Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Over-65s are 33% of the population. A town in Derbyshire, East Midlands, home to 3,985 people.
Darley Dale’s strongest subject is schools: primary results beat 83% of towns in England; secondary results beat 71% of towns in England. Incomes are on the low side: mean household income £49,682; 2.4% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Natural hazards weigh more here: 1.5% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. It takes 5.5 years of household income in the Derbyshire Dales council area to buy the median home, at £291,250. The overall grade lands at A−, #11 of 59 in Derbyshire. That leaves it better than nearly four fifths of UK towns. Elsewhere it is close to typical: B for safety, B− for health and B− for walkability.
Figures: income and life expectancy, ONS · claimants, DWP · flood risk, Environment Agency · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · commuting, Census 2021.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Darley Dale is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things Darley Dale does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 21 buildings inside Darley Dale’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade II*.
23% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 1 old photo or postcard going back to 1890.
Explore the history →21 listed buildings in Darley Dale.
Parish Church of St Helen: Photo: Tony Bacon · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Grouse Inn: Photo: Neil Theasby · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Darley Dale Station: Photo: Gordon McKinlay · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Outbuilding of Rectory: Photo: Ian S · CC BY-SA 2.0
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Darley Dale.
Children under 15 count for 13% of the people here. Young adults of 15 to 24 are 9.2% of residents, below Derbyshire’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (12%) alike. Half the people of Darley Dale are older than 53.1.
53% women, 47% men
About 88 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.
| Darley Dale | Derbyshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 13% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.2% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 17% | 25% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 33% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 18% | 19% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.5% | 6.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 15% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 34% | 29% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Derbyshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
One of its 2 schools is below, with the reason it’s listed. Some 255 pupils attend Darley Dale’s two primaries. Secondary results at the one secondary school within 3 km: an Attainment 8 score of 49.6, with 50% at grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Darley Dale Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 214 | B+ |
Households that own their home make up 73%. Half of the 258 standard sales inside Darley Dale’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £291,250. Private rents average £819 a month across the Derbyshire Dales council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £396,500 | 96 |
| Semi-detached | £239,000 | 84 |
| Terraced | £192,500 | 48 |
| Flat or maisonette | £332,500 | 30 |
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.
Homes from before 1919 make up 23% of the total. Grade II* covers 2 of them. One registered park or garden lies in Darley Dale.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
A year of reports to August 2026 adds up to 154 offences in Darley Dale and 22 cases of nuisance behaviour. Of all the crimes, 56% were violence and sexual offences. Also worth knowing: there were 10.5 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), higher than both Derbyshire’s towns (8.5) and England’s towns (7.8).
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.
A disability affects 21% of people in Darley Dale. The nearest A&E to Darley Dale is Chesterfield Royal Hospital, 9.6 miles away. One GP practice serves the town; 94% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Darley Dale | Derbyshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 78% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.6% | 6% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 21% | 20% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · No age adjustment applies to these census answers, which flatter younger towns; the Health Grade’s measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them, do allow for age.
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.
Driving is how 85% of commuters got to work at the census. 38% of commuters travelled under 5 km, below Derbyshire’s towns (42%) and England’s towns (45%) alike. Darley Dale counts 0.9 jobs per working resident.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Darley Dale. Best known first.
Historic houseRiber Castle3.4 km outside town, to the southeast
Heritage railwayPeak Rail1.9 km outside town, to the southeast
Theme parkGulliver's Kingdom3.8 km outside town, to the south
MuseumPeak District Mining Museum3.7 km outside town, to the southHistoric houseHistoric houseHaddon Hall2.9 km outside town, to the northwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
5 notable people were born in Darley Dale.
Nigel Bond: Benutzer:Bill da Flute, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Mike Hendrick: Archives New Zealand, CC BY 2.0
Town in Derbyshire, England
Darley Dale is a built-up area of 3,985 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
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darley Dale | 3,985 | — | A− | A− | B | B− |
| Matlock | 11,990 | 2.5 | B+ | A | C | B− |
| Tansley | 1,176 | 3.8 | — | B | A | B+ |
| Cromford | 1,395 | 4.4 | — | A | A− | C+ |
| Bakewell | 3,275 | 4.6 | A− | B | C+ | B |
| Holymoorside | 1,363 | 5.7 | — | C | A | B+ |
| Baslow | 1,172 | 5.7 | — | B− | A− | A |
| Wirksworth | 4,904 | 6 | B | A | C+ | B− |
Tansley, Cromford, Holymoorside and Baslow have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 2.2 times the typical UK town for its size.
Secondary results beat 71%. Darley Dale has 2 state schools; places are handled by Derbyshire council.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
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.