Plymouth grades C overall against UK towns: better than 33% of UK towns, and #23 of 47 in Devon. Its strongest subject is walkability (A): 24% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is safety (D): 49.4 violent and sexual offences and 14.9 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026. Among UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, it has less crime per resident than 37%. The median home sold for £222,500 in the last three years, 4.5 times what households in the Plymouth council area earn in a year.
Devon And Cornwall Police published 33 of the 36 months; rates are per year over the months published.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Plymouth is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
National Marine Aquarium: MyNameIsClare, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
The data
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Plymouth.
Safety
Plymouth has more crime per resident than 91% of UK towns
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Violence came to 49.4 per 1,000 residents a year, above both Devon’s towns (21.4) and England’s towns (22). Police recorded 25,610 crimes inside Plymouth’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 3,918 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences were 52% of the crimes; the police category includes harassment and stalking.
49.4violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a yearDSafety Grade
Compared with UK towns its sizeLess crime per resident than 37% of the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more: about the middle for its size. Context only, not part of the grade.
More crimeLess crime
Reports by type · Sep 2025 to Aug 2026
Violence & sexual13,220
Damage & arson2,487
Shoplifting2,184
Other theft2,056
Public order1,891
Drugs843
Vehicle crime784
Burglary584
Anti-social3,918
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.
49.4
violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
14.9
burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
17.5
anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 (not graded)
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
History
738 listed buildings, 20 of them Grade I
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Plymouth has 738 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 20 Grade I, 83 Grade II*. Plymouth has 28 listed buildings for every 10,000 residents, below Devon’s towns (107) and close to England’s towns (39). Plymouth’s listed buildings include Brewhouse, Royal William Victualling Yard, Grade I.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Health
Life expectancy in Plymouth is shorter than in 73% of UK towns
Women here live to 82.5 on average and men to 78.7 (2019–23). At the census, 22% of people here had a disability, close to Devon’s towns (21%) and above England’s towns (17%). 21 GP practices serve the town; 67% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Who lives here
Students and young workers shape Plymouth: 14% are 15 to 24, above Devon’s towns and England’s towns
For Plymouth, that is above both Devon’s towns (12%) and England’s towns (12%). People 65 and over make up 19% of the town. The median resident of Plymouth is 39.6 years old.
39.6median age
PlymouthDevonEngland
Ages · share of residents
14%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications17%
Apprenticeship7%
A levels or similar22%
Degree level28%
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
WomenEnglandMen
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Robert Falcon Scott: Henry Maull (1829–1914) and John Fox (1832–1907), Public domain · Joshua Reynolds: Joshua Reynolds, Public domain · Rosie Huntington-Whiteley: LucaFazPhoto, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Tom Daley: Jim Thurston, CC BY-SA 2.0 · William Bligh: Alexander Huey, Public domain · Trevor Francis: Original: Hans van Dijk for Anefo Derivative work: Danyele, CC0
Sherford, Millbrook, Wembury, Yealmpton and Bere Alston have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Questions about Plymouth
Is Plymouth safe?
About the middle for its size: 63% of the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more report less crime per resident. Against all UK towns, most of them far smaller, it grades D.
How many listed buildings are there in Plymouth?
Its Grade I buildings include Brewhouse, Royal William Victualling Yard. It also has 29 scheduled monuments.
Are schools in Plymouth good?
GCSE results beat 71% of towns in England, and primary results beat 64% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
About Plymouth
City in Devon, England
Plymouth is a built-up area of 266,970 people, in the Plymouth 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
266,970 (Census 2021)
Council
Plymouth (mostly)
County
Devon
Region
South West
Area
23.7 sq mi (61.4 km²)
ONS code
E63006926
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.
