Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 8,854 in Derbyshire, East Midlands.
Ashbourne grades B+ overall against UK towns: better than 66% of UK towns, and #17 of 59 in Derbyshire. Its strongest subject is cost of living (A): median sale £270,000, 5.1 years of area income; rent £819 a month. Its weakest is safety (C+): 30.8 violent and sexual offences and 8.3 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 36%.
The 3 things Ashbourne 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 Ashbourne is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 164 buildings inside Ashbourne’s built-up area, 3 of them Grade I.
16% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 2 old photos and postcards going back to 1900.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Ashbourne.
15% rent privately, close to Derbyshire’s towns (17%) and below England’s towns (21%).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £397,500 | 156 |
| Semi-detached | £240,000 | 93 |
| Terraced | £215,000 | 80 |
| Flat or maisonette | £161,250 | 40 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Its two schools are below.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ashbourne Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 202 | D |
| Queen Elizabeth's Grammar SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,276 | B− |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
That puts Ashbourne above both Derbyshire’s towns (23) and England’s towns (39). Ashbourne’s listed buildings include Old Grammar School, Grade I. Ashbourne has 164 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 3 Grade I, 11 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 26% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
The car took 78% of commuters, close to Derbyshire’s towns (80%) and above England’s towns (70%).
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
On this, Ashbourne is above both Derbyshire’s towns (20%) and England’s towns (18%). Young adults of 15 to 24 are 10% of the population. Ashbourne has a median age of 46.2.
52% women, 48% men
About 93 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.
| Ashbourne | Derbyshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 22% | 25% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 23% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 18% | 19% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.3% | 6.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 34% | 29% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Derbyshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Police recorded 514 crimes inside Ashbourne’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 77 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences were 51% of the crimes; the police category includes harassment and stalking, so it runs higher than U.S. “violent crime”.
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
82% of Ashbourne’s residents described their health as good or very good in 2021, against 80% across Derbyshire’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.
| Census 2021 | Ashbourne | Derbyshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 82% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.1% | 6% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 19% | 20% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
164 listed buildings in Ashbourne, 3 of them Grade I.
Parish Church of St Oswald: Photo: Rachel Boden · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Old Grammar School: Photo: JThomas · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Mansion Including Coach House Wall: Photo: Dave.Dunford · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Clergyman's Widows Almshouses: Photo: Jo Turner · CC BY-SA 2.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashbourne | 8,854 | — | B+ | A | C+ | B− |
| Mayfield | 1,099 | 1.8 | — | A− | B | B− |
| Brailsford | 1,403 | 5.2 | — | B | A+ | A+ |
| Rocester | 1,679 | 6.2 | — | A | C | B− |
| Wirksworth | 4,904 | 8 | B | A | C+ | B− |
| Doveridge | 1,760 | 8.5 | — | B | A+ | A |
| Cromford | 1,395 | 9.4 | — | A | A− | C+ |
| Uttoxeter | 14,024 | 9.8 | B− | B+ | C | C |
Mayfield, Brailsford, Rocester, Doveridge and Cromford have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 7.6 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include Old Grammar School.
About the middle for its size: 64% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people report less crime per resident. Against all UK towns, it grades C+.
Town in Derbyshire, England
Ashbourne is a built-up area of 8,854 people, in the Derbyshire Dales 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.