carbis Bay is Royal Cornwall Hospital, 17.5 miles away. At the census, just over a fifth of people here had a disability, near Cornwall’s towns (22%) and higher than England’s towns (17%). Seeing a GP means leaving Carbis Bay: the nearest practice is 1.3 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Carbis Bay | Cornwall | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 80% | 79% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.9% | 6.4% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 21% | 22% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · These shares come straight from the census, without allowing for age, and young towns benefit; the Health Grade instead weighs age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
6 listed buildings in Carbis Bay.
Boskerris Farmhouse: Photo: Richard Law · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph · Boskerris Woollas: Photo: Richard Law · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carbis Bay | 3,967 | — | C+ | D− | A− | B |
| St Ives | 5,413 | 1.3 | D− | D− | D | C |
| Hayle | 9,040 | 2.6 | D− | D− | C− | C |
| St Erth | 1,128 | 2.7 | — | D− | C | C+ |
| Crowlas | 1,054 | 3.4 | — | D | A− | B− |
| Connor Downs | 1,482 | 4.5 | — | D− | C | C |
| Marazion | 1,350 | 4.9 | — | D− | C+ | C |
| Goldsithney | 1,346 | 5 | — | D− | B+ | C+ |
St Erth, Crowlas, Connor Downs, Marazion and Goldsithney have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Band D council tax in Carbis Bay is £2,677 for 2026–27, more than in 94% of UK towns (council, county, police and fire, plus the parish or town council). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
Police recorded 110 crimes inside Carbis Bay’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 66% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
GCSE results trail 79% of towns in England, and primary results trail 63% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). Carbis Bay has 2 state schools; places are handled by Cornwall council.
Town in Cornwall, England
Carbis Bay is a built-up area of 3,967 people, in the Cornwall 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) · Historic England, National Heritage List for England (listed buildings, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, battlefields, World Heritage Sites), 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.
