Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
This town in Hertfordshire, East of England has a population of 10,613.
A strong record with one exception. Jobs and pay hold up well: mean household income £64,211; 2.1% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Taken together, its subjects give Baldock a B+ overall, better than 67% of UK towns. Its place in the ranking is #31 of 50 in Hertfordshire. It is easy to get around without a car: just over a fifth of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. Homes sell for a median £355,000, about 5.3 years of what households in the North Hertfordshire council area earn. The trade-off is safety (C): 32.5 violent and sexual offences and 13 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Against UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, it has more crime per resident than 51%.
Figures: income, ONS · claimants, DWP · commuting, Census 2021 · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
The thing Baldock 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 Baldock is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 102 buildings inside Baldock’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I, and 1 scheduled monument.
9% 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 1910.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Baldock.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 40% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Just over three quarters of commuters took the car to work at the census. Of the commuters living in Baldock, 17% work in the town itself. There are 0.4 jobs in Baldock for each resident in work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Hartsfield Junior Mixed and Infant School’s results beat just over four in five schools in England like it. Secondary results at the one secondary school within 3 km: an Attainment 8 score of 48.3, with 47% at grade 5 or above in English and maths. Below are two of its 7 schools, each with why it was picked. Between them, four primaries and one secondary teach 2,201 pupils in Baldock.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hartsfield Junior Mixed and Infant SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 409 | A− |
| The Knights Templar SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,375 | B |
Over the year to August 2026, 645 offences were reported in Baldock, along with 142 incidents of anti-social behaviour. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 17.8 reports per 1,000, higher than both Hertfordshire’s towns (14.2) and England’s towns (7.8). Also worth knowing: of all the crimes, 50% 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.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Relative to its size, Baldock keeps 96 listed buildings per 10,000 residents. The town’s listed buildings include the Church of Saint Mary, Grade I. Before 1919: that is when nearly one in ten homes were built.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Only one of the 50 towns in Hertfordshire costs less to buy into than Baldock, whose median sale is £355,000. Private rents average £1,434 a month across the North Hertfordshire council area. Owners make up 66% of households, near Hertfordshire’s towns (64%) and higher than England’s towns (61%).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £537,750 | 42 |
| Semi-detached | £430,000 | 118 |
| Terraced | £345,000 | 131 |
| Flat or maisonette | £231,500 | 134 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
One GP practice serves the town; 73% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. 3.9% of residents described their health as bad or very bad, near Hertfordshire’s towns (3.8%) and lower than England’s towns (5.2%). Self-reported good health: 84% of Baldock’s residents.
| Census 2021 | Baldock | Hertfordshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 84% | 85% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.9% | 3.8% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 17% | 14% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · A young population flatters these answers, which are not age-adjusted; the Health Grade instead uses measures that allow for age, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
At 43.5, the median resident of Baldock sits in the middle of the age range. The 15-to-24 age group: 10%, close to Hertfordshire’s towns (11%) and below England’s towns (12%). Among adults, 38% have a degree.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Baldock | Hertfordshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 25% | 27% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 19% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 13% | 15% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.3% | 4.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 38% | 39% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Hertfordshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Baldock. Best known first.
MuseumBaldock Museumin townMuseumMuseumLetchworth Community Museum1.7 km outside town, to the westMuseumMuseumGarden City Collection Study Centre3.3 km outside town, to the westMuseumMuseumMuseum at One Garden City2 km outside town, to the westMuseumMuseumThe International Garden Cities Exhibition1.7 km outside town, to the southwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
102 listed buildings in Baldock, 1 of them Grade I.
Church of Saint Mary: Photo: Jack1956 · CC0 · Butterfield House: Photo: Jack1956 · CC0 · Manor House: Photo: Richard Kelly · CC BY-SA 4.0 · The Cock Public House: Photo: Bikeboy · CC BY-SA 2.0
5 notable people were born in Baldock.
Samuel Farr: Standish and Preece, CC BY-SA 3.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baldock | 10,613 | — | B+ | B | C | C+ |
| Letchworth | 33,993 | 1.8 | C+ | B− | C | C+ |
| Stotfold | 12,313 | 2.7 | B+ | B− | B+ | A− |
| Arlesey | 6,027 | 3.8 | B | A− | B− | B− |
| Ashwell | 1,982 | 4 | — | C− | A | A+ |
| Ickleford | 1,936 | 4.2 | — | C− | B | B+ |
| Little Wymondley | 1,003 | 4.3 | — | B− | C | C+ |
| Hitchin | 35,220 | 4.4 | A− | C+ | B− | B |
Ashwell, Ickleford and Little Wymondley have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 3.9 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of Saint Mary. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
Against all UK towns, most of them smaller, it grades C.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £355,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £231,500, terraced houses £345,000, semi-detached houses £430,000 and detached houses £537,750. Household incomes are higher than in 78% of UK towns, so cost of living still grades B.
Town in Hertfordshire, England
Baldock is a built-up area of 10,613 people, in the North Hertfordshire 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.