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Galpin  Street  over  A379  New  Road.  Modbury
UK›Devon›South West

ModburyDevon

A village of 1,687 in Devon, South West.

7 places within 12 milesMap →
Photo: Martin Dawes · CC BY-SA 2.0
Galpin  Street  over  A379  New  Road.  Modbury

Modbury, Devon · Photo: Martin Dawes · CC BY-SA 2.0

Is Modbury a good place to live?

Modbury has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Its strongest subject is schools (A+): primary results beat 97% of towns in England. Its weakest is hazard risk (D): 3.4% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. The median home sold for £395,000 in the last three years, 7.3 times what households in the South Hams council area earn in a year.

Devon And Cornwall Police published 33 of the 36 months; rates are per year over the months published.

What makes Modbury stand out

The 3 things Modbury does most differently from other towns.

Picked automatically from the data

How Modbury grades

Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Modbury is from typical. American towns are graded separately.

How grading works

Character Graded, but not part of the overall grade.

How TownRatings grades towns →

3 Grade I and II* buildings and scheduled monuments on Modbury’s outline: Grade I dark green, Grade II* light green, monuments brown.
Modbury’s story

101 listed buildings, 1 of them Grade I

Historic England lists them inside Modbury’s built-up area.

33% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.

Explore the history →

The data

Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Modbury.

SchoolsA+

Results at Modbury’s schools beat 98% of towns in England

Modbury Primary School’s results beat 77% of schools in England like it. Its one school is below.

A+School Grade
SchoolLevelPupilsLetter
Modbury Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimaryPrimary152A−
Department for Education · GIAS, Key Stage 2 and GCSE resultsThe Schools page →
History

More buildings in Modbury are listed than in Devon’s towns or England’s towns: 599 per 10,000 residents

The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.

For Modbury, that is above both Devon’s towns (104) and England’s towns (39). Modbury’s listed buildings include Church of St George, Grade I. Modbury has 101 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 1 Grade I, 2 Grade II*.

101listed buildingsA+History Grade

Listed buildings by grade · Historic England

Grade I1
Grade II*2
Grade II98

Among them · Grade I

0
scheduled monuments
0
registered parks and gardens
33%
of homes built before 1919 · typical UK town 15%
599
listed buildings per 10,000 residents · typical UK town 24

Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL

Health

Life expectancy in Modbury is longer than in 92% of UK towns

Modbury sits above Devon’s towns (80%) and close to England’s towns (82%) on this measure. Women here live to 87.6 on average and men to 82.7 (2019–23). The nearest A&E to Modbury is Derriford Hospital, 11 miles away.

83%good or very good healthAHealth Grade
General health, self-reported
Good or very good 83%Fair 12%Bad or very bad 5%
Census 2021ModburyDevonEngland
Good or very good health83%80%82%
Bad or very bad health4.9%5.9%5.2%
Disabled (Equality Act)18%21%17%
82.7
life expectancy at birth, men (2019–23)
87.6
life expectancy at birth, women

ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL

Safety

Modbury has less crime per resident than 85% of UK towns

Violent crime ran at 13.6 per 1,000 residents a year, below both Devon’s towns (21.5) and England’s towns (22). Police recorded 51 crimes inside Modbury’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 9 reports of anti-social behaviour. Homes see 5.6 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year.

13.6violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a yearASafety Grade
Compared with UK towns its sizeLess crime per resident than 71% of the 1,541 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people: less crime than most for its size. Context only, not part of the grade.

Reports by type · Sep 2025 to Aug 2026

Violence & sexual25
Damage & arson9
Other theft8
Public order5
Shoplifting1
Burglary1
Vehicle crime1
Other crime1
Anti-social9

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.

13.6
violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
5.6
burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
5.8
anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 (not graded)
51
crimes recorded in the 12 months to August 2026

data.police.uk street-level crime · points inside the ONS built-up-area boundary · OGL

HousingCost of living grade C−

Private renting is less common in Modbury than in Devon’s towns or across England’s towns: 14%

That puts Modbury below both Devon’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (21%). 68% of households own their home.

£395Kmedian sale

Median sale price · Sep 2023 to Aug 2026

Modbury£395K
Typical UK town£277K
By typeMedianSales
Detached£520,00035
Semi-detached£380,00019
Terraced£325,00023
68%
of households own their home · England 61%
14%
rent privately · England 21%
£1,012
average private rent a month, South Hams council area
£2,584
council tax, Band D, 2026–27

HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL

Work & commuteJobs & income grade B−

Commuters in Modbury travel far: only 20% go under 5 km, fewer than in Devon’s towns or England’s towns

The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 34% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.

On this, Modbury is below both Devon’s towns (51%) and England’s towns (45%). 14% of commuters went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport at the census.

14%walk, cycle or ride

How commuters got to work · March 2021

Driving83%
On foot12%
Bicycle1%
Bus1%
20%
of commuters travel under 5 km · England 45%
34%
worked mainly from home in March 2021
£58K
mean household income, before tax
1.8%
of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits (2026)
B−
Walkability: more walkable than 50% of UK towns

ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL

Who lives here

More people in Modbury hold a degree than in Devon’s towns or England’s towns: 46%

In the comparison, Modbury comes above both Devon’s towns (30%) and England’s towns (34%). 8.3% of residents are aged 15 to 24. The median resident of Modbury is 50 years old.

50median age
ModburyDevonEngland

Ages · share of residents

Qualifications · residents 16 and older

No qualifications10%
Apprenticeship5%
A levels or similar15%
Degree level46%

Women and men · all 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.

Ages and qualifications in Modbury
ModburyDevonEngland
Under 1516%15%18%
15–248.3%12%12%
25–4420%23%27%
45–6430%26%25%
65+26%24%18%
No qualifications9.9%17%18%
Apprenticeship4.7%6.6%5.3%
A levels or similar15%19%17%
Degree level46%30%34%

ONS Census 2021 · Devon and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL

Keep exploring

Everything we know about Modbury

14pages on Modbury

Famous people from Modbury

3 notable people were born in Modbury.

See all 3 →

Modbury’s neighbours

The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →

All towns in Devon →
IvybridgeLoddiswellYealmptonSouth BrentKingsbridgeSherfordWemburyIvybridgeLoddiswellYealmptonSouth BrentKingsbridgeSherfordWemburyModbury
How the neighbours grade
TownPeopleMilesOverallCostSafetyHealth
Modbury1,687——C−AA
Ivybridge12,4853.2A−C+B−B+
Loddiswell1,0324.2—B−BA
Yealmpton2,0075.2—CA+A
South Brent2,6435.9B−B−B−B+
Kingsbridge5,6826.6B−C+CB−
Sherford1,3117.3—C+D−A−
Wembury1,8288.4—C−A+A+

Loddiswell, Yealmpton, Sherford and Wembury have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.

Questions about Modbury

Are schools in Modbury good?

Primary results beat 97% of towns in England (Department for Education, Key Stage 2). One state school is inside the town; places are handled by Devon council.

How many listed buildings are there in Modbury?

That is 24.6 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of St George.

Does Modbury flood?

Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.

Is Modbury safe?

Police recorded 51 crimes inside Modbury’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 49% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.

About Modbury

Village in Devon, England

Modbury is a built-up area of 1,687 people, in the South Hams 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

Population
1,687 (Census 2021)
Council
South Hams
County
Devon
Region
South West
Area
0.2 sq mi (0.6 km²)
ONS code
E63006964

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.