Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 16,593 in North Yorkshire, Yorkshire and The Humber.
Ripon grades A− overall against UK towns: better than 83% of UK towns, and #11 of 54 in North Yorkshire. Its strongest subject is walkability (A): 25% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is hazard risk (C): 1.4% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. The median home sold for £277,450 in the last three years, 4.8 times what households in the Harrogate council area earn in a year.
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 Ripon 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 Ripon is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 276 buildings inside Ripon’s built-up area, 3 of them Grade I, and 3 scheduled monuments.
19% 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 1907.
Ripon, Wisconsin, is named after Ripon.
USUS editionRipon, Wisconsin, settled in 1849, takes its name from this town.
Named after: each U.S. town’s Wikipedia article. Grades compare each town with towns in its own country, so they aren’t a head-to-head.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Ripon. Best known first.
CathedralRipon Cathedralin town
MuseumRipon Prison and Police Museumin town
MuseumThe Courthouse Museumin town
MuseumWorkhouse Museumin town
Abbey or priory · English HeritageFountains Abbey3.1 km outside town, to the southwest
Garden · National TrustStudley Royal Park2.3 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 Ripon.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 25% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Households take home £50K a year before tax, on average. About nearly two fifths of its commuters stay in Ripon for work. There are 0.8 jobs in Ripon for each resident in work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Of its 7 schools, three are shown below, each with the reason. 63% of pupils at the town’s 5 primary schools met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Secondary results at the town’s 2 secondary schools: an Attainment 8 score of 59.1, with 72% at grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Holy Trinity Church of England Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 335 | C− |
| Ripon Grammar SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 957 | A+ |
| Outwood Primary Academy GreystoneTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 169 | A |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Ripon counts 276 listed buildings on the national list (Historic England): 3 Grade I, 13 Grade II*. Its listed buildings include the Chapel of the Hospital of St Mary Magdalene, Grade I. Of the town’s land, 21% lies in conservation areas, above both North Yorkshire’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (7%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
675 standard sales inside Ripon’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put the median at £277,450. Private rents average £849 a month across the North Yorkshire council area. Social housing holds 14% of households, lower than both North Yorkshire’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (18%).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £438,750 | 198 |
| Semi-detached | £270,000 | 167 |
| Terraced | £212,500 | 171 |
| Flat or maisonette | £165,000 | 139 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The nearest A&E to Ripon is Harrogate District Hospital, 9.7 miles away. 3 GP practices serve the town; 84% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 4.9% of the town.
| Census 2021 | Ripon | North Yorkshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 81% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.9% | 5.5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 18% | 19% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · These answers aren’t adjusted for age, so young towns look healthier; the Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 15.7 reports per 1,000, above North Yorkshire’s towns (10.3) and England’s towns (7.8) alike. In the 12 months to August 2026, police logged 770 crimes and 241 reports of anti-social behaviour inside Ripon’s built-up area. Violence and sexual offences were 52% 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.
Under 15: 15% of residents. Young adults of 15 to 24 are just over one in ten residents, below North Yorkshire’s towns (12%) and England’s towns (12%) alike. Half the people of Ripon are older than 46.5.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Ripon | North Yorkshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 22% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 25% | 22% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 18% | 18% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.2% | 6.4% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 31% | 32% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · North Yorkshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
276 listed buildings in Ripon, 3 of them Grade I.
Ripon Minster (Cathedral Church of St Peter and Wilfrid): Photo: Diliff · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Chapel of the Hospital of St Mary Magdalene: Photo: Chris Heaton · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Obelisk: Photo: Chris Wilson · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Former Office Building at Williamson's Varnish Works: Photo: ColinFine · CC BY-SA 4.0
40 notable people were born in Ripon.
Frederick Orpen Bower: Bain News Service, Public domain · Simon Grayson: BradfordCityFC, CC BY 3.0 · David George Kendall: Konrad Jacobs, Erlangen, Copyright is MFO, CC BY-SA 2.0 de · Richard Bartle: J. G. Bartle, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Billie Marten: Paul Hudson from United Kingdom, CC BY 2.0 · Julie Ward: JackListerEU, CC BY-SA 4.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ripon | 16,593 | — | A− | A− | B− | C+ |
| Dishforth | 1,266 | 4.7 | — | A− | A | A− |
| Langthorpe | 1,294 | 5.7 | — | C | C | A− |
| Boroughbridge | 3,064 | 6.1 | B | B | C | B+ |
| Killinghall | 1,476 | 7.8 | — | C | B+ | A |
| Masham | 1,112 | 8 | — | C | B | A |
| Hampsthwaite | 1,169 | 8.4 | — | C | A+ | A |
| Knaresborough | 15,781 | 8.9 | A− | B− | B− | B |
Dishforth, Langthorpe, Killinghall, Masham and Hampsthwaite have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 6.8 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include Ripon Minster (Cathedral Church of St Peter and Wilfrid). It also has 3 scheduled monuments.
Secondary schools stand out: GCSE results beat 98% of towns in England. Primary results are closer to the middle, beating 56%.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Town in North Yorkshire, England
Ripon is a built-up area of 16,593 people, in the Harrogate 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.