Photo: Peter Barr · CC BY-SA 2.0How Derbyshire stacks up
Derbyshire struggles most with above-average crime and car dependence. The sum of it: a C and a score of 30, 46th of 65 graded areas. No subject stands out: its best grade is a B.
Each subject puts the official figure for the whole county beside a measure built from our town grades. How this works
Safety
51st of 65C−21/100 Higher crime than most areas. By police.uk’s count, violent crime here comes to 43.1 offences per 1,000 residents a year, 14% above the England and Wales figure. Town by town it lands near the middle, with Repton its best at #145 of 2,138.
Counting every recorded crime, not just violence: 84 per 1,000 a year (15th highest).
Source: police.uk street-level crime, September 2025 to August 2026 (each crime placed by its LSOA); Census 2021 residents. Greater Manchester Police publishes none.
Measure: recorded crime against residents (violence, burglary, vehicle crime, criminal damage), as in our Safety grades. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,138 graded towns. 59 Derbyshire towns.
Where most people live, crime runs higher
Its safest towns are Wingerworth (#160), West Hallam (#162) and Makeney (#172), ranked against every graded town in the UK. At the other end are Derby, Chesterfield and Ilkeston, in the quarter of town residents living with the most recorded crime. Its towns tell a different story from the county total: 39th of 61 town by town, 9th highest county-wide.
| County | Safest quarter | Most-crime quarter | Split |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ards and North Down | 100% | 0% | |
| Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | 100% | 0% | |
| Lisburn and Castlereagh | 100% | 0% | |
| Mid Ulster | 100% | 0% | |
| Antrim and Newtownabbey | 78% | 0% | |
| Derbyshire | 25% | 46% |
Where crimes are counted
Each crime on police.uk is pinned to a nearby street or public place, not an address; both figures count crimes where those points fall. The county-wide rate takes in town centres, stations and shopping streets, where many offences are recorded but few people live. Our town grades leave shop theft and other town-centre crime out and count violence, burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage, the crimes that reach people at home.
Schools
67th of 90C26/100 Weaker results than most. At the end of primary school it ranks 5th lowest of 47 English counties, with 59% of pupils at the expected standard in all three Rs. Derby and Ilkeston weigh on the town measure; 68% of town residents live in bottom-quarter places. Every neighbour scores higher, Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire and South Yorkshire among them.
At GCSE, pupils average 44.8 on Attainment 8 (12th lowest); the grade counts it as much as the primary results.
Source: DfE key stage 2 results 2024/25 and key stage 4 (Attainment 8), every state school in the county, pupil-weighted. England only.
Measure: our Schools grade: primary and secondary results of the schools in and around each town. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,331 graded towns. 59 Derbyshire towns.
Cost of living
43rd of 98B57/100 Somewhat affordable. A typical home sold for £230,000 over the past year, 4.7 times the average household’s income (49th lowest of 98 areas). Town after town lands in the top quarter for the UK: 69% of residents live in one. Over five years, typical prices have risen 12%.
The middle home sold for £230,000 over the past year, 47th highest of the areas.
Private rent £828 a month (32nd lowest); Band D council tax £2,382 (40th highest). Shown for context.
Source: HM Land Registry Price Paid, standard sales September 2025 to August 2026; ONS small-area income estimates (financial year ending 2023); ONS Price Index of Private Rents (August 2026); council Band D 2026/27.
Measure: our Cost of living grade: prices and rents against local income, plus council tax. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,515 graded towns. 59 Derbyshire towns.
Health
53rd of 98B−46/100 Health right at the middle. People here can expect 64.2 years in good health, against 65.2 across England and Wales (16th shortest of 55 areas with figures). Makeney leads its towns at #29 of 2,515; 19% of town residents live in top-quarter towns.
Life expectancy at birth: 80.5 years, 20th shortest.
Source: ONS life expectancy and healthy life expectancy by small area (MSOA), 2019 to 2023, men and women averaged.
Measure: our Health grade: ONS life and healthy life expectancy, Census health, and OHID indicators in England. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,515 graded towns. 59 Derbyshire towns.
Jobs & income
51st of 98B−48/100 About average for incomes. Households take in £49,000 a year on average before tax, against £55,600 across England and Wales (46th highest of 98 areas). 11% of town residents live in a top-quarter town, 14% in a bottom-quarter one; Makeney ranks highest.
Claimant rate: 3.3% of 16 to 64-year-olds claim out-of-work benefits (August 2026), 39th highest. Counted half in the grade.
Source: ONS small-area income estimates (financial year ending 2023), household-weighted; DWP claimant count (August 2026) by council.
Measure: our Jobs & income grade: household income. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,156 graded towns. 59 Derbyshire towns.
Getting about
72nd of 98C27/100 More car-dependent than most areas. Only Bakewell (#227 of 2,515) stands out; no other town comes close. At the 2021 Census, 17% of people travelling to work went on foot, by bike or by public transport, 9 points below the England and Wales figure.
Worked mainly from home at the 2021 Census: 25% of workers (context; they are left out of the commuting share).
Source: ONS Census 2021, method of travel to work (TS061) by council; people working mainly from home left out.
Measure: our Walkability grade: how many everyday places are within reach on foot. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,515 graded towns. 59 Derbyshire towns.
Flood risk
34th of 87B62/100 A bit less exposed than most. The Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales put 5,603 homes in its towns at high or medium flood risk, 1.3% of them. Barlborough leads its towns at #150 of 2,452; 29% of town residents live in top-quarter towns.
