Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 3,571 people, this town lies in Northamptonshire, East Midlands.
Schools do well: primary results beat 90% of towns in England. A median £295,000 buys a home here, 5.3 times what households in the West Northamptonshire council area earn in a year. The catch is walkability: 8% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Put together, the subjects come to an A overall, better than 87% of UK towns. In the ranking it comes #3 of 31 in Northamptonshire.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · incomes, ONS.
The 3 things Roade 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 Roade is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 21 buildings inside Roade’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade II*.
8% 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 Roade.
Below are its two schools. Between them, one primary and one secondary teach 315 pupils in Roade. 71% of pupils at the 5 primary schools within 3 km met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roade Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 315 | B− |
| Roade Village AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | – | – |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 36% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Average household income comes to £64K a year before tax. The car took nine in ten commuters, above Northamptonshire’s towns (81%) and England’s towns (70%) alike; what’s more, the census counted 36% of workers working mainly from home. Work in town: 7% of resident commuters.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Of all the crimes, 53% were violence and sexual offences. A year of reports to August 2026 adds up to 108 offences in Roade and 39 cases of nuisance behaviour. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 13.4 reports per 1,000, above Northamptonshire’s towns (9.5) and England’s towns (7.8) alike. For its size, Roade records less crime per resident than just over three quarters of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
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.
Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 3.7% of the town. At the census, 15% of people here had a disability, below Northamptonshire’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (17%) alike. There is no GP practice in Roade: the nearest is 2.3 miles off.
| Census 2021 | Roade | Northamptonshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 85% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.7% | 4.5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 15% | 16% | 17% |
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.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Before 1919: that is when 8% of homes were built. Grade II* covers 1 of them. Roade has 59 listed buildings for every 10,000 residents, between Northamptonshire’s towns (84) and England’s towns (39).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Owners make up three quarters of households, higher than both Northamptonshire’s towns (64%) and England’s towns (61%). Private rents average £1,084 a month across the West Northamptonshire council area. Social housing holds 14% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £442,000 | 53 |
| Semi-detached | £280,000 | 73 |
| Terraced | £280,000 | 26 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Residents of Roade have a median age of 39.7. Degrees are held by 32% of adults, above Northamptonshire’s towns (29%) but below England’s towns (34%). The share of residents under 15 is 18%.
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Roade | Northamptonshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.7% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 30% | 27% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 25% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 18% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 15% | 19% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.4% | 6% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 20% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 32% | 29% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Northamptonshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Roade. Best known first.
MuseumThe Canal Museum1.5 km outside town, to the southwestAttractionAttractionGo Ape2.8 km outside town, to the eastMuseumMuseumPiddington Roman Villa museum5 km outside town, to the northeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roade | 3,571 | — | A | B− | B+ | B |
| Hartwell | 1,493 | 2 | — | B− | C+ | B− |
| Blisworth | 1,603 | 2.1 | — | C+ | B+ | B |
| Collingtree and Milton Malsor | 1,514 | 2.8 | — | C | C− | A− |
| Hanslope | 2,161 | 4 | — | C+ | C | A− |
| Yardley Gobion | 1,283 | 4.3 | — | C | A+ | B |
| Towcester | 11,333 | 4.5 | A− | C+ | B− | B+ |
| Castlethorpe | 1,112 | 5.2 | — | C+ | B+ | A− |
Hartwell, Blisworth, Collingtree and Milton Malsor, Hanslope, Yardley Gobion and Castlethorpe have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 2.4 times the typical UK town for its size.
Primary results beat 90% of towns in England (Department for Education, Key Stage 2). Roade has 2 state schools; places are handled by West Northamptonshire council.
Town in Northamptonshire, England
Roade is a built-up area of 3,571 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.