Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 10,285 in Northumberland, North East.
Prudhoe grades B− overall against UK towns: better than 50% of UK towns, and #10 of 20 in Northumberland. Its strongest subject is cost of living (A): median sale £166,250, 3.6 years of area income; rent £695 a month. Its weakest is health (C−): life expectancy 78.6 for men, 82.3 for women.
Northumbria Police published 34 of the 36 months; rates are per year over the months published.
The 2 things Prudhoe 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 Prudhoe is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 6 buildings inside Prudhoe’s built-up area.
12% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 4 old photos and postcards going back to 1845.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Prudhoe.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Homes from before 1919 make up 12% of the total.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Attainment 8 at the one secondary school within 3 km averages 46.1, and 39% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths. St Matthew's Catholic Primary School, Prudhoe’s results beat 96% of schools in England like it. Between them, four primaries and one secondary teach 923 pupils here.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prudhoe West AcademyLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 233 | – |
| Highfield Middle SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 365 | C |
| St Matthew's Catholic Primary School, PrudhoeTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 144 | A+ |
Social housing holds 22% of households, higher than both Northumberland’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (18%). Behind the median of £166,250: 375 standard sales inside Prudhoe’s built-up area, September 2023 to August 2026. Owners make up nearly two thirds of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £305,000 | 111 |
| Semi-detached | £155,000 | 149 |
| Terraced | £125,000 | 91 |
| Flat or maisonette | £90,000 | 24 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The nearest A&E to Prudhoe is Royal Victoria Infirmary, 9.4 miles away. 2 GP practices serve the town; 92% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. Also worth knowing: 79% of the town’s residents described their health as good or very good at the census, above Northumberland’s towns (78%) but below England’s towns (82%).
| Census 2021 | Prudhoe | Northumberland | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 79% | 78% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.6% | 6.5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 20% | 22% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Because the census answers ignore age, a younger population lifts them; that is why the Health Grade is built on age-adjusted measures like life expectancy and early deaths.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 25% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
18% of commuters left the car at home at the census, walking, cycling or taking public transport. Unemployment benefit claims came to 2.8% of 16 to 64s in 2026, higher than both Northumberland’s towns (2.5%) and England’s towns (2.3%). The car carried nearly four in five commuters at the census. Work in town: nearly a quarter of resident commuters.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Violence and sexual offences made up 40% of the total. Police recorded 505 crimes inside Prudhoe’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 166 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violent crime ran at 28.4 per 1,000 residents a year, higher than both Northumberland’s towns (24.8) and England’s towns (22).
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.
Those 65 and older account for just over a fifth of residents. 16% are under 15, above Northumberland’s towns (15%) but below England’s towns (18%). Half of Prudhoe is older than 45.7, half younger. Degrees are held by 28% of adults.
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Prudhoe | Northumberland | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 15% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 9.4% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 22% | 22% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 30% | 28% | 25% |
| 65+ | 21% | 25% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 17% | 19% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.1% | 7.1% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 20% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 28% | 29% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Northumberland and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Prudhoe. Best known first.
Castle · English HeritagePrudhoe Castle100 m outside town, to the northwest
Museum · National TrustCherryburn - Thomas Bewick Museum700 m outside town, to the west
CastleBywell Castle3.4 km outside town, to the west
Historic houseBywell Hall3.7 km outside town, to the west
Museum · National TrustGeorge Stephenson's Birthplace1.9 km outside town, to the northeastMuseumMuseumRailway Museum1.2 km outside town, to the northeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
6 listed buildings in Prudhoe.
Footbridge at Prudhoe Station: Photo: JThomas · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Church of Our Lady and St Cuthbert: Photo: Andrew Curtis · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph · The Grange and West Grange: Photo: Andrew Curtis · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph · Prudhoe Hall and Adjoining Outbuildings: Photo: Andrew Curtis · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph
12 notable people were born in Prudhoe.
Ben Alnwick: Phil Butcher, CC BY-SA 3.0 · George Honeyman: Timmy96, CC0 · Mason Jackson: R. & E. Taylor (Firm), Public domain · William Nicholson: William Nicholson (1781–1844), Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prudhoe | 10,285 | — | B− | A | C | C− |
| Ovingham | 1,155 | 0.9 | — | A− | B− | B |
| Wylam | 1,661 | 1.8 | — | C+ | A+ | B+ |
| Stocksfield | 1,944 | 2.2 | — | B− | A+ | A |
| Crawcrook and Greenside | 7,544 | 2.7 | B+ | B− | B | C |
| Chopwell | 2,530 | 3.2 | D | B | D− | D |
| Heddon-on-the-Wall | 1,300 | 3.4 | — | C+ | A | A+ |
| High Spen | 1,933 | 3.5 | — | C+ | B | D |
Ovingham, Wylam, Stocksfield, Heddon-on-the-Wall and High Spen have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £166,250, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £90,000, terraced houses £125,000, semi-detached houses £155,000 and detached houses £305,000.
About the middle for its size: 44% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people report less crime per resident. Against all UK towns, most of them smaller, it grades C.
Band D council tax in Prudhoe is £2,620 for 2026–27, more than in 89% 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 Northumberland, England
Prudhoe is a built-up area of 10,285 people, in the Northumberland 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.