Safety lags: 58.8 violent or sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, plus 17.2 home and vehicle crimes. Among UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, it has less crime per resident than 17%. Scarborough’s overall grade is D−, better than 3% of UK towns. Health is weaker too — men here can expect to live to 76.7, women to 81.5. It is easy to get around without a car (A+): 32% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Buying the median home, at £175,000, takes 4.4 years of household income in the Scarborough council area. Work and incomes lag: the mean household earns £39,055 a year.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · life expectancy and incomes, ONS · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · claimants, DWP.
ONS publishes one rent for all of North Yorkshire, so this town's Cost Grade uses house prices and council tax only.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Scarborough is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Scarborough.
Work & commuteJobs & income grade D
More commuters in Scarborough work nearby than in North Yorkshire’s towns or England’s towns: 65% travel under 5 km
32%walk, cycle or ride
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.
Scarborough counts 1.1 jobs per working resident. Working mainly from home: 16% of workers, below North Yorkshire’s towns (27%) and England’s towns (31%) alike. The 2026 claimant rate among 16 to 64s was 3.8%. Work in town: 73% of resident commuters.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
SchoolsC−
School results in Scarborough are weaker than in 81% of towns in England
C−School Grade
Attainment 8 at the town’s 4 secondary schools averages 41.3, and 44% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths. Thomas Hinderwell Primary Academy’s results beat nine in ten schools in England like it. Key Stage 2 results at the town’s 13 primary schools: 54% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Below are three of its 22 schools, each with why it was picked.
Department for Education · GIAS, Key Stage 2 and GCSE resultsSee all 22 schools →
Safety
Scarborough has more crime per resident than 95% of UK towns
58.8violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a yearDSafety Grade
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
There were 42 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), above North Yorkshire’s towns (10.3) and England’s towns (7.8) alike. Over the year to August 2026, 7,225 offences were reported in Scarborough, along with 2,728 incidents of anti-social behaviour. Among the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, Scarborough has more crime per resident than 83% of them. Of all the crimes, 50% were violence and sexual offences.
Compared with UK towns its sizeLess crime per resident than 17% of the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more: more crime than most for its size. Context only, not part of the grade.
More crimeLess crime
Reports by type · Sep 2025 to Aug 2026
Violence & sexual3,592
Shoplifting1,000
Damage & arson727
Public order572
Other theft378
Drugs340
Burglary145
Other crime139
Anti-social2,728
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.
58.8
violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
17.2
burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
42
anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 (not graded)
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.
History
A town of 292 listed buildings, 5 of them Grade I
292listed buildingsAHistory Grade
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Scarborough’s listed buildings include Butter Cross, Grade I. 37% of its homes were built before 1919, above North Yorkshire’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (16%) alike. 2 registered parks and gardens lie locally.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Health
Fewer people in Scarborough say their health is good than in North Yorkshire’s towns or across England’s towns: 77%
77%good or very good healthDHealth Grade
23% of residents in Scarborough live with a disability. At the census, 7.2% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, above both North Yorkshire’s towns (5.5%) and England’s towns (5.2%). 7 GP practices serve the town; nearly three quarters of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
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.
HousingCost of living grade C
Scarborough is a renters’ town: 26% of households rent privately, more than in both North Yorkshire’s towns and England’s towns
£175Kmedian sale
Owners make up 58% of households, below both North Yorkshire’s towns (65%) and England’s towns (61%). Half of the 2,966 standard sales inside Scarborough’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £175,000. Private rents average £849 a month across the North Yorkshire council area.
Median sale price · Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
Scarborough£175K
Typical UK town£277K
By type
Median
Sales
Detached
£300,000
469
Semi-detached
£205,000
971
Terraced
£145,000
844
Flat or maisonette
£122,000
682
58%
of households own their home · England 61%
26%
rent privately · England 21%
£849
average private rent a month, North Yorkshire council area
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Who lives here
Degrees are less common in Scarborough than in North Yorkshire’s towns or across England’s towns: 26% of adults
46.2median age
Scarborough has a median age of 46.2. People 65 and over make up 24% of the town, higher than both North Yorkshire’s towns (22%) and England’s towns (18%). The 15-to-24 age group makes up one in ten residents.
ScarboroughNorth YorkshireEngland
Ages · share of residents
24%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications21%
Apprenticeship8%
A levels or similar17%
Degree level26%
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
WomenEnglandMen
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Charles Laughton: Clarence Sinclair Bull, Public domain · Edith Sitwell: Elliott & Fry, Public domain · Frederic Leighton: Frederic Leighton, Public domain · George Cayley: Henry Perronet Briggs, Public domain · Penelope Wilton: Vbrunophotog, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Bill Nicholson: Henk Lindeboom / Anefo, CC BY-SA 3.0 nl
About Scarborough
Large town in North Yorkshire, England
Scarborough is a built-up area of 59,505 people, in the Scarborough 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.
Scalby, Seamer (Scarborough) and Burniston have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Questions about Scarborough
How many listed buildings are there in Scarborough?
That is 2 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include Butter Cross. It also has 2 scheduled monuments.
Are schools in Scarborough good?
GCSE results trail 68% of towns in England, and primary results trail 84% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Is Scarborough expensive to live in?
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £175,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £122,000, terraced houses £145,000, semi-detached houses £205,000 and detached houses £300,000. Household incomes are lower than in 96% of UK towns, so cost of living grades C.
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.
