Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
4,092 people live in this town in North Yorkshire, Yorkshire and The Humber.
With a B+ overall, Brayton sits #18 of 54 in North Yorkshire. Set against the rest, it does better than 71% of UK towns. Its strongest is safety (A): 12.6 violent and sexual offences and 4.4 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year. What counts against it is cost of living: homes sell for a median £292,500, about 5.6 times local household income. Its remaining grades are unremarkable: B for health, B for jobs & income and B− for hazard risk.
Figures: crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · life expectancy and income, ONS · claimants, DWP · flood risk, Environment Agency.
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 Brayton 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 Brayton is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 1 building inside Brayton’s built-up area.
4% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 1 old photo or postcard.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Brayton.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
For its size, Brayton has the fewest listed buildings of the towns in North Yorkshire. Homes from before 1919 make up 4% of the total, below both North Yorkshire’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (16%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Attainment 8 at the 2 secondary schools within 3 km averages 46.3, and 47% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths. Brayton Academy’s results beat three quarters of schools in England like it. 57% of pupils at the town’s 2 primary schools met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brayton Church of England Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 381 | C |
| Brayton AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 988 | A− |
Police figures for Brayton’s built-up area: 98 crimes and 41 anti-social behaviour reports in the 12 months to August 2026. Violence and sexual offences accounted for 65% of recorded crime. There were 10.4 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), about level with North Yorkshire’s towns (10.3) and above England’s towns (7.8).
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 65-and-over age group makes up a quarter of residents. 18% are under 15, higher than North Yorkshire’s towns (16%) and near England’s towns (18%). The age that splits Brayton in two is 45.9.
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Brayton | North Yorkshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.4% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 23% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 25% | 22% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 16% | 18% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.8% | 6.4% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 33% | 32% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · North Yorkshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
16% of residents have a disability, below both North Yorkshire’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (17%). The nearest A&E to Brayton is The York Hospital, 13.8 miles away. One GP practice serves the town; 79% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. Men in Brayton can expect to live to 81.8, women to 85.2 (2019–23).
| Census 2021 | Brayton | North Yorkshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 83% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.1% | 5.5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 16% | 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.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 32% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Work in town: 6% of resident commuters. The car took 86% of commuters, above North Yorkshire’s towns (74%) and England’s towns (70%) alike. 33% of commuters travelled under 5 km to work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Owners make up 77% of households, above both North Yorkshire’s towns (65%) and England’s towns (61%). Social housing holds 13% of households. From September 2023 to August 2026, 173 homes sold inside Brayton’s built-up area at standard prices; the middle one went for £292,500.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £350,000 | 99 |
| Semi-detached | £245,000 | 55 |
| Terraced | £199,000 | 10 |
| Flat or maisonette | £125,000 | 9 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brayton | 4,092 | — | B+ | C+ | A | B |
| Selby | 19,480 | 1.2 | C− | A− | D | C− |
| Thorpe Willoughby | 3,482 | 1.3 | A− | B+ | B+ | A− |
| Hambleton | 1,722 | 3 | — | B− | A | B |
| Barlby | 3,499 | 3.1 | B | B+ | B− | A− |
| Camblesforth | 1,557 | 4.3 | — | A− | B | B− |
| Cawood | 1,501 | 4.6 | — | D | A | A |
| Riccall | 2,388 | 4.6 | — | C | A+ | A− |
Hambleton, Camblesforth, Cawood and Riccall have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Band D council tax in Brayton is £2,526 for 2026–27, more than in 70% of UK towns (council, county, police and fire, plus the parish or town council). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
Town in North Yorkshire, England
Brayton is a built-up area of 4,092 people, in the Selby 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.