Source: Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales flood-risk maps (rivers and the sea), homes in every town of the county.
Measure: our Hazard risk grade: the share of homes at high or medium flood risk. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,452 graded towns. 59 Derbyshire towns.
Growth
56th of 98C+43/100 Growing a little slower than average. Derbyshire grew 7.5% from 2011 to 2024, against 10.0% for England and Wales. It trails all of its neighbours on growth. 3% of town residents live in a top-quarter town, 45% in a bottom-quarter one; Hatton ranks highest.
From 2021 to 2024 alone, +3.6% (26th fastest).
Source: ONS mid-year population estimates, 2011 and 2024.
Measure: population change from 2011 to 2024 (ONS estimates for built-up areas). The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 1,579 graded towns. 41 Derbyshire towns. Covers 91% of residents of Derbyshire’s graded towns.
How Derbyshire compares to its neighbours
Against Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire, South Yorkshire, Leicestershire and Greater Manchester, Derbyshire trails on schools and growth.
| Derbyshire | Nottinghamshire | Staffordshire | South Yorkshire | Leicestershire | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | C 3046th of 65 | B 5828th of 65 | C 2847th of 65 | D 1357th of 65 | B+ 6921st of 65 |
| Safety | C− 2157th official · 25% in top towns | B− 4751st official · 36% in top towns | C− 1653rd official · 22% in top towns | D 860th official · 14% in top towns | B 6129th official · 30% in top towns |
| Schools | C 2643rd official · 7% in top towns | B+ 7214th official · 20% in top towns | C+ 4212th official · 7% in top towns | B− 4522nd official · 6% in top towns | B 5718th official · 8% in top towns |
| Cost of living | B 5749th official · 69% in top towns | C+ 4051st official · 22% in top towns | B− 4652nd official · 45% in top towns | B 6034th official · 48% in top towns | C+ 3963rd official · 42% in top towns |
| Health | B− 4640th official · 19% in top towns | C+ 3944th official · 18% in top towns | C+ 4236th official · 14% in top towns | D 1248th official · 4% in top towns | B+ 6533rd official · 35% in top towns |
| Jobs & income | B− 4846th official · 11% in top towns | B− 4648th official · 15% in top towns | C 3050th official · 5% in top towns | D 1063rd official · 3% in top towns | B 6035th official · 25% in top towns |
| Getting about | C 2767th official · 0% in top towns | A 8524th official · 31% in top towns | C− 1580th official · 0% in top towns | B− 4842nd official · 0% in top towns | B− 5141st official · 0% in top towns |
| Flood risk | B 6229th official · 29% in top towns | C+ 4239th official · 25% in top towns | A 934th official · 55% in top towns | B− 4843rd official · 32% in top towns | B− 5233rd official · 26% in top towns |
| Growth | C+ 4344th official · 3% in top towns | B 5839th official · 13% in top towns | B 5645th official · 12% in top towns | C+ 4451st official · 5% in top towns | A 938th official · 65% in top towns |
Each cell: the subject’s grade and score, the county’s rank on the official figure (1st = the better end), and the share of its town residents living in a top-quarter town for the UK. Neighbour names open their report cards.
How this report card works
Two measures, side by side. The left card is an official figure for the whole county, its towns, villages and countryside together, built from the small areas and councils that make it up and ranked against the other counties. The right card is built from our town grades: of everyone living in the county’s graded towns of 2,500 or more, the share whose town is in the top quarter for the UK. Quarters are of people, not towns: the top quarter is the best-placed towns that together hold a quarter of everyone living in graded towns, so a county of big cities is not marked down just for being urban. A county can do well on one measure and not the other; that difference is often the story.
Scores and grades. Each subject’s score (0–100) is the area’s standing in one UK league of 98: the ceremonial counties of England (London counts as one), Wales’s eight preserved counties, and Scotland’s 32 and Northern Ireland’s 11 council areas, each called by its own name. The two measures’ percentiles are averaged, then ranked again, the same method as our town grades. Where a nation publishes its own kind of figure, the official figure is ranked within that nation: school results everywhere, health in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and flood risk in Scotland. Each area’s figures are set beside its own nation’s. 100 is the best county, 0 the last. Letters use the town-grade scale (A+ from 95, A from 85, A− from 75 … D below 15). The overall score weighs safety 18, cost of living 18, schools 16, health 14, jobs & income 12, getting about 8, growth 8, flood risk 6 (out of 100), over the subjects a county has. Counties with fewer than 5 graded towns (Rutland, Bristol) are graded on the official figures alone.
What it is not. A county figure averages everyone, so it cannot show whether a county is evenly good or a mix of very good and struggling places. The town measure shows the mix but leaves out villages and towns under 2,500. Neither says anything about any one street.
Gaps. Wales publishes no school results that compare with England’s, so Welsh counties have no Schools grade. Greater Manchester Police publishes no street-level crime, so Greater Manchester has no Safety grade and, as for its towns, no overall grade. Nor does Police Scotland, so Scotland’s council areas have no Safety grade or overall grade yet. Scotland and Northern Ireland have no small-area income figures, so their household income is estimated from ONS household income per head. Flood risk has no county-wide official figure; it is the share of homes in the county’s towns at high or medium risk. Sources are named under each figure. How grades work
Sources: 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.