Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
50% of households own their home outright. 4,904 residents make their home in this town in Derbyshire, East Midlands.
Wirksworth’s strongest subject is cost of living — the median home sold for £259,000, 4.8 years of area income. Fewer journeys need a car: on the way to work, 17% walk, cycle or take a bus or train. What counts against it is schools — primary results beat nearly a fifth of towns in England; secondary results beat 53% of towns in England. Jobs and pay trail most towns (C+): the mean household earns £53,625 a year. The overall grade lands at B, #21 of 59 in Derbyshire. Set against the rest, it does better than 63% of UK towns. Elsewhere it is close to typical: C+ for safety, B− for health and B for hazard risk.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · commuting, Census 2021 · income and life expectancy, ONS · claimants, DWP · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · flood risk, Environment Agency.
The 3 things Wirksworth 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 Wirksworth is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 97 buildings inside Wirksworth’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I, and 2 scheduled monuments.
32% 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 Wirksworth. Best known first.
Heritage railwayEcclesbourne Valley Railwayin town
Heritage railwaySteeple Grange Light Railwayin town
MuseumNational Tramway Museum4.9 km outside town, to the east
Historic houseRiber Castle3.6 km outside town, to the north
MuseumNational Stone Centre100 m outside town, to the north
Theme parkGulliver's Kingdom2.1 km outside town, to the northPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Wirksworth.
The 15-to-24 age group makes up nearly one in ten residents, and on top of that 13% are under 15, lower than both Derbyshire’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (18%). The middle age in Wirksworth is 52.2. Graduates make up 39% of adults.
52% women, 48% men
About 93 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.
| Wirksworth | Derbyshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 13% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.3% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 18% | 25% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 32% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 29% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 17% | 19% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 4.7% | 6.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 15% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 39% | 29% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Derbyshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Wirksworth’s two primaries and one secondary have 899 pupils between them. Of its 3 schools, two are shown below, each with the reason. Key Stage 2 results at the 7 primary schools within 3 km: 55% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wirksworth Junior SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 76 | C |
| Anthony Gell SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 776 | B− |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Conservation areas cover 35% of Wirksworth’s land, higher than both Derbyshire’s towns (6%) and England’s towns (7%). Its listed buildings include the Church of St Mary, Grade I. Historic England’s list names 97 listed buildings here: 1 Grade I, 8 Grade II*. Before 1919: that is when nearly a third of homes were built.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Households that own their home make up 72%. Social housing holds 14% of households, lower than both Derbyshire’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (18%). Private rents average £819 a month across the Derbyshire Dales council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £360,000 | 82 |
| Semi-detached | £240,000 | 67 |
| Terraced | £213,000 | 69 |
| Flat or maisonette | £202,500 | 12 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 29% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
The car carried just over four in five commuters at the census. Just over a fifth of commuters who live in Wirksworth also work there. This Derbyshire town counts 0.4 jobs per working resident.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Police figures for Wirksworth’s built-up area: 215 crimes and 33 anti-social behaviour reports in the 12 months to August 2026. Violence and sexual offences accounted for 47% of recorded crime. Violent crime ran at 25.9 per 1,000 residents a year, about level with Derbyshire’s towns (25.6) and above England’s towns (22).
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 Wirksworth is Royal Derby Hospital, 12.1 miles away. One GP practice serves the town; 92% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. A fifth of residents have a disability, about level with Derbyshire’s towns (20%) and above England’s towns (17%).
| Census 2021 | Wirksworth | Derbyshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 79% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.5% | 6% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 20% | 20% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Young towns look healthier on these answers, which aren’t adjusted for age; the Health Grade uses measures that are, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
97 listed buildings in Wirksworth, 1 of them Grade I.
Haarlem Mill: Photo: Alan Murray-Rust · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Grammar School: Photo: Andrew Abbott · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Former Miners Standard Pub: Photo: Ian Calderwood · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Moot Hall: Photo: Christine Johnstone · CC BY-SA 2.0
10 notable people were born in Wirksworth.
Lawrence Beesley: Central News And Illustrations Bureau, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wirksworth | 4,904 | — | B | A | C+ | B− |
| Cromford | 1,395 | 1.7 | — | A | A− | C+ |
| Crich | 2,070 | 3.9 | — | C+ | B+ | B+ |
| Matlock | 11,990 | 4.3 | B+ | A | C | B− |
| Tansley | 1,176 | 4.4 | — | B | A | B+ |
| Ambergate | 1,566 | 4.6 | — | B+ | B | B |
| Heage | 2,584 | 5.6 | B+ | A− | A− | B |
| Belper | 19,076 | 5.7 | B+ | B+ | B− | B− |
Cromford, Crich, Tansley and Ambergate have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 8.1 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of St Mary. It also has 2 scheduled monuments.
GCSE results beat 53% of towns in England, and primary results trail 81% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). Wirksworth has 3 state schools; places are handled by Derbyshire council.
Against all UK towns, it grades C+.
Town in Derbyshire, England
Wirksworth is a built-up area of 4,904 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
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.