Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
This large town in North Yorkshire, North East has a population of 37,666. Private rents average £644 a month.
Easy on the wallet, harder on other counts. With a C+ overall, Redcar is better than 39% of UK towns and ranks #40 of 54 in North Yorkshire. Safety is its weak spot: police record 48.8 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, and 24.6 home and vehicle crimes. Set beside UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, its crime per resident is higher than in 91%. Its strongest subject is cost of living — homes sell for a median £160,000, about 3.7 times local household income. Add schools to its strengths: primary results beat 83% of towns in England; secondary results beat 61% of towns in England. Health lags: men here can expect to live to 76.7, women to 80.4.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · life expectancy, ONS.
The 3 things Redcar 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 Redcar is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 22 buildings inside Redcar’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade II*, and 1 scheduled monument.
12% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 2 old photos and postcards going back to 1890.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Redcar. Best known first.
MuseumZetland Lifeboat Museumin town
AttractionRedcar Beaconin town
Historic houseWilton Castle2.9 km outside town, to the southwest
PierSaltburn Pier4.7 km outside town, to the east
MuseumKirkleatham Museum700 m outside town, to the southwestAttractionAttractionRedcar Racecoursein townPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Redcar.
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Police figures for Redcar’s built-up area: 4,023 crimes and 852 anti-social behaviour reports in the 12 months to August 2026. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 30.4 reports per 1,000, above North Yorkshire’s towns (10.3) and England’s towns (7.8) alike. 43% of the crimes fell under violence and sexual offences.
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.
Redcar’s ten primaries and three secondaries have 4,995 pupils between them. Newcomen Primary School’s results beat 98% of schools in England like it. GCSE results at the town’s 3 secondary schools: 49% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 46.8. Below are three of its 14 schools, each with why it was picked.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ings Farm Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 446 | B |
| Rye Hills AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 763 | B+ |
| Newcomen Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 341 | A+ |
The nearest A&E to Redcar is The James Cook University Hospital, 6.9 miles away. A disability affects nearly a quarter of people in the town. Add to that, 7.7% of residents described their health as bad or very bad, above both North Yorkshire’s towns (5.5%) and England’s towns (5.2%). Self-reported good health: 76% of the town’s residents.
| Census 2021 | Redcar | North Yorkshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 76% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 7.7% | 5.5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 23% | 19% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Census health answers are raw, so younger towns score better on them; for the Health Grade we use age-adjusted figures like life expectancy and early deaths.
1,275 standard sales inside Redcar’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put the median at £160,000. Private tenants account for 17% of households. 18% live in social housing, above North Yorkshire’s towns (16%) and close to England’s towns (18%).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £260,000 | 242 |
| Semi-detached | £161,750 | 700 |
| Terraced | £111,750 | 290 |
| Flat or maisonette | £64,000 | 43 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
The pre-1919 share of homes is 12%. For its size, Redcar has 6 listed buildings per 10,000 residents, lower than both North Yorkshire’s towns (59) and England’s towns (39). Grade II* covers 2 of them.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 18% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
38% of commuters travelled under 5 km, lower than both North Yorkshire’s towns (48%) and England’s towns (45%). About 30% of its commuters stay in Redcar for work. There are 0.8 jobs in Redcar for each resident in work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Typical age in Redcar: 43.7, the median. One in ten residents are aged 15 to 24. People 65 and over make up 21% of the town, close to North Yorkshire’s towns (22%) and above England’s towns (18%).
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Redcar | North Yorkshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 24% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 21% | 22% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 21% | 18% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.6% | 6.4% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 20% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 25% | 32% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · North Yorkshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
22 listed buildings in Redcar.
Red Barns House and Red Barns Hotel: Photo: Simon Armstrong · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Listening Post 330 Metres of Wheatlands Farmhouse: Photo: Simon Armstrong · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Redcar Central Railway Station: Photo: Chris Heaton · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Christ Church: Photo: Ian S · CC BY-SA 2.0
33 notable people were born in Redcar.
Chris Norman: Elke Wetzig Elya, CC BY-SA 3.0 · David Wheater: p_a_h, CC BY 2.0 · Richard Smallwood: Jon Candy from Cardiff, Wales, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Shona Robison: Scottish Government, CC BY 2.0 · Rex Hunt: KathrynER, Public domain · Hayden Hackney: Timmy96, CC0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Redcar | 37,666 | — | C+ | A− | D | D |
| New Marske | 2,990 | 2.2 | B+ | A− | B− | B− |
| Marske-by-the-Sea | 7,576 | 2.2 | A− | A− | C+ | C+ |
| Saltburn-by-the-Sea | 5,874 | 3.9 | B− | B | C− | C− |
| Eston | 29,625 | 4.4 | D | A | D− | D− |
| Skelton (Redcar and Cleveland) | 6,895 | 4.8 | B− | B+ | C− | C− |
| Guisborough | 18,091 | 5.1 | B− | B+ | C− | C |
| Boosbeck | 1,124 | 5.5 | — | A | C | D |
Boosbeck has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets 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 £160,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £64,000, terraced houses £111,750, semi-detached houses £161,750 and detached houses £260,000.
Secondary results are closer to the middle, beating 61%.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Large town in North Yorkshire, England
Redcar is a built-up area of 37,666 people, in the Redcar and Cleveland 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.