Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 11,800 in Devon, South West.
Dawlish grades C− overall against UK towns: better than 16% of UK towns, and #37 of 47 in Devon. Its strongest subject is walkability (A): 24% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is schools (D): primary results beat 20% of towns in England; secondary results beat 12% of towns in England. The median home sold for £272,500 in the last three years, 5.2 times what households in the Teignbridge 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 Dawlish 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 Dawlish is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 87 buildings inside Dawlish’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade II*.
22% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 8 old photos and postcards going back to 1821.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Dawlish. Best known first.
MuseumDawlish Museumin town
CastlePowderham Castle4.5 km outside town, to the north
CastleCastle Duke (historic hill fort)2.8 km outside town, to the west
PierGrand Pier, Teignmouth3 km outside town, to the southwest
ZooShaldon Zoo (Shaldon Wildlife Trust)3.9 km outside town, to the south
MuseumTeign Heritage Centre2.7 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 Dawlish.
Dawlish sits above both Devon’s towns (24%) and England’s towns (18%) on this measure. 14% of residents are children under 15. The median resident of Dawlish is 52 years old.
53% women, 47% men
About 90 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.
| Dawlish | Devon | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 14% | 15% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.5% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 19% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 30% | 24% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 17% | 17% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.2% | 6.6% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 29% | 30% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Devon and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Its two schools are below.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gatehouse Primary AcademyLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 314 | C |
| Dawlish CollegeLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 782 | D |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 23% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
38% of commuters travelled under 5 km, below both Devon’s towns (51%) and England’s towns (45%). The average household earns £46K a year before tax.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
That puts Dawlish above both Devon’s towns (21.4) and England’s towns (22). Burglary and damage come to 11.8 per 1,000 residents a year. Police recorded 916 crimes inside Dawlish’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 89 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
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Dawlish has 87 listed buildings inside its built-up area on Historic England’s list: 0 Grade I, 2 Grade II*. 22% of its homes were built before 1919.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
On this, Dawlish is above both Devon’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (17%). The nearest A&E to Dawlish is Torbay Hospital, 8 miles away. 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 | Dawlish | Devon | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 77% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 7% | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 23% | 21% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
11% live in social housing, below both Devon’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (18%).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £391,500 | 186 |
| Semi-detached | £294,500 | 138 |
| Terraced | £231,000 | 192 |
| Flat or maisonette | £145,000 | 111 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
87 listed buildings in Dawlish.
Parish Church of St Gregory: Photo: paul dickson · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Dawlish Railway Station: Photo: MarkS · Public domain · Stonelands: Photo: Simon Cobb · CC0 · Torbay Mills: Photo: Simon Cobb · CC0
14 notable people were born in Dawlish.
Thomas Vowler Short: Martin Archer Shee, Public domain · Paul Britten Austin: Rose Britten Austin, CC BY 3.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dawlish | 11,800 | — | C− | B− | C− | C+ |
| Dawlish Warren | 1,191 | 1.3 | — | C | D | B− |
| Teignmouth | 15,314 | 2.6 | C− | C | C | C+ |
| Starcross | 1,687 | 2.9 | — | B | B− | B− |
| Shaldon | 1,717 | 3.7 | — | D | A− | A |
| Bishopsteignton | 2,271 | 4 | — | D | A | A |
| Exmouth | 35,502 | 4.3 | C | C+ | C+ | B− |
| Lympstone | 1,838 | 4.9 | — | C− | A− | A |
Dawlish Warren, Starcross, Shaldon, Bishopsteignton and Lympstone have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 3 times the typical UK town for its size.
GCSE results trail 88% of towns in England, and primary results trail 80% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). Dawlish has 2 state schools; places are handled by Devon council.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Town in Devon, England
Dawlish is a built-up area of 11,800 people, in the Teignbridge 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.