Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A large town of 67,509 in Devon, South West. Secondary school results beat 93% of towns in England.
Paignton grades D overall against UK towns: better than 15% of UK towns, and #38 of 47 in Devon. Its strongest subject is walkability (A−): 20% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is cost of living (D−): median sale £260,000, 6 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 Paignton 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 Paignton is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 207 buildings inside Paignton’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I, and 1 scheduled monument.
19% 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 1890.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Paignton. Best known first.
ZooPaignton Zooin town
Historic house · English HeritageKirkham Housein town
PierPaignton Pierin town
Historic houseOldway Mansionin town
Water parkSplashdown Quaywestin town
Historic house · National TrustCompton Castle1.9 km outside town, to the northwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Paignton.
In the comparison, Paignton comes above both Devon’s towns (64%) and England’s towns (61%). Social housing holds 8% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £372,500 | 789 |
| Semi-detached | £275,000 | 837 |
| Terraced | £225,000 | 718 |
| Flat or maisonette | £150,000 | 561 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Three of its 17 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sherwell Valley Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 694 | B− |
| Paignton AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,568 | D |
| Torquay Boys' Grammar SchoolTop results in townSecondary | Secondary | 1,087 | A+ |
For Paignton, that is above both Devon’s towns (24%) and England’s towns (18%). Those aged 15 to 24 account for 9.5% of residents. The median resident of Paignton is 48.4 years old.
52% women, 48% men
About 94 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.
| Paignton | Devon | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 15% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.5% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 21% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 27% | 24% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 19% | 17% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.5% | 6.6% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 25% | 30% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Devon and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Paignton sits above both Devon’s towns (21.4) and England’s towns (22) on this measure. Homes see 13.7 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year. Police recorded 5,483 crimes inside Paignton’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 803 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 Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 21% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
That puts Paignton below both Devon’s towns (£52K) and England’s towns (£55K). 3% of 16 to 64s claimed unemployment benefits in 2026.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
On this, Paignton is above both Devon’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (17%). 6 GP practices serve the town; 71% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. 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 | Paignton | Devon | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 77% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.8% | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 23% | 21% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Paignton has 207 listed buildings inside its built-up area on Historic England’s list: 1 Grade I, 6 Grade II*. 19% of its homes were built before 1919.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
207 listed buildings in Paignton, 1 of them Grade I.
Parish Church of St John the Baptist: Photo: Tom Jolliffe · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Kirkham House: Photo: Ianmacm · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Oldway Mansion: Photo: Tom Jolliffe · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Cockington Almshouses: Photo: Simon Cobb · CC0
28 notable people were born in Paignton.
Sue Barker: Flickr user Steve Punter, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Chris Read: Blnguyen, CC BY-SA 3.0 · John Gosling: Geoff, CC BY 3.0 · Adrian Sanders: Shoehorn Media, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Augustus F. Goodridge: Henry Mott, Public domain · Hilary Robinson: Joke De Winter, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paignton | 67,509 | — | D | D− | C− | C |
| Marldon | 2,073 | 1.4 | — | C | A | A |
| Torquay | 52,034 | 3.1 | D− | D | D− | C− |
| Stoke Gabriel | 1,340 | 3.5 | — | C− | A | A |
| Kingskerswell | 3,761 | 4.1 | B− | C | C+ | B |
| Brixham | 17,839 | 4.2 | C | D− | C+ | C |
| Ipplepen | 2,150 | 4.3 | — | C | A | A− |
| Abbotskerswell | 1,182 | 4.8 | — | C | A+ | B+ |
Marldon, Stoke Gabriel, Ipplepen and Abbotskerswell have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
It has less crime than most places its size: less crime per resident than 68% of the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more. Against all UK towns, most of them far smaller, it grades C−. Police recorded 5,483 crimes inside Paignton’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 50% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Large town in Devon, England
Paignton is a built-up area of 67,509 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.