Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Some 76,394 people live in this large town, in Derbyshire, East Midlands.
Where it falls short is safety — 56.2 violent and sexual offences and 17.1 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Among UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, it has less crime per resident than 22%. Homes sell for a median £200,000, about 4.5 years of what households in the Chesterfield council area earn. Walking, cycling and public transport work well here: 19% of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. Overall, that makes a C, better than 29% of UK towns. That places it #41 of 59 in Derbyshire.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · incomes, ONS.
The thing Chesterfield 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 Chesterfield is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 198 buildings inside Chesterfield’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I, and 2 scheduled monuments.
19% 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 1858.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Chesterfield.
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Chesterfield logged 8,884 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 1,644 complaints of anti-social conduct. Among the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, Chesterfield has more crime per resident than 78% of them. There were 22.5 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), above both Derbyshire’s towns (8.5) and England’s towns (7.8). 48% 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.
Three of its 32 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. Secondary results at the town’s 6 secondary schools: an Attainment 8 score of 49.4, with 51% at grade 5 or above in English and maths. Between them, 23 primaries and six secondaries teach 10,968 pupils in Chesterfield.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Mary's Catholic PrimaryLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 433 | B |
| St Mary's Catholic High School, A Catholic Voluntary AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,400 | A |
| Hady Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 328 | A |
Women here live to 81.9 on average and men to 77.6 (2019–23). 7 GP practices serve the town; 77% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. The nearest A&E to Chesterfield is Chesterfield Royal Hospital, 1.8 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Chesterfield | Derbyshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 77% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 7.1% | 6% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 23% | 20% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Census health answers are raw, so younger towns score better on them; for the Health Grade we use age-adjusted figures like life expectancy and early deaths.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 24% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Jobs per working resident: 1.4. Of the commuters living in Chesterfield, 49% work in the town itself. Also worth knowing: 53% of commuters travelled under 5 km to work. Household income came to £45K a year before tax, lower than both Derbyshire’s towns (£50K) and England’s towns (£55K).
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Chesterfield has 198 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 1 Grade I, 14 Grade II*. Its listed buildings include the Church of St Mary and All Saints, Grade I. Nearly a fifth of its homes were built before 1919, below Derbyshire’s towns (23%) but above England’s towns (16%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Just over a fifth of residents are 65 or over, above Derbyshire’s towns (20%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. Aged 15 to 24: one in ten residents. Typical age in Chesterfield: 45.5, the median. Among adults, 29% have a degree.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Chesterfield | Derbyshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.6% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 24% | 25% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 22% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 19% | 19% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.3% | 6.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 29% | 29% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Derbyshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Private rents average £759 a month across the Chesterfield council area. The £200,000 median rests on 3,162 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026). 17% rent privately, near Derbyshire’s towns (17%) and lower than England’s towns (21%).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £335,000 | 937 |
| Semi-detached | £197,000 | 1,338 |
| Terraced | £145,000 | 650 |
| Flat or maisonette | £118,000 | 237 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Chesterfield. Best known first.
MuseumChesterfield Museumin town
MuseumRevolution Housein town
Historic house · English HeritageSutton Scarsdale Hall3.5 km outside town, to the southeast
Historic houseRenishaw Hall4.3 km outside town, to the northeast
Historic houseBarlow Woodseats Hall3.7 km outside town, to the northwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
198 listed buildings in Chesterfield, 1 of them Grade I.
Church of St Mary and All Saints: Photo: Tom Pennington · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Tapton House: Photo: Stephen Richards · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Royal Oak Inn: Photo: sue hayton · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Former Brewery Street Chapel: Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0
197 notable people were born in Chesterfield.
John Hurt: Walterlan Papetti, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Millie Bright: Ryan Asman, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Matthew Lowton: Ben Sutherland, CC BY 2.0 · Phil Taylor: Andrew King, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Bob Wilson: Bob_Wilson_in_2009.jpg: Hilton Teper (hilton1949). The original uploader was Hilton1949 at English Wikipedia. derivative work: Ukexpat, CC BY-SA 3.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chesterfield | 76,394 | — | C | B | D | C− |
| Brimington | 11,068 | 2 | B− | B | C− | C− |
| Holymoorside | 1,363 | 2.8 | — | C | A | B+ |
| Wingerworth | 6,404 | 2.9 | A | B− | A− | B+ |
| Grassmoor | 3,528 | 3.4 | C− | A− | D | D |
| Staveley | 15,151 | 3.4 | D | B | D | D− |
| Old Tupton | 4,190 | 4 | C | B+ | C− | C− |
| Duckmanton | 1,775 | 4.1 | — | B | C− | D |
Holymoorside and Duckmanton have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £200,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £118,000, terraced houses £145,000, semi-detached houses £197,000 and detached houses £335,000.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Large town in Derbyshire, England
Chesterfield is a built-up area of 76,394 people, in the Chesterfield 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.