Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A large town of 31,271 in Devon, South West.
Barnstaple grades D overall against UK towns: better than 12% of UK towns, and #42 of 47 in Devon. Its strongest subject is walkability (A+): 30% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is hazard risk (D): 5.7% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. The median home sold for £252,625 in the last three years, 5.3 times what households in the North Devon council area earn in a year.
Devon And Cornwall Police published 33 of the 36 months; rates are per year over the months published.
The 3 things Barnstaple 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 Barnstaple is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 378 buildings inside Barnstaple’s built-up area, 6 of them Grade I, and 1 scheduled monument.
23% 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 1824 and a map from 1830.
Barnstable Town, Massachusetts, is named after Barnstaple.
USUS editionBarnstable Town, Massachusetts, settled in 1637, takes its name from this large town.
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.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Barnstaple.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 16% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
That puts Barnstaple above both Devon’s towns (51%) and England’s towns (45%). 16% of workers worked mainly from home at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Three of its 14 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newport Community School Primary AcademyLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 469 | B− |
| The Park Community SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,408 | B |
| Ashleigh CofE Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 205 | A− |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Barnstaple has 378 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 6 Grade I, 13 Grade II*. Barnstaple has 121 listed buildings for every 10,000 residents, close to Devon’s towns (104) and above England’s towns (39). Barnstaple’s listed buildings include Bull House, Grade I.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
On this, Barnstaple is above both Devon’s towns (21.4) and England’s towns (22). Burglary and damage come to 14.6 per 1,000 residents a year. Police recorded 3,118 crimes inside Barnstaple’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 432 reports of anti-social behaviour.
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
80% of Barnstaple’s residents described their health as good or very good in 2021, against 80% across Devon’s towns. 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 | Barnstaple | Devon | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 80% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.3% | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 20% | 21% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
The median sale price was £253K, below both Devon’s towns (£308K) and England’s towns (£308K).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £350,000 | 372 |
| Semi-detached | £265,000 | 302 |
| Terraced | £215,000 | 471 |
| Flat or maisonette | £147,500 | 169 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
In the comparison, Barnstaple comes below both Devon’s towns (30%) and England’s towns (34%). Young adults of 15 to 24 are 10% of the population. Half the people of Barnstaple are older than 43.1.
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Barnstaple | Devon | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 15% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 25% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 22% | 24% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 19% | 17% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.7% | 6.6% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 26% | 30% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Devon and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Barnstaple. Best known first.
CastleBarnstaple Castlein town
MuseumMuseum of Barnstaple & North Devonin town
Heritage railwayLynton and Barnstaple Railway3.6 km outside town, to the northeastMuseumMuseumSt Anne's Chapelin townHistoric houseHistoric houseTawstock Castle800 m outside town, to the southPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
378 listed buildings in Barnstaple, 6 of them Grade I.
Penrose Almhouses: Photo: Roger A Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Queen Annes Walk: Photo: Maurice Clements · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin: Photo: Row17 · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Castle Chambers: Photo: Simon Cobb · CC0
75 notable people were born in Barnstaple.
John Gay: Godfrey Kneller, Public domain · Andy King: Steindy 16:13, 10 November 2016 (UTC), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Francis Chichester: Paul Hudson from United Kingdom, CC BY 2.0 · Montagu Toller: AnonymousUnknown author, Public domain · Katie Hopkins: James English, CC BY 3.0 · Marc Edworthy: en:user:TuborgLight, CC BY-SA 3.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barnstaple | 31,271 | — | D | C | D | C |
| Bickington | 2,105 | 1.8 | — | D | B+ | B |
| Landkey | 2,001 | 2.5 | — | C− | A | B+ |
| Fremington | 5,229 | 3.4 | B− | D | A− | B− |
| Chivenor and Wrafton | 1,953 | 3.9 | — | C− | B+ | B− |
| Braunton | 6,610 | 5.2 | B | D | B+ | B |
| Appledore | 1,711 | 6.4 | — | D− | B | C+ |
| Northam | 5,191 | 7.3 | C | D− | A− | C+ |
Bickington, Landkey, Chivenor and Wrafton and Appledore have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 5 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include Bull House. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
It has more crime per resident than most places its size: 81% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people report less. Police recorded 3,118 crimes inside Barnstaple’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.
Band D council tax in Barnstaple is £2,733 for 2026–27, more than in 98% of UK towns (council, county, police and fire, plus the parish or town council). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
Large town in Devon, England
Barnstaple is a built-up area of 31,271 people, in the North Devon 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.