Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
It is a town of 9,149 residents in Leicestershire, East Midlands.
Homes are affordable here, though not without reasons. Health is a weak point: men here can expect to live to 79.1, women to 79.7. Barwell ranks #39 of 50 in Leicestershire, with a B− overall. It comes out better than half of UK towns. Its best grade is for cost of living — a typical home costs £214,000 and rent runs £934 a month. Its other grades sit near the middle: B− for schools and C+ for walkability.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · life expectancy, ONS · commuting, Census 2021.
The 2 things Barwell 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 Barwell is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 4 buildings inside Barwell’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
12% 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 Barwell.
Retirement age and beyond: just over a fifth of residents are 65 or older. People aged 15 to 24 make up nearly a tenth of the town, below Leicestershire’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (12%) alike; what’s more, the under-15s are 16% of the population here. The middle age in Barwell is 43.4.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Barwell | Leicestershire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.5% | 14% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 26% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 21% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 22% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7% | 5.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 19% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 22% | 30% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Leicestershire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Between them, two primaries teach 379 pupils in Barwell. Below is one of its 3 schools, and why it was picked. Secondary results at the 5 secondary schools within 3 km: an Attainment 8 score of 48.7, with 51% at grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barwell Church of England Junior SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 229 | C+ |
The private rented sector houses 17% of households. Barwell is the cheapest of the 50 towns in Leicestershire: its median sale is £214,000. Social renters account for 13% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £300,000 | 74 |
| Semi-detached | £217,000 | 174 |
| Terraced | £174,500 | 80 |
| Flat or maisonette | £105,000 | 28 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Barwell’s listed buildings include the Church of St Mary, Grade I. 12% of its homes were built before 1919, lower than both Leicestershire’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (16%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Barwell’s share in bad or very bad health, 6%, is the highest of the 77 towns in Leicestershire. A disability affects 20% of people locally. Women here live to 79.7 on average and men to 79.1 (2019–23). The nearest A&E to Barwell is George Eliot NHS Hospital, 7 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Barwell | Leicestershire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 79% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6% | 4.7% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 20% | 16% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Young towns look healthier on these answers, which aren’t adjusted for age; the Health Grade uses measures that are, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
Barwell logged 489 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 69 complaints of anti-social conduct. Among the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Barwell has more crime per resident than three quarters of them. Violence and sexual offences were 55% of the crimes.
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 Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 22% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
86% of commuters took the car to work at the census. Short trips to work, under 5 km: 34%, below both Leicestershire’s towns (46%) and England’s towns (45%). In 2026, 2.9% of 16 to 64s were claiming unemployment benefits. About 10% of its commuters stay in Barwell for work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Barwell. Best known first.
8 notable people were born in Barwell.
Chris Kirkland: Dan Farrimond, CC BY 2.0 · Carol Black: Katy Blackwood, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barwell | 9,149 | — | B− | A | C | C− |
| Earl Shilton | 10,885 | 1.3 | C | A− | C | C |
| Hinckley | 50,729 | 2.4 | B+ | A− | C | C+ |
| Stoke Golding | 2,004 | 2.8 | — | B− | B | A− |
| Stoney Stanton | 4,090 | 2.9 | B | B+ | B− | B |
| Sapcote | 3,266 | 3.5 | B− | B | C+ | B− |
| Sharnford | 1,066 | 3.9 | — | B+ | B | B |
| Newbold Verdon | 3,097 | 4.1 | B− | B+ | B− | C+ |
Stoke Golding and Sharnford have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £214,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £105,000, terraced houses £174,500, semi-detached houses £217,000 and detached houses £300,000.
Town in Leicestershire, England
Barwell is a built-up area of 9,149 people, in the Hinckley and Bosworth 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.