Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
It is a town of 4,809 residents in North Yorkshire, Yorkshire and The Humber.
Cross Hills’s strongest is walkability: nearly a fifth of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. The town’s overall grade of B puts it better than just over three in five UK towns, #26 of 54 in North Yorkshire. Hazard risk is higher than most: 11.9% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. Homes sell for a median £240,000, about 4.8 years of what households in the Craven council area earn. Elsewhere it is close to typical: B for safety, C+ for schools and B− for health.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · flood risk, Environment Agency · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · incomes and life expectancy, ONS · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026.
ONS publishes one rent for all of North Yorkshire, so this town's Cost Grade uses house prices and council tax only.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Cross Hills is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things Cross Hills does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 16 buildings inside Cross Hills’s built-up area.
35% 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 Cross Hills.
Those aged 15 to 24 account for 9.1% of residents. Half of Cross Hills is older than 47.8, half younger. Children under 15 count for 16% of the people here.
52% women, 48% men
About 92 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.
| Cross Hills | North Yorkshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.1% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 21% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 27% | 22% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 15% | 18% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 8.6% | 6.4% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 32% | 32% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · North Yorkshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Its two schools are listed below. Key Stage 2 results at the 9 primary schools within 3 km: 60% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Some 2,317 pupils attend Cross Hills’s one primary and one secondary.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glusburn Community Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 381 | C |
| South Craven SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,936 | B− |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 26% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
At the census, 19% went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport, below both North Yorkshire’s towns (23%) and England’s towns (27%). Work in town: 13% of resident commuters. For every resident in work, Cross Hills has 1.3 jobs.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · 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 just over a third of the total, higher than both North Yorkshire’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (16%). Relative to its size, Cross Hills keeps 33 listed buildings per 10,000 residents.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
A year of reports to August 2026 adds up to 212 offences in Cross Hills and 45 cases of nuisance behaviour. Violence and sexual offences made up 50% of the total. Each year, 9.4 burglaries and acts of damage are recorded per 1,000 residents.
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.
Seeing a GP means leaving Cross Hills: the nearest practice is 4 miles away. Life expectancy here is 82.9 for women and 79.9 for men (2019–23). 17% of residents have a disability, below North Yorkshire’s towns (19%) and close to England’s towns (17%).
| Census 2021 | Cross Hills | North Yorkshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 83% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.7% | 5.5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 17% | 19% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · A young population flatters these answers, which are not age-adjusted; the Health Grade instead uses measures that allow for age, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
16% rent privately, below both North Yorkshire’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (21%). Council and housing-body homes hold 8% of households. Half of the 247 standard sales inside Cross Hills’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £240,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £473,500 | 41 |
| Semi-detached | £265,000 | 87 |
| Terraced | £195,500 | 92 |
| Flat or maisonette | £134,500 | 27 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Town in North Yorkshire, England
Cross Hills is a built-up area of 4,809 people, in the Craven 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cross Hills | 4,809 | — | B | B− | B | B− |
| Sutton-in-Craven | 2,719 | 0.6 | B− | B | B− | C+ |
| Steeton | 5,019 | 1.4 | B+ | B | D | B |
| Cowling | 1,439 | 2.2 | — | B+ | B | A− |
| Low Bradley | 1,203 | 2.3 | — | C− | A+ | B− |
| Silsden | 8,392 | 2.3 | B | B | C | C+ |
| Carleton-in-Craven | 1,060 | 3.7 | — | B+ | A | A |
| Oakworth | 3,688 | 4 | C+ | A− | C+ | C+ |
Cowling, Low Bradley and Carleton-in-Craven have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get 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.
That is 1.4 times the typical UK town for its size.
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.