Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
On the way to work, 11% walk, cycle or take a bus or train. The town has 3,490 residents and lies in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands.
Good value, with catches elsewhere. Bilsthorpe grades B− overall, better than 52% of UK towns. It ranks #22 of 49 in Nottinghamshire. Homes are affordable: homes sell for a median £224,995, about 4.5 times local household income. Crime runs high: police record 30.5 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, and 15.2 home and vehicle crimes. Against UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, it has more crime per resident than 77%. Jobs and pay trail most towns: mean household income £53,787; 2.6% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Natural hazards weigh more here: 2.2% of homes face a high or medium risk of river or sea flooding.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · income, ONS · claimants, DWP · flood risk, Environment Agency.
The 2 things Bilsthorpe 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 Bilsthorpe is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 4 buildings inside Bilsthorpe’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
2% 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 Bilsthorpe.
People aged 15 to 24 are 10% of the population. The age that splits Bilsthorpe in two is 46.6. Children under 15 count for 16% of the people here.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Bilsthorpe | Nottinghamshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 14% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 22% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 31% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 21% | 18% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 24% | 19% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.8% | 5.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 20% | 17% |
| Degree level | 21% | 29% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Nottinghamshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
There is one school here; it is shown below. 214 pupils attend Bilsthorpe’s one primary school.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bilsthorpe Flying High AcademyLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 214 | B+ |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Bilsthorpe’s listed buildings include the Church of St Margaret, Grade I. 2% of homes were built before 1919. For its size, Bilsthorpe has 11 listed buildings per 10,000 residents.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Owners make up 68% of households, higher than both Nottinghamshire’s towns (63%) and England’s towns (61%). The social rented sector houses 22% of households. Private rents average £818 a month across the Newark and Sherwood council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £278,995 | 146 |
| Semi-detached | £180,000 | 83 |
| Terraced | £180,000 | 17 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Violence and sexual offences were 46% of the crimes. Police recorded 271 crimes inside Bilsthorpe’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 106 reports of anti-social behaviour. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 25.7 reports per 1,000, higher than both Nottinghamshire’s towns (10.7) and England’s towns (7.8).
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 Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 20% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Working mainly from home: 20% of workers, lower than both Nottinghamshire’s towns (26%) and England’s towns (31%). 87% of commuters took the car to work at the census. Of the commuters living in Bilsthorpe, 8% work in the town itself. Jobs per working resident: 1.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The nearest A&E to Bilsthorpe is King's Mill Hospital, 8.3 miles away. A disability affects just over a quarter of people here. 2 GP practices serve the town; 68% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. Life expectancy here is 84.9 for women and 82.7 for men (2019–23).
| Census 2021 | Bilsthorpe | Nottinghamshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 74% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 8.3% | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 26% | 19% | 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.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Bilsthorpe. Best known first.
Abbey or priory · English HeritageRufford Abbey3.4 km outside town, to the northTheme parkTheme parkWheelgate Park3.3 km outside town, to the southwestAttractionAttractionGo Ape! Sherwood Pines3.8 km outside town, to the northwestAttractionAttractionHalifax Bomber Memorial4.1 km outside town, to the southTheme parkTheme parkWhite Post Farm3.1 km outside town, to the southwestPhotos: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilsthorpe | 3,490 | — | B− | A− | C | B− |
| Farnsfield | 3,217 | 2.5 | B+ | C+ | A− | B+ |
| Rainworth | 7,990 | 3.7 | C+ | A | C− | D |
| Edwinstowe | 5,327 | 3.9 | B | B | B | C− |
| Blidworth | 4,295 | 4.3 | B− | A | C | D |
| New Ollerton and Ollerton | 10,870 | 4.7 | C | A− | C− | D |
| Forest Town | 19,015 | 4.8 | C | C | B− | C− |
| Southwell | 7,405 | 5.2 | A | C | B+ | A− |
People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Band D council tax in Bilsthorpe is £2,671 for 2026–27, more than in 94% 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.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Burglary was rare, with 4 reports in the year.
Town in Nottinghamshire, England
Bilsthorpe is a built-up area of 3,490 people, in the Newark and Sherwood 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.