Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The town, home to 4,348 people, lies in North Yorkshire, Yorkshire and The Humber.
Great Ayton’s strongest subject is health: men here can expect to live to 82.8, women to 85.6. Add cost of living to its strengths (A−) — the median home sold for £225,000, 4.2 years of area income. What counts against it is hazard risk: 2.2% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. Overall, that makes an A−, good for #10 of 54 in North Yorkshire. It comes out better than 83% of UK towns.
Figures: life expectancy, ONS · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · 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 Great Ayton 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 Great Ayton is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 51 buildings inside Great Ayton’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
24% 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 Great Ayton.
Degrees are held by 37% of adults, above North Yorkshire’s towns (32%) and England’s towns (34%) alike. The share of residents under 15 is 12%. The age that splits Great Ayton in two is 56.1. Nearly one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24.
52% women, 48% men
About 91 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.
| Great Ayton | North Yorkshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 12% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.1% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 16% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 35% | 22% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 18% | 18% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.8% | 6.4% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 37% | 32% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · North Yorkshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
One of its 2 schools is below, with the reason it’s listed. Between them, two primaries teach 302 pupils in Great Ayton. 62% of pupils at the one primary school within 3 km met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roseberry AcademyLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 249 | B− |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Great Ayton has 51 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 1 Grade I, 1 Grade II*. Its listed buildings include the Church of All Saints, Grade I. Scaled to its population, Great Ayton has 117 listed buildings per 10,000 people, higher than both North Yorkshire’s towns (58) and England’s towns (39).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The nearest A&E to Great Ayton is The James Cook University Hospital, 5.3 miles away. One GP practice serves the town; 97% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. Disability touches 19% of the town’s population.
| Census 2021 | Great Ayton | North Yorkshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 81% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.2% | 5.5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 19% | 19% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · The census answers take no account of age, so a young town looks healthier; the Health Grade relies on age-adjusted measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them.
Owners make up 71% of households, above North Yorkshire’s towns (65%) and England’s towns (61%) alike. The median sale, £225,000, comes from 215 standard sales inside Great Ayton’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Private rents average £849 a month across the North Yorkshire council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £410,000 | 44 |
| Semi-detached | £227,500 | 74 |
| Terraced | £202,500 | 68 |
| Flat or maisonette | £165,000 | 29 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Great Ayton logged 180 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 110 complaints of anti-social conduct. There were 17.6 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), above both North Yorkshire’s towns (10.3) and England’s towns (7.8). For its size, Great Ayton records less crime per resident than 84% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. Violence and sexual offences were 37% of the crimes.
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 Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 28% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Just over one in ten commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train at the census, below both North Yorkshire’s towns (23%) and England’s towns (27%). For a quarter of commuters, work was under 5 km away. Unemployment benefit claims reached 2.3% of 16 to 64s in 2026.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
51 listed buildings in Great Ayton, 1 of them Grade I.
Ayton Hall: Photo: Simon Armstrong · CC BY-SA 3.0 · The Royal Oak Hotel: Photo: Gordon Hatton · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Captain Cook's Schoolroom: Photo: Mick Garratt · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Christ Church: Photo: michael ely · 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great Ayton | 4,348 | — | A− | A− | A− | A− |
| Stokesley | 4,906 | 2.6 | B | C+ | B− | A− |
| Guisborough | 18,091 | 4.2 | B− | B+ | C− | C |
| Eston | 29,625 | 5.2 | D | A | D− | D− |
| Middlesbrough | 148,232 | 5.4 | C− | A− | D− | D |
| Stainton | 1,817 | 5.5 | — | B− | C+ | C− |
| Hutton Rudby | 1,955 | 6.5 | — | D | A+ | A+ |
| New Marske | 2,990 | 7.2 | B+ | A− | B− | B− |
Stainton and Hutton Rudby have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 4.8 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of All Saints.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Town in North Yorkshire, England
Great Ayton is a built-up area of 4,348 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.