Penrith grades C− overall against UK towns: better than 19% of UK towns, and #10 of 23 in Cumbria. Its strongest subject is walkability (A+): 32% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is safety (D): 45.9 violent and sexual offences and 11.3 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026. Among UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, it has less crime per resident than 26%. The median home sold for £228,950 in the last three years, 5.2 times what households in the Eden council area earn in a year.
ONS publishes one rent for all of Westmorland and Furness, so this town's Cost Grade uses house prices and council tax only.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Penrith is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Department for Education · GIAS, Key Stage 2 and GCSE resultsSee all 6 schools →
Safety
Penrith has more crime per resident than 86% of UK towns
Violence came to 45.9 per 1,000 residents a year, above both Cumbria’s towns (27) and England’s towns (22). Police recorded 1,465 crimes inside Penrith’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 56 reports of anti-social behaviour. For its size, Penrith records more crime per resident than 74% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
45.9violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a yearDSafety Grade
Compared with UK towns its sizeLess crime per resident than 26% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people: more crime than most for its size. Context only, not part of the grade.
More crimeLess crime
Reports by type · Sep 2025 to Aug 2026
Violence & sexual744
Shoplifting184
Public order158
Damage & arson108
Drugs80
Other theft70
Other crime37
Burglary24
Anti-social56
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.
45.9
violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
11.3
burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
7.6
anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 (not graded)
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
History
179 listed buildings, 3 of them Grade I
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Penrith has 179 listed buildings inside its built-up area on Historic England’s list: 3 Grade I, 23 Grade II*. 19% of its homes were built before 1919.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Health
81% of residents say their health is good or very good
81% of Penrith’s residents described their health as good or very good in 2021, against 79% across Cumbria’s towns. 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.
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
Who lives here
An older town: 23% of residents are 65 or over
9.4% of residents are 15 to 24 and 23% are 65 or over, against 9.9% and 23% across Cumbria’s towns. 27% of residents 16 and over have a degree-level qualification (Cumbria 28%, England 34%).
46.2median age
PenrithCumbriaEngland
Ages · share of residents
23%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications20%
Apprenticeship7%
A levels or similar16%
Degree level27%
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
WomenEnglandMen
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Oliver Turvey: Jake Archibald from London, England, CC BY 2.0 · Mark Donovan: Geof Sheppard, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Bettina Arndt: Bettina Arndt, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Danny Grainger: Alonstoter, CC BY-SA 3.0
That is 4.4 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include Penrith Castle. It also has 4 scheduled monuments.
Is Penrith safe?
Police recorded 1,465 crimes inside Penrith’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 51% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking. Burglary was rare, with 24 reports in the year.
Does Penrith flood?
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
About Penrith
Town in Cumbria, England
Penrith is a built-up area of 16,705 people, in the Eden 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
Population
16,705 (Census 2021)
Council
Eden
County
Cumbria
Region
North West
Area
2 sq mi (5.1 km²)
ONS code
E63000257
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.
