Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 17,839 in Devon, South West.
Brixham grades C overall against UK towns: better than 27% of UK towns, and #27 of 47 in Devon. Its strongest subject is schools (A): primary results beat 81% of towns in England; secondary results beat 84% of towns in England. Its weakest is cost of living (D−): median sale £290,000, 6.7 years of area income; rent £920 a month.
Devon And Cornwall Police published 33 of the 36 months; rates are per year over the months published.
The 3 things Brixham 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 Brixham is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 198 buildings inside Brixham’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade II*, and 2 scheduled monuments.
21% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 5 old photos and postcards going back to 1890.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Brixham. Best known first.
MuseumBrixham Batteryin town
MuseumBrixham Heritage Museumin town
Historic shipGolden Hindin town
Castle · English HeritageDartmouth Castle4.6 km outside town, to the southwest
Historic house · National TrustGreenway House1.5 km outside town, to the west
CastleKingswear Castle4.4 km 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 Brixham.
The middle age in Brixham is 55.6. 12% are under 15, below both Devon’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (18%). Aged 15 to 24: 7.8% of residents.
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.
| Brixham | Devon | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 12% | 15% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 7.8% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 16% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 30% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 34% | 24% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 19% | 17% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 8.3% | 6.6% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 26% | 30% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Devon and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Secondary results at the town’s 2 secondary schools: an Attainment 8 score of 51.8, with 57% at grade 5 or above in English and maths. Below are three of its 7 schools, each with why it was picked. Between them, five primaries and two secondaries teach 3,138 pupils in Brixham.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eden Park Primary & Nursery SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 342 | C+ |
| Churston Ferrers Grammar School AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,062 | A+ |
| Galmpton Church of England Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 222 | A+ |
Social housing holds 7% of households, lower than both Devon’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (18%). Behind the median of £290,000: 799 standard sales inside Brixham’s built-up area, September 2023 to August 2026. It is the 22nd most expensive of 47 towns of 2,500+ in Devon.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £425,000 | 252 |
| Semi-detached | £280,000 | 208 |
| Terraced | £250,000 | 232 |
| Flat or maisonette | £152,500 | 107 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Listed buildings per head: 111 for every 10,000 residents of Brixham. Grade II* covers 2 of them. Just over a fifth of homes were built before 1919.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 22% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Work in town: 31% of resident commuters. Short trips to work, under 5 km: 35%, below Devon’s towns (51%) and England’s towns (45%) alike. Unemployment benefit claims reached 2.8% of 16 to 64s in 2026.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The nearest A&E to Brixham is Torbay Hospital, 6.5 miles away. At the census, 25% of people here had a disability, above Devon’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (17%) alike. One GP practice serves the town; just over four in five patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Brixham | Devon | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 75% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 7.5% | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 25% | 21% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · No age adjustment applies to these census answers, which flatter younger towns; the Health Grade’s measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them, do allow for age.
Violence and sexual offences were 55% of the crimes. 1,045 crimes and 142 reports of anti-social behaviour: that is what police recorded inside Brixham’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026. Homes saw 10.1 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year, above both Devon’s towns (7.5) and England’s towns (9.4).
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.
198 listed buildings in Brixham.
Church of St Mary the Virgin: Photo: Tom Jolliffe · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Ashhole Cavern: Photo: Jamieparton · CC0 · Windmill Hill Cave, Brixham: Photo: Partonez · CC BY-SA 4.0 · The Quayside Hotel (Part of): Photo: Simon Cobb · CC0
7 notable people were born in Brixham.
Dan Gosling: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ingythewingy/, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Keith Johnstone: Neitram, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Adam Hart: DonnaPrentis, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brixham | 17,839 | — | C | D− | C+ | C |
| Dartmouth | 5,260 | 4.2 | C− | C− | C+ | B |
| Paignton | 67,509 | 4.2 | D | D− | C− | C |
| Stoke Gabriel | 1,340 | 4.7 | — | C− | A | A |
| Marldon | 2,073 | 5.6 | — | C | A | A |
| Torquay | 52,034 | 6 | D− | D | D− | C− |
| Totnes | 9,217 | 7.8 | C+ | C− | C | C+ |
| Kingskerswell | 3,761 | 8.1 | B− | C | C+ | B |
Stoke Gabriel and Marldon have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 4.6 times the typical UK town for its size. It also has 2 scheduled monuments.
GCSE results beat 84% of towns in England, and primary results beat 81% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Town in Devon, England
Brixham is a built-up area of 17,839 people, in the Torbay 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.