Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
270 people call this village in Herefordshire, West Midlands home.
With fewer than 1,000 residents, Cradley is too small for fair grades, though the figures on this page are real. It has 28 listed buildings, 0 of them Grade I. 13% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Over-65s are 23% of the population.
The 3 things Cradley does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists them inside Cradley’s built-up area.
28% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Cradley.
Children under 15 count for 14% of the people here. People 65 and over make up nearly a quarter of the town, about level with Herefordshire’s towns (24%) and above England’s towns (18%). At 49.8, the median resident of Cradley sits in the middle of the age range.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Cradley | Herefordshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 14% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 9.7% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 21% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 32% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 23% | 24% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 15% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 3.6% | 6.1% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 42% | 30% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Herefordshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
64% of pupils at the 2 primary schools within 3 km met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Cradley CofE Primary School’s results beat 77% of schools in England like it. The town has one school, shown below.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cradley CofE Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 73 | A− |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 36% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
About 8% of its commuters stay in Cradley for work. The car carried 83% of commuters at the census. 36% of workers worked mainly from home, above both Herefordshire’s towns (20%) and England’s towns (31%). Unemployment benefit claims reached 1.7% of 16 to 64s in 2026.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
10% rent privately, below both Herefordshire’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (21%). Private rents average £821 a month across the Herefordshire, County of council area. That is the middle of 5 standard sales inside Cradley’s built-up area over three years, against £277,000 in the typical UK town.
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Homes saw 4.9 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year, lower than both Herefordshire’s towns (10.8) and England’s towns (9.4). In the 12 months to August 2026, police logged 4 crimes inside Cradley’s built-up area. Of all the crimes, 25% were violence and sexual offences.
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.
There is no GP practice in Cradley: the nearest is 0.8 miles off. Just over a fifth of residents have a disability, above Herefordshire’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (17%) alike. Asked at the census, 79% of residents of Cradley said they were in good or very good health. The nearest A&E to Cradley is Worcestershire Royal Hospital, 9.8 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Cradley | Herefordshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 79% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 7.4% | 5.6% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 22% | 19% | 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.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Scaled to its population, that is 1,037 listed buildings for every 10,000 people in Cradley. 28% of its homes were built before 1919, above Herefordshire’s towns (20%) and England’s towns (16%) alike. Grade II* covers 3 of them.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cradley | 270 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Great Malvern | 33,194 | 2.9 | B− | B | C+ | C+ |
| Colwall Stone | 1,857 | 3.4 | — | C− | A− | A− |
| Malvern Wells | 1,757 | 4.2 | — | C | A | A |
| Collett's Green | 1,542 | 5.7 | — | B− | A− | A− |
| Welland | 1,309 | 6.1 | — | B− | B+ | B− |
| Ledbury | 8,344 | 6.4 | B+ | C+ | C+ | B |
| Rushwick | 1,195 | 6.5 | — | B | B+ | B+ |
Colwall Stone, Malvern Wells, Collett's Green, Welland and Rushwick have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 42.6 times the typical UK town for its size.
An older village. At the 2021 Census, 23% of residents were 65 or over and 32% were 45 to 64, against 18% and 25% across England’s towns; 14% were under 15.
Band D council tax in Cradley is £2,566 for 2026–27, more than in 80% of UK towns (council, county, police and fire, plus the parish or town council). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
Village in Herefordshire, England
Cradley is a built-up area of 270 people, in the Herefordshire 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.