Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 3,289 in North Yorkshire, Yorkshire and The Humber.
Bedale grades A− overall against UK towns: better than 76% of UK towns, and #15 of 54 in North Yorkshire. Its strongest subject is schools (A): primary results beat 96% of towns in England; secondary results beat 69% of towns in England. Its weakest is safety (C): 33.7 violent and sexual offences and 10.6 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026. Among UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, it has less crime per resident than 25%. The median home sold for £260,000 in the last three years, 4.9 times what households in the Hambleton council area earn in a year.
ONS publishes one rent for all of North Yorkshire, so this town's Cost Grade uses house prices and council tax only.
The 3 things Bedale 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 Bedale is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 57 buildings inside Bedale’s built-up area, 3 of them Grade I, and 1 scheduled monument.
9% 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 Bedale.
30% of adults hold a degree. People 65 and over make up 27% of the town, above both North Yorkshire’s towns (22%) and England’s towns (18%). At 50.1, the median resident of Bedale sits in the middle of the age range. Those aged 15 to 24 account for one in ten residents.
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
| Bedale | North Yorkshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 14% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 20% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 27% | 22% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 17% | 18% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.4% | 6.4% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 20% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 30% | 32% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · North Yorkshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Secondary results at the one secondary school within 3 km: an Attainment 8 score of 47.8, with 52% at grade 5 or above in English and maths. Bedale Church of England Primary School’s results beat nearly nine in ten schools in England like it. Key Stage 2 results at the 3 primary schools within 3 km: 75% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bedale Church of England Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 316 | A |
| Bedale High SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 555 | B |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 24% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
78% of commuters drove, above both North Yorkshire’s towns (74%) and England’s towns (70%). For 38% of commuters, work was under 5 km away. Of the commuters living in Bedale, 21% work in the town itself. 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
Violence and sexual offences were 60% of the crimes. A year of reports to August 2026 adds up to 163 offences in Bedale and 41 cases of nuisance behaviour. There were 17.3 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), higher than both North Yorkshire’s towns (10.3) and England’s towns (7.8). For its size, Bedale records more crime per resident than three quarters of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 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.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
9% of its homes were built before 1919, below both North Yorkshire’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (16%). Bedale’s listed buildings include Bedale Hall, Grade I. It has 57 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 3 Grade I, 1 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
213 standard sales inside Bedale’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put the median at £260,000. Private rents average £849 a month across the North Yorkshire council area. 18% of households are private tenants.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £365,000 | 85 |
| Semi-detached | £243,500 | 76 |
| Terraced | £157,000 | 26 |
| Flat or maisonette | £96,500 | 26 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
One GP practice serves the town; 88% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. The nearest A&E to Bedale is Darlington Memorial Hospital, 16.9 miles away. Women here live to 84.3 on average and men to 82.3 (2019–23).
| Census 2021 | Bedale | North Yorkshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 80% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.6% | 5.5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 19% | 19% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Self-reported health favours young towns, since these answers ignore age; the Health Grade leans on age-adjusted measures such as life expectancy and early deaths.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Bedale. Best known first.
CastleSnape Castle3 km outside town, to the south
GardenThorp Perrow Aboretum1.9 km outside town, to the southZooZooBird of Prey and Mammal Centre1.7 km outside town, to the southAttractionAttractionLeeming Bar Railway Station2.5 km outside town, to the northeastHistoric siteHistoric siteBedale Leech House100 m outside town, to the northPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
57 listed buildings in Bedale, 3 of them Grade I.
Market Cross: Photo: User Mick Knapton on en · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Bedale Hall: Photo: Gordon Hatton · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Signal Box Opposite Park House: Photo: The joy of all things · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Kings Head: Photo: The joy of all things · CC BY-SA 4.0
7 notable people were born in Bedale.
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bedale | 3,289 | — | A− | B | C | B |
| Aiskew | 1,759 | 0.6 | — | B | B+ | B |
| Leeming Bar | 1,063 | 1.8 | — | A− | C− | B+ |
| Leeming | 1,712 | 2.8 | — | B+ | A+ | A |
| Masham | 1,112 | 5.3 | — | C | B | A |
| Catterick | 2,718 | 6.4 | A | A− | A | B− |
| Romanby | 3,825 | 6.6 | A− | B+ | A− | B− |
| Northallerton | 13,314 | 7.5 | C | B+ | D | C |
Aiskew, Leeming Bar, Leeming and Masham have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 7.1 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include Bedale Hall. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
An older town. At the 2021 Census, 27% of residents were 65 or over and 29% were 45 to 64, against 18% and 25% across England’s towns; 14% were under 15.
Secondary results beat 69%. Bedale has 3 state schools; places are handled by North Yorkshire council.
Town in North Yorkshire, England
Bedale is a built-up area of 3,289 people, in the Hambleton 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.