Prices are high against local incomes (D−): homes sell for a median £240,000, about 6 times local household income. Safety lags: police record 46.6 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, and 14 home and vehicle crimes. Set beside UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, its crime per resident is higher than in 78%. Its best grade is for walkability: 32% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. The overall grade lands at D−, better than 2% of UK towns.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026.
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 Whitby is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Whitby.
HousingCost of living grade D−
Social housing is more common in Whitby than in North Yorkshire’s towns or across England’s towns, at 20% of households
Half of the 638 standard sales inside Whitby’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £240,000. Private rents average £849 a month across the North Yorkshire council area. 18% of households are private tenants.
£240Kmedian sale
Median sale price · Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
Whitby£240K
Typical UK town£277K
By type
Median
Sales
Detached
£348,000
143
Semi-detached
£245,000
212
Terraced
£219,500
168
Flat or maisonette
£160,000
115
61%
of households own their home · England 61%
18%
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
SchoolsC−
Results at Whitby’s schools trail 82% of towns in England
57% of pupils at the town’s 3 primary schools met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Some 568 pupils attend Whitby’s three primaries. Secondary results at the one secondary school within 3 km: an Attainment 8 score of 39.8, with 38% at grade 5 or above in English and maths.
Department for Education · GIAS, Key Stage 2 and GCSE resultsSee all 3 schools →
History
Listed buildings in Whitby: 458, with 8 at Grade I
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Whitby’s listed buildings include Captain Cooks House, Grade I. Relative to its size, Whitby keeps 363 listed buildings per 10,000 residents. Also worth knowing: 25% of its homes were built before 1919, higher than both North Yorkshire’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (16%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Work & commuteJobs & income grade C−
Households in Whitby earn less than in North Yorkshire’s towns and across England’s towns: £38K a year
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.
Work in town: 47% of resident commuters. Short trips to work, under 5 km: 62%, above North Yorkshire’s towns (48%) and England’s towns (45%) alike. The car carried nearly two thirds of commuters at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Who lives here
Fewer children live in Whitby than in North Yorkshire’s towns or England’s towns: 13% are under 15
People 65 and over make up 27% of the town. Young adults of 15 to 24 are 9.1% of residents, below North Yorkshire’s towns (12%) and England’s towns (12%) alike. Whitby has a median age of 50.6 years.
50.6median age
WhitbyNorth YorkshireEngland
Ages · share of residents
27%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications24%
Apprenticeship8%
A levels or similar16%
Degree level24%
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
WomenEnglandMen
About 94 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.
ONS Census 2021 · North Yorkshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Safety
More crimes per resident in Whitby than in 88% of UK towns
Police recorded 1,089 crimes inside Whitby’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 359 reports of anti-social behaviour. There were 28.7 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). Violence and sexual offences accounted for just over half of recorded crime.
46.6violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a yearDSafety Grade
Compared with UK towns its sizeLess crime per resident than 22% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people: 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 & sexual559
Shoplifting138
Damage & arson106
Public order77
Other theft67
Drugs37
Vehicle crime34
Burglary23
Anti-social359
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.
46.6
violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
14
burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
28.7
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.
Health
Fewer people in Whitby say their health is good than in North Yorkshire’s towns or across England’s towns: 77%
6.7% of residents report bad or very bad health, and at the census, just over a fifth of people here had a disability, higher than both North Yorkshire’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (17%). The nearest A&E to Whitby is Scarborough Hospital, 15.7 miles away. Women here live to 82.6 on average and men to 77 (2019–23).
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.
Beth Mead: James Boyes from UK, CC BY 2.0 · Arthur Brown: kitmasterbloke, CC BY 2.0 · Samuel Barnett: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Storm Jameson: Bassano Ltd, Public domain
Sleights has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Questions about Whitby
How many listed buildings are there in Whitby?
That is 14.9 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include Garden Walls and Gatepiers to the Abbey House. It also has 2 scheduled monuments.
Are schools in Whitby good?
GCSE results trail 83% of towns in England, and primary results trail 71% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). Whitby has 3 state schools; places are handled by North Yorkshire council.
About Whitby
Town in North Yorkshire, England
Whitby is a built-up area of 12,603 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.
Built from ONS geography and Census 2021
Population
12,603 (Census 2021)
Council
Scarborough
County
North Yorkshire
Region
Yorkshire and The Humber
Area
1.6 sq mi (4.2 km²)
ONS code
E63000356
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.
