Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town in Leicestershire, East Midlands, home to 3,817 people. 43% of households own their home outright.
Households here earn well (B): the mean household earns £57,725 a year. Getting around depends on the car (C): on the way to work, 10% walk, cycle or take a bus or train. The median home sold for £322,500, 6 times what households in the Hinckley and Bosworth council area earn in a year. All told, that adds up to a B overall and a rank of #33 of 50 in Leicestershire. That leaves it better than 55% of UK towns. The rest of its grades are middling: B− for safety and B− for health.
Figures: income and life expectancy, ONS · claimants, DWP · commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Desford is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things Desford does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 15 buildings inside Desford’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade II*.
8% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →15 listed buildings in Desford.
Desford School: Photo: Jack Hill · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Desford War Memorial: Photo: Snowmanradio · CC BY-SA 3.0
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Desford.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 33% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
88% of commuters drove, higher than both Leicestershire’s towns (77%) and England’s towns (70%). For every resident in work, Desford has 1 jobs.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Between them, one primary and one secondary teach 1,950 pupils in Desford. Its two schools are listed below. Secondary results at the one secondary school within 3 km: an Attainment 8 score of 46.7, with 48% at grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Desford Community Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 385 | C |
| Bosworth AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,565 | B |
The share of residents under 15 is 19%, and on top of that nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or over, above both Leicestershire’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (18%). Residents of Desford have a median age of 43.4. Graduates make up 38% of adults.
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Desford | Leicestershire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.5% | 14% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 23% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 25% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 23% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 15% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6% | 5.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 38% | 30% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Leicestershire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Homes from before 1919 make up 8% of the total. Grade II* covers 2 of them. Also worth knowing: of Desford’s land, 9% lies in conservation areas, above Leicestershire’s towns (6%) and England’s towns (7%) alike.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Owners make up just over four in five households. 10% live in social housing, below both Leicestershire’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (18%). Half of the 132 standard sales inside Desford’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £322,500.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £408,500 | 74 |
| Semi-detached | £243,500 | 48 |
| Terraced | £230,000 | 7 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
One GP practice serves the town; 94% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. 84% of Desford’s residents described their health as good or very good at the census, above Leicestershire’s towns (83%) and England’s towns (82%) alike. A disability affects 15% of people locally. The nearest A&E to Desford is Leicester Royal Infirmary, 6.8 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Desford | Leicestershire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 84% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4% | 4.7% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 15% | 16% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Read these answers with age in mind: they aren’t adjusted, so younger places do better. The Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them.
Of all the crimes, 49% were violence and sexual offences. In the 12 months to August 2026, police logged 182 crimes and 42 reports of anti-social behaviour inside Desford’s built-up area. Homes saw 10.3 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year, between Leicestershire’s towns (11.9) and England’s towns (9.4).
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.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Desford. Best known first.
Castle · English HeritageKirby Muxloe Castle3.7 km outside town, to the east
CastleGroby Castle4.9 km outside town, to the northeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Town in Leicestershire, England
Desford is a built-up area of 3,817 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
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Desford | 3,817 | — | B | B− | B− | B− |
| Newbold Verdon | 3,097 | 1.9 | B− | B+ | B− | C+ |
| Thornton | 1,030 | 2.8 | — | B− | B− | B |
| Ratby | 4,262 | 2.9 | B+ | A− | C | B− |
| Leicester Forest East and Kirby Muxloe | 13,847 | 3.1 | B+ | B− | B− | B |
| Barlestone | 2,563 | 3.5 | A− | A− | C+ | B+ |
| Earl Shilton | 10,885 | 3.6 | C | A− | C | C |
| Groby | 6,559 | 4 | A | B | B− | A− |
Thornton has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
GCSE results beat 58% of towns in England, and primary results trail 76% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). Desford has 2 state schools; places are handled by Leicestershire council.
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.
