Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 2,710 in North Yorkshire, Yorkshire and The Humber.
Settle grades B− overall against UK towns: better than 54% of UK towns, and #29 of 54 in North Yorkshire. Its strongest subject is walkability (A+): 40% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is schools (D): primary results beat 16% of towns in England; secondary results beat 2% of towns in England. The median home sold for £270,000 in the last three years, 5.4 times what households in the Craven 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 Settle 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 Settle is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 69 buildings inside Settle’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
41% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 1 old photo or postcard going back to 1890.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Settle.
Typical age in Settle: 58.2, the median. Children under 15 make up 9.3%, below both North Yorkshire’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (18%). The 15-to-24 age group makes up 7.1% of residents.
53% women, 47% men
About 90 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.
| Settle | North Yorkshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 9.3% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 7.1% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 15% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 31% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 37% | 22% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 20% | 18% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.1% | 6.4% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 15% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 34% | 32% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · North Yorkshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
At the 2 primary schools within 3 km, 53% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Its one school is below. Secondary results at the one secondary school within 3 km: an Attainment 8 score of 38.7, with 19% at grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Settle Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 188 | C− |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 26% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Households take home £48K a year before tax, on average. 56% of commuters travelled under 5 km, above North Yorkshire’s towns (48%) and England’s towns (45%) alike. Also worth knowing: in 2026, 1.4% of 16 to 64s were claiming unemployment benefits. Work in town: 38% of resident commuters.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Listed buildings per head: 255 for every 10,000 residents of Settle. Its listed buildings include The Folly, Grade I. Homes from before 1919 make up just over two fifths of the total. The top grade, Grade I, goes to 1 of them.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Private rents average £849 a month across the North Yorkshire council area. Behind the median of £270,000: 171 standard sales inside Settle’s built-up area, September 2023 to August 2026. 19% rent privately, close to North Yorkshire’s towns (19%) and below England’s towns (21%).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £440,000 | 25 |
| Semi-detached | £292,000 | 39 |
| Terraced | £245,000 | 83 |
| Flat or maisonette | £158,750 | 24 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
6.9% of residents report bad or very bad health. At the census, 22% of people here had a disability, above North Yorkshire’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (17%) alike. The nearest A&E to Settle is Airedale General Hospital, 17.4 miles away. Life expectancy here is 85.5 for women and 82.5 for men (2019–23).
| Census 2021 | Settle | North Yorkshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 78% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.9% | 5.5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 22% | 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.
Among the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Settle has less crime per resident than four fifths of them. Over the year to August 2026, 83 offences were reported locally, along with 22 incidents of anti-social behaviour. 59% 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.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Settle. Best known first.
MuseumMuseum of North Craven Lifein townMuseumMuseumSettle Station Signal Boxin townAttractionAttractionJubilee Cave2.1 km outside town, to the northeastAttractionAttractionScaleber Force1.7 km outside town, to the southeastAttractionAttractionVictoria Cave1.9 km outside town, to the northeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
69 listed buildings in Settle, 1 of them Grade I.
The Folly: Photo: Alexander P Kapp · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Settle Quaker Meeting House: Photo: Alexander P Kapp · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Kings Mill: Photo: Humphrey Bolton · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Tank House at Settle Station: Photo: Rosser1954 · CC BY-SA 4.0
12 notable people were born in Settle.
John Newman: Adam Bielawski, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Richard Bache: John Hoppner, Public domain · Theodore Rigg: Unknown photographer, Public domain · William Henry Birkbeck: Bain, Public domain · Theophylact Bache: John Ramage, CC0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Settle | 2,710 | — | B− | C | B+ | B+ |
| Giggleswick | 1,075 | 0.5 | — | D | A | A− |
| Hellifield | 1,478 | 4.8 | — | B | A | A− |
| Gargrave | 1,502 | 9.2 | — | C+ | A | A− |
| Ingleton | 1,751 | 9.5 | — | B− | A− | B+ |
| High Bentham | 1,701 | 10 | — | B | A | B+ |
| Barnoldswick | 10,915 | 11 | C+ | B | B− | C |
| Grassington | 1,107 | 11 | — | D− | A+ | A+ |
Giggleswick, Hellifield, Gargrave, Ingleton, High Bentham and Grassington have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 10.4 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is The Folly.
One state school is inside the town; places are handled by North Yorkshire council.
Band D council tax in Settle is £2,640 for 2026–27, more than in 91% 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
Settle is a built-up area of 2,710 people, in the Craven 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.