Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The village has 1,303 residents and lies in Northamptonshire, East Midlands.
Safety is where it shines — police record 15.1 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, and 7.2 home and vehicle crimes. Its weakest is schools — primary results beat 13% of towns in England. The median home sold for £334,074, 6 times what households in the West Northamptonshire council area earn in a year. It is hard to get around without a car: 9% of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport.
Figures: crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · incomes, ONS. Byfield is graded on each subject, but towns under 2,500 get no overall grade.
The 3 things Byfield 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 Byfield is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Byfield is graded on each subject, but towns under 2,500 get no overall grade.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists them inside Byfield’s built-up area, along with 1 scheduled monument.
31% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Byfield.
There is one school here; it is shown below. At the 3 primary schools within 3 km, 52% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). 108 pupils attend Byfield’s one primary school.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Byfield SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 108 | D |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Scaled to its population, Byfield has 215 listed buildings per 10,000 people, higher than both Northamptonshire’s towns (82) and England’s towns (39). The town’s listed buildings include the Church of Holy Cross, Grade I. The top grade, Grade I, goes to 1 of them. It counts 28 listed buildings on the national list (Historic England): 1 Grade I, 1 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Children under 15 count for 16% of the people here. People aged 15 to 24 make up 7.3% of the town, lower than both Northamptonshire’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (12%). The median resident of Byfield is 50.3 years old. Graduates make up 37% of adults.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Byfield | Northamptonshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 7.3% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 20% | 27% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 31% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 26% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 16% | 19% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.9% | 6% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 37% | 29% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Northamptonshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 39% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Jobs per working resident: 0.3. Nearly nine in ten commuters drove, above Northamptonshire’s towns (81%) and England’s towns (70%) alike. Working from home was the norm for 39% of workers at the census. About 6% of its commuters stay in Byfield for work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
In the 12 months to August 2026, police logged 36 crimes and 7 reports of anti-social behaviour inside Byfield’s built-up area. Of all the crimes, 50% were violence and sexual offences. Among the 1,541 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, Byfield has less crime per resident than three fifths of them.
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.
The nearest A&E to Byfield is Horton General Hospital, 9.4 miles away. One GP practice serves the town; just over four in five patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. Men in Byfield can expect to live to 81.2, women to 84.8 (2019–23).
| Census 2021 | Byfield | Northamptonshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 84% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.4% | 4.5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 15% | 16% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · A young population flatters these answers, which are not age-adjusted; the Health Grade instead uses measures that allow for age, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
Just over three quarters of households own their home, above Northamptonshire’s towns (64%) and England’s towns (61%) alike. Private rents average £1,084 a month across the West Northamptonshire council area. 44 standard sales inside Byfield’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put the median at £334,074.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £466,250 | 24 |
| Semi-detached | £297,500 | 16 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Byfield | 1,303 | — | — | C+ | A− | B+ |
| Woodford Halse | 4,288 | 1.4 | B− | B− | B+ | B+ |
| Napton on the Hill | 1,063 | 5.7 | — | C | A− | B |
| Daventry | 27,783 | 7 | C− | B | C− | C |
| Middleton Cheney | 4,127 | 7.3 | A | C | A | B+ |
| Weedon Bec | 2,856 | 7.7 | C | B− | C+ | B− |
| Southam | 8,103 | 8 | A− | B+ | B− | B |
| Braunston | 1,519 | 8.1 | — | B− | A− | B+ |
Napton on the Hill and Braunston have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 8.8 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of Holy Cross. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
Primary results trail 87% of towns in England (Department for Education, Key Stage 2). One state school is inside the town; places are handled by West Northamptonshire council.
About the middle for its size: 40% of the 1,541 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people report less crime per resident. Against all UK towns, it grades A−.
Village in Northamptonshire, England
Byfield is a built-up area of 1,303 people, in the West Northamptonshire 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.