Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 17,820 in Derbyshire, East Midlands.
Glossop grades B− overall against UK towns: better than 50% of UK towns, and #25 of 59 in Derbyshire. Its strongest subject is walkability (A−): 22% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is hazard risk (D): 3.8% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. The median home sold for £279,000 in the last three years, 5.5 times what households in the High Peak council area earn in a year.
The thing Glossop 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 Glossop is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 74 buildings inside Glossop’s built-up area.
35% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 3 old photos and postcards going back to 1903.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Glossop.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
In the comparison, Glossop comes above both Derbyshire’s towns (23%) and England’s towns (16%). Glossop has 74 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 0 Grade I, 0 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Two of its 7 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whitfield St James' CofE (VC) Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 311 | C+ |
| St Philip Howard Catholic Voluntary AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 577 | B |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 35% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
38% of commuters travelled under 5 km, below both Derbyshire’s towns (42%) and England’s towns (45%). 76% of commuters drove to work at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Police recorded 1,061 crimes inside Glossop’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 190 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences were 43% 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
For Glossop, that is above both Derbyshire’s towns (67%) and England’s towns (61%). Social housing holds 10% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £437,000 | 206 |
| Semi-detached | £291,500 | 190 |
| Terraced | £215,000 | 302 |
| Flat or maisonette | £155,250 | 60 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Glossop sits below both Derbyshire’s towns (6%) and England’s towns (5.2%) on this measure. 3 GP practices serve the town; 84% 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 | Glossop | Derbyshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 83% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.3% | 6% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 17% | 20% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
That puts Glossop above both Derbyshire’s towns (29%) and England’s towns (34%). Those aged 15 to 24 account for 9.1% of residents. Glossop has a median age of 45.8.
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Glossop | Derbyshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.1% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 24% | 25% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 30% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 21% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 13% | 19% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.6% | 6.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 40% | 29% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Derbyshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
74 listed buildings in Glossop.
Howard Park: Photo: Mick Garratt · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Partington Theatre: Photo: Dave.Dunford · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Former Dollars Public House: Photo: Dave.Dunford · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Conservative Club: Photo: Dave.Dunford · CC BY-SA 4.0
39 notable people were born in Glossop.
Ellie Simmonds: allen watkin from London, UK, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Andy Wilman: desertdingo, CC0 · Alexandra Fuller: Larry D. Moore, CC BY 4.0 · James Vincent: Exxy, CC BY-SA 4.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glossop | 17,820 | — | B− | B− | C+ | B− |
| Gamesley | 3,124 | 1.4 | C | A | C− | D |
| Hadfield | 16,271 | 1.7 | B− | B+ | B+ | C− |
| Broadbottom | 1,001 | 2.4 | — | D− | — | C |
| Hattersley | 6,959 | 3.4 | — | D | — | D− |
| Hayfield | 1,878 | 4.3 | — | B− | B | C |
| Marple Bridge | 4,702 | 4.8 | — | D− | — | A+ |
| Stalybridge | 26,850 | 4.9 | — | D | — | D |
Broadbottom and Hayfield have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Broadbottom, Hattersley, Marple Bridge and Stalybridge have no Safety Grade: Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish to police.uk. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 1.7 times the typical UK town for its size.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
GCSE results trail 66% of towns in England, and primary results trail 65% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
It has less crime than most places its size: less crime per resident than 68% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. Against all UK towns, most of them smaller, it grades C+.
Town in Derbyshire, England
Glossop is a built-up area of 17,820 people, in the High Peak 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.