Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 7,260 in North Yorkshire, Yorkshire and The Humber.
Pickering grades C overall against UK towns: better than 30% of UK towns, and #43 of 54 in North Yorkshire. Its strongest subject is walkability (A): 25% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is cost of living (D): median sale £257,000, 5.6 years of area income; rent £849 a month.
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 Pickering 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 Pickering is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 225 buildings inside Pickering’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I, and 1 scheduled monument.
18% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds a map from c. 1921.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Pickering. Best known first.
MuseumBeck Isle Museumin town
Castle · English HeritagePickering Castle100 m outside town, to the north
Heritage railwayNorth Yorkshire Moors Railway100 m outside town, to the north
AttractionMumbo Jumbo2.5 km outside town, to the southwest
Theme parkFlamingo Land2.5 km outside town, to the southwest
AttractionKumali2.4 km outside town, to the southwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Pickering.
Children under 15 make up 12%, below North Yorkshire’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. Young adults of 15 to 24 account for 8.6% of the town. Pickering has a median age of 53.8. Graduates make up 29% of adults.
53% women, 47% men
About 89 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.
| Pickering | North Yorkshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 12% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.6% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 18% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 34% | 22% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 20% | 18% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.6% | 6.4% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 29% | 32% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · North Yorkshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Of its 4 schools, two are shown below, each with the reason. At the town’s 2 primary schools, 52% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Some 1,141 pupils attend Pickering’s three primaries and one secondary.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pickering Community Infant SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 197 | – |
| Lady Lumley's AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 676 | A |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Historic England’s list names 225 listed buildings in Pickering: 1 Grade I, 1 Grade II*. Its listed buildings include the Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul, Grade I. Conservation areas cover 18% of the town’s land, higher than both North Yorkshire’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (7%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 22% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Just over two in five commuters travelled under 5 km to work. Unemployment benefit claims came to 2.4% of 16 to 64s in 2026, about level with England’s towns (2.3%) and above North Yorkshire’s towns (1.8%). The census counted 22% of workers working mainly from home.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Owners make up 69% of households. Half of the 435 standard sales inside Pickering’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £257,000. It is the 23rd most expensive of 56 towns of 2,500+ in North Yorkshire.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £340,000 | 169 |
| Semi-detached | £233,500 | 88 |
| Terraced | £220,000 | 132 |
| Flat or maisonette | £164,500 | 46 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
There were 17.2 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). Police recorded 366 crimes inside Pickering’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 119 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences were 58% 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 nearest A&E to Pickering is Scarborough Hospital, 14 miles away. 21% of residents have a disability, higher than both North Yorkshire’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (17%). One GP practice serves the town; nine in ten patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Pickering | North Yorkshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 77% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.9% | 5.5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 21% | 19% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Read these answers with age in mind: they aren’t adjusted, so younger places do better. The Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them.
225 listed buildings in Pickering, 1 of them Grade I.
Beck Isle Museum: Photo: Geoff King · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Rose Inn: Photo: Fabior De Nulle Part · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Building on West side of former Goods Yard of Pickering Railway Station: Photo: Ian S · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Keld Head Farmhouse (East): Photo: JThomas · CC BY-SA 2.0
9 notable people were born in Pickering.
John Lockwood Kipling: Hollinger & Co., Public domain · Paul Davison: Prasopestilence, CC BY 3.0 · Francis Nicholson: Francis Nicholson, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pickering | 7,260 | — | C | D | C+ | B− |
| Thornton-le-Dale | 1,858 | 2.4 | — | D− | A | B |
| Kirkbymoorside | 2,763 | 6.5 | C | C | C+ | A− |
| Rillington | 1,206 | 6.9 | — | D | B+ | B |
| Malton | 6,320 | 7.4 | C− | D | C+ | C |
| Norton-on-Derwent | 7,909 | 7.9 | B− | C | B | C+ |
| Helmsley | 1,345 | 11 | — | D− | B− | B+ |
| East Ayton and West Ayton | 2,809 | 12 | C− | D− | A− | B |
Thornton-le-Dale, Rillington and Helmsley have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 12.7 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
About the middle for its size: 62% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people report less crime per resident. Against all UK towns, it grades C+.
Town in North Yorkshire, England
Pickering is a built-up area of 7,260 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.