Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
It is a town of 14,317 residents in Leicestershire, East Midlands. Mortgage-free owners make up 43% of households.
Where it does best is jobs & income (A) — mean household income £59,893; 2.1% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Birstall grades A overall, better than 87% of UK towns, and ranks #6 of 50 in Leicestershire. Homes are affordable (B+): the median home sold for £294,000, 5.3 years of area income. Elsewhere it is close to typical: B− for safety, B for schools and B− for walkability.
Figures: income, ONS · claimants, DWP · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · commuting, Census 2021.
The 2 things Birstall 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 Birstall is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 9 buildings inside Birstall’s built-up area.
3% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Birstall. Best known first.
CathedralLeicester Cathedral3.4 km outside town, to the south
MuseumNational Space Centre1.3 km outside town, to the south
CastleLeicester Castle3.7 km outside town, to the south
Abbey or prioryLeicester Abbey1.9 km outside town, to the south
MuseumLeicester Museum and Art Gallery4 km outside town, to the south
Abbey or prioryAbbey Pumping Station1.2 km outside town, to the southPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Birstall.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
3% of its homes were built before 1919, below Leicestershire’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (16%) alike. For its size, Birstall has 6 listed buildings per 10,000 residents.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Birstall’s three primaries and one secondary have 1,991 pupils between them. Of its 4 schools, three are shown below, each with the reason. Secondary results at the 8 secondary schools within 3 km: an Attainment 8 score of 48.5, with 48% at grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside Community Primary School BirstallLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 409 | C+ |
| The Cedars AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 985 | C+ |
| Hallam Fields, BirstallTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 190 | A+ |
Social housing holds 5% of households, below both Leicestershire’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (18%). Renting privately is how 13% of households live. Private rents average £960 a month across the Charnwood council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £388,050 | 152 |
| Semi-detached | £278,000 | 296 |
| Terraced | £275,000 | 62 |
| Flat or maisonette | £152,500 | 31 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
2 GP practices serve the town; three quarters of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. 3.9% of residents described their health as bad or very bad, below Leicestershire’s towns (4.7%) and England’s towns (5.2%) alike. The nearest A&E to Birstall is Leicester Royal Infirmary, 3.8 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Birstall | Leicestershire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 84% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.9% | 4.7% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 16% | 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.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 30% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
There are 0.4 jobs in Birstall for each resident in work. The car took 85% of commuters, above Leicestershire’s towns (77%) and England’s towns (70%) alike. Work in town: 8% of resident commuters.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Violence and sexual offences accounted for 39% of recorded crime. The 12 months to August 2026 brought 660 recorded crimes inside Birstall’s built-up area, and 106 reports of anti-social behaviour. For its size, Birstall records less crime per resident than 78% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
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.
Just over a fifth of residents are 65 or over, higher than both Leicestershire’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (18%). The age that splits Birstall in two is 42.7. Graduates make up 33% of adults.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Birstall | Leicestershire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 14% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 26% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 21% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 17% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.3% | 5.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 33% | 30% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Leicestershire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
9 listed buildings in Birstall.
Church of Saint James the Great: Photo: Kev747 · Public domain · School: Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Goscote Lodge: Photo: Tim Heaton · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Cottage: Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birstall | 14,317 | — | A | B+ | B− | B+ |
| Thurcaston | 1,649 | 1 | — | B− | C− | C+ |
| Thurmaston | 9,509 | 1.5 | B− | A− | C− | C |
| Cropston | 1,120 | 2.2 | — | C+ | A | A+ |
| Syston | 13,628 | 2.5 | B− | A− | C | C+ |
| Anstey | 7,043 | 2.6 | B+ | A− | C+ | B |
| Mountsorrel | 12,879 | 2.7 | A− | A− | C | B+ |
| Leicester | 406,612 | 3.3 | D | D− | D | C− |
Thurcaston and Cropston have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Against all UK towns, most of them smaller, it grades B−.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
GCSE results beat 64% of towns in England, and primary results beat 55% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Town in Leicestershire, England
Birstall is a built-up area of 14,317 people, in the Charnwood 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.