Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town in Derbyshire, East Midlands, home to 15,105 people.
Cheap to live in, with trade-offs. Where it falls short is schools (C−): primary results beat just over a fifth of towns in England; secondary results beat 21% of towns in England. Somercotes and Swanwick ranks #36 of 59 in Derbyshire, with a C overall. Set against the rest, it does better than 33% of UK towns. Homes are affordable (A): homes sell for a median £195,000, about 4 times local household income.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
The 3 things Somercotes and Swanwick 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 Somercotes and Swanwick is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 17 buildings inside Somercotes and Swanwick’s built-up area.
27% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Somercotes and Swanwick. Best known first.
CastleCodnor Castle2 km outside town, to the southeast
Heritage railwayMidland Railway – Butterley400 m outside town, to the southwest
Historic houseCarnfield Hall800 m outside town, to the north
Historic houseAlfreton Hall1 km outside town, to the northwestRuinsRuins · English HeritageWingfield Manor2.7 km outside town, to the westMuseumMuseumWest Shed Experience700 m outside town, to the southwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Somercotes and Swanwick.
Residents of Somercotes and Swanwick have a median age of 44.9. People 65 and over make up 21% of the town, above both Derbyshire’s towns (20%) and England’s towns (18%). 16% of residents are children under 15.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Somercotes and Swanwick | Derbyshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 24% | 25% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 21% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 22% | 19% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.1% | 6.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 22% | 29% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Derbyshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
55% of pupils at the town’s 3 primary schools met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Of its 7 schools, two are shown below, each with the reason. Secondary results at the 4 secondary schools within 3 km: an Attainment 8 score of 43, with 35% at grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swanwick Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 379 | C− |
| Swanwick Hall SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,025 | C |
16% rent privately, below Derbyshire’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (21%) alike. Home ownership stands at 68% of households. The £195,000 median rests on 622 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £300,008 | 222 |
| Semi-detached | £180,000 | 224 |
| Terraced | £135,000 | 174 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Burglary and damage came to 12.8 per 1,000 residents a year, above Derbyshire’s towns (8.8) and England’s towns (9.4) alike. Reported offences in Somercotes and Swanwick came to 1,176 over twelve months to August 2026; nuisance and anti-social incidents added 204. 52% of the crimes fell under violence and sexual offences. Among the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, Somercotes and Swanwick has more crime per resident than 70% 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 · The police category of violence and sexual offences includes harassment and stalking.
The nearest A&E to Somercotes and Swanwick is King's Mill Hospital, 7.2 miles away. At the census, 21% of people here had a disability, near Derbyshire’s towns (20%) and higher than England’s towns (17%). 2 GP practices serve the town; 86% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 6.4% of the town.
| Census 2021 | Somercotes and Swanwick | Derbyshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 78% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.4% | 6% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 21% | 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 20% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Short trips to work, under 5 km: 46%, higher than Derbyshire’s towns (42%) and near England’s towns (45%). At the census, 83% of commuters went by car. About nearly a fifth of its commuters stay in Somercotes and Swanwick for work. 3.1% of people aged 16 to 64 were on unemployment benefits in 2026.
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.
Somercotes and Swanwick has 17 listed buildings on Historic England’s list, all Grade II. Of the town’s land, 2% lies in conservation areas, lower than both Derbyshire’s towns (6%) and England’s towns (7%). Scaled to its population, that is 11 listed buildings for every 10,000 people in the town.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
17 listed buildings in Somercotes and Swanwick.
Riddings Farmhouse: Photo: Alan Murray-Rust · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Swanwick Hall School: Photo: James Braithwaite · Public domain · Moulders Arms: Photo: Hugh McKenna · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Riddings House: Photo: Alan Murray-Rust · CC BY-SA 2.0
14 notable people were born in Somercotes and Swanwick.
Fred Root: KSS25, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Somercotes and Swanwick | 15,105 | — | C | A | C− | C− |
| Alfreton | 8,790 | 1.6 | C− | A | D | D |
| Ironville | 1,824 | 1.6 | — | A | D | D |
| Ripley | 20,191 | 2.1 | C | A− | D | C− |
| Jacksdale and Westwood | 2,758 | 2.1 | C | B− | B | C |
| South Normanton and Pinxton | 16,028 | 2.5 | C | B+ | C | D |
| South Wingfield | 1,079 | 3.1 | — | A− | B− | B+ |
| Selston | 6,278 | 3.2 | C− | C+ | B− | D |
Ironville and South Wingfield have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
At the 2021 Census, 10% of Somercotes and Swanwick’s 15,105 residents were 15 to 24 and 21% were 65 or over, against 12% and 18% across England’s towns.
GCSE results trail 79% of towns in England, and primary results trail 78% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Town in Derbyshire, England
Somercotes and Swanwick is a built-up area of 15,105 people, in the Amber Valley 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.