Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 11,194 in Cornwall, South West. One resident in 3 is 15 to 24.
Penryn grades C+ overall against UK towns: better than 41% of UK towns, and #4 of 35 in Cornwall. Its strongest subject is walkability (A): 23% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is cost of living (D): median sale £264,000, 5.7 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 Penryn 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 Penryn is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 210 buildings inside Penryn’s built-up area, 3 of them Grade II*, and 2 scheduled monuments.
22% 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 1910.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Penryn. Best known first.
Castle · English HeritagePendennis Castle3.4 km outside town, to the southeast
Castle · English HeritageSt Mawes Castle4.6 km outside town, to the east
Art galleryFalmouth Art Gallery1.4 km outside town, to the southeast
MuseumNational Maritime Museum Cornwall2.3 km outside town, to the southeast
Art galleryFalmouth Municipal Buildings1.4 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 Penryn.
Penryn sits above both Cornwall’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (12%) on this measure. Children are 13% of the town. The median resident of Penryn is 30.3 years old.
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Penryn | Cornwall | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 13% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 31% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 22% | 22% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 19% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 15% | 24% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 11% | 17% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5% | 6.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 33% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 31% | 30% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Cornwall and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Penryn Primary AcademyLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 349 | B− |
| Penryn CollegeLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,140 | B |
That puts Penryn above both Cornwall’s towns (20%) and England’s towns (21%).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £404,750 | 98 |
| Semi-detached | £286,500 | 84 |
| Terraced | £251,250 | 134 |
| Flat or maisonette | £175,000 | 81 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
On this, Penryn is above both Cornwall’s towns (52) and England’s towns (39). Penryn has 210 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 0 Grade I, 3 Grade II*. Homes from before 1919 make up 22% of the total.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 27% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
In the comparison, Penryn comes above both Cornwall’s towns (42%) and England’s towns (45%). The car carried 73% of commuters at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
For Penryn, that is below both Cornwall’s towns (6.4%) and England’s towns (5.2%). The nearest A&E to Penryn is Royal Cornwall Hospital, 6.7 miles away. These answers aren’t adjusted for age, so young towns look healthier; the Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
| Census 2021 | Penryn | Cornwall | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 83% | 79% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.5% | 6.4% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 20% | 22% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
Police recorded 644 crimes inside Penryn’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 73 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences were 43% 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
210 listed buildings in Penryn.
College known as Glasney College, Penryn: Photo: Simon Cobb · CC0 · Church of St Gluvias: Photo: Simon Cobb · CC0 · Celtic Cross Adjacent to the Town Hall: Photo: Simon Cobb · CC0 · Daniell's Warehouse: Photo: Simon Cobb · CC0
12 notable people were born in Penryn.
Thomas Pellow: Tabyrd6, Public domain · William Gilbert Puckey: Soulrevolution at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Charles Penrose: Charles Allingham (c.1778–1850), Public domain · Vic Roberts: Unknown (Crown Studios of Wellington), Public domain · William Harris Rule: unknown carte de visite, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penryn | 11,194 | — | C+ | D | B | C+ |
| Mylor Bridge | 1,534 | 1.9 | — | D− | A+ | A |
| Falmouth | 24,066 | 2 | C | D− | C | C+ |
| Perranarworthal | 1,305 | 2.8 | — | D− | A+ | A |
| Stithians | 1,613 | 3.1 | — | D− | A− | B |
| Carnon Downs and Devoran | 2,129 | 3.6 | — | D− | A | A− |
| Mawnan Smith | 1,001 | 3.8 | — | D− | A+ | A− |
| Lanner | 2,164 | 5 | — | D− | A− | C |
Mylor Bridge, Perranarworthal, Stithians, Carnon Downs and Devoran, Mawnan Smith and Lanner have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 7.7 times the typical UK town for its size. It also has 2 scheduled monuments.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Town in Cornwall, England
Penryn is a built-up area of 11,194 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.