Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A city of 275,561 in Derbyshire, East Midlands.
Derby grades C− overall against UK towns: better than 21% of UK towns, and #52 of 59 in Derbyshire. Its strongest subject is walkability (A−): 22% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is safety (D): 57 violent and sexual offences and 17.8 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026. Among UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, it has less crime per resident than 19%. The median home sold for £220,000 in the last three years, 4.5 times what households in the Derby council area earn in a year.
The 2 things Derby 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 Derby is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 389 buildings inside Derby’s built-up area, 9 of them Grade I, and 6 scheduled monuments.
16% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 4 old photos and postcards going back to 1850 and a map.
Three U.S. towns are named after Derby.
USUS editionDerby, Connecticut, settled in 1642, takes its name from this city.
Also named after Derby:Derby, CO8,453Derby, VT4,456
Named after: each U.S. town’s Wikipedia article. Grades compare each town with towns in its own country, so they aren’t a head-to-head.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Derby. Best known first.
MuseumDerby Museum and Art Galleryin town
MuseumPickford's House Museumin town
MuseumMuseum of Makingin town
CathedralDerby Cathedralin town
GardenDerby Arboretumin townArt galleryArt galleryCastle Fine Art Galleryin townPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Derby.
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Violence came to 57 per 1,000 residents a year, above both Derbyshire’s towns (25.6) and England’s towns (22). Police recorded 32,724 crimes inside Derby’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 4,703 reports of anti-social behaviour. Among the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, Derby has more crime per resident than 81% of them.
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
Griffe Field Primary School’s results beat 96% of schools in England like it. Three of its 110 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Village Primary AcademyLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 700 | C− |
| Littleover Community SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,828 | A− |
| Griffe Field Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 459 | A+ |
Women here live to 81.8 on average and men to 77.9 (2019–23). 24 GP practices serve the town; 67% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. 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 | Derby | Derbyshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 81% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.6% | 6% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 18% | 20% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
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.
That puts Derby above both Derbyshire’s towns (2.2%) and England’s towns (2.3%). 54% of commuters travelled under 5 km to work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The median sale price was £220K, close to Derbyshire’s towns (£240K) and below England’s towns (£308K).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £320,000 | 2,745 |
| Semi-detached | £215,000 | 3,747 |
| Terraced | £165,000 | 2,089 |
| Flat or maisonette | £123,000 | 625 |
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.
Derby has 389 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 9 Grade I, 37 Grade II*. Derby’s listed buildings include Bakewell's Gates at The Silk Mill Industrial Museum, Grade I. Homes from before 1919 make up 16% of the total, below Derbyshire’s towns (23%) and close to England’s towns (16%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
On this, Derby is above both Derbyshire’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (18%). Young adults of 15 to 24 are 13% of the population. Half the people of Derby are older than 37.4.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Derby | Derbyshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 13% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 28% | 25% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 24% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 16% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 20% | 19% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.2% | 6.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 30% | 29% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Derbyshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
389 listed buildings in Derby, 9 of them Grade I.
Cathedral Church of All Saints: Photo: Nick Moyes · CC BY-SA 3.0 · 41, Friar Gate: Photo: sps1955 from UK · CC BY 2.0 · St Helens House Including Attached Former School Buildings and Front Wall: Photo: Jerry Evans · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Livesages Almshouses: Photo: Dave Bevis · CC BY-SA 2.0
468 notable people were born in Derby.
Richard Roberts: paloma.cl, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Joseph Wright of Derby: Joseph Wright of Derby, Public domain · Jack O'Connell: Colleen Sturtevant, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Jamaal Lascelles: james cumberpatch, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Derby | 275,561 | — | C− | A− | D | C− |
| Findern | 1,608 | 3.9 | — | A | A | B− |
| Borrowash | 7,171 | 4.2 | B+ | B | B | C+ |
| Little Eaton | 1,875 | 4.2 | — | C | A | A− |
| Aston-on-Trent | 2,433 | 5 | — | A | A | B+ |
| Makeney | 4,691 | 5.3 | A+ | C | A− | A+ |
| Willington | 2,717 | 5.4 | A+ | A | B+ | B+ |
| Etwall | 3,080 | 5.6 | A | B+ | B | B |
Findern, Little Eaton and Aston-on-Trent have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Police recorded 32,724 crimes inside Derby’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 47% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
Its Grade I buildings include Cathedral Church of All Saints. It also has 6 scheduled monuments.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
GCSE results trail 67% of towns in England, and primary results trail 77% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
City in Derbyshire, England
Derby is a built-up area of 275,561 people, in the Derby 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.