Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Population 7,909: a town in North Yorkshire, Yorkshire and The Humber.
Overall, Norton-on-Derwent earns a B−: better than 45% of UK towns, and #37 of 54 in North Yorkshire. Its weakest subject is jobs & income (C) — the mean household earns £44,517 a year. Walkability is its strong suit: 27% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Buying the median home, at £220,000, takes 4.8 years of household income in the Ryedale council area. Its remaining grades are unremarkable: B for safety, C+ for schools and B for hazard risk.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · income, ONS · claimants, DWP · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · 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 thing Norton-on-Derwent 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 Norton-on-Derwent is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 19 buildings inside Norton-on-Derwent’s built-up area.
21% 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 Norton-on-Derwent.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 16% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Short trips to work, under 5 km: 57%, above both North Yorkshire’s towns (48%) and England’s towns (45%). The census counted 16% of workers working mainly from home. Work in town: just over a fifth of resident commuters. 2.9% of 16 to 64s claimed unemployment benefits in 2026.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Norton-on-Derwent’s one primary and one secondary have 1,196 pupils between them. Both of the town’s schools appear below. GCSE results at the 2 secondary schools within 3 km: 44% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 46.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Norton Community Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 545 | B− |
| Norton SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 651 | C |
People aged 15 to 24 make up a tenth of the town, below North Yorkshire’s towns (12%) and England’s towns (12%) alike. Residents of Norton-on-Derwent have a median age of 43. Children under 15 count for 17% of the people here.
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Norton-on-Derwent | North Yorkshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.8% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 25% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 21% | 22% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 22% | 18% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.5% | 6.4% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 24% | 32% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · North Yorkshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
17% rent privately, below North Yorkshire’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (21%) alike. Half of the 322 standard sales inside Norton-on-Derwent’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £220,000. Private rents average £849 a month across the North Yorkshire council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £280,000 | 87 |
| Semi-detached | £222,250 | 102 |
| Terraced | £179,975 | 116 |
| Flat or maisonette | £112,500 | 17 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Seeing a GP means leaving Norton-on-Derwent: the nearest practice is 0.7 miles away. The nearest A&E to Norton-on-Derwent is The York Hospital, 16.6 miles away. Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 4.6% of the town.
| Census 2021 | Norton-on-Derwent | North Yorkshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 82% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.6% | 5.5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 17% | 19% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Because the census answers ignore age, a younger population lifts them; that is why the Health Grade is built on age-adjusted measures like life expectancy and early deaths.
Violence and sexual offences were 57% of the crimes. Reported offences in Norton-on-Derwent came to 265 over twelve months to August 2026; nuisance and anti-social incidents added 70. Homes saw 7.4 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year, near North Yorkshire’s towns (7.5) and lower than 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.
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 fifth of the total, above both North Yorkshire’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (16%). Of Norton-on-Derwent’s land, 5% lies in conservation areas, below both North Yorkshire’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (7%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Norton-on-Derwent. Best known first.
MuseumEden Camp Museum1.4 km outside town, to the north
MuseumMalton Museum300 m outside town, to the westMuseumMuseumDickens Museum & Scrooges Counting House400 m outside town, to the westPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
3 notable people were born in Norton-on-Derwent.
James Iremonger: George Beldam, Public domain · Henry Alexander Cooper: A. Newman, 228 N Ninths Street, Philadelphia, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norton-on-Derwent | 7,909 | — | B− | C | B | C+ |
| Malton | 6,320 | 0.8 | C− | D | C+ | C |
| Rillington | 1,206 | 4.1 | — | D | B+ | B |
| Thornton-le-Dale | 1,858 | 7.5 | — | D− | A | B |
| Pickering | 7,260 | 7.9 | C | D | C+ | B− |
| Stamford Bridge | 4,487 | 11 | A | B+ | A+ | B+ |
| Kirkbymoorside | 2,763 | 11 | C | C | C+ | A− |
Rillington and Thornton-le-Dale have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £220,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £112,500, terraced houses £179,975, semi-detached houses £222,250 and detached houses £280,000. Household incomes are lower than in 81% of UK towns, so cost of living grades C.
Band D council tax in Norton-on-Derwent is £2,569 for 2026–27, more than in 80% 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
Norton-on-Derwent is a built-up area of 7,909 people, in the Ryedale 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.