Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
19,015 people call this town in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands home.
Health is its weak spot (C−) — men here can expect to live to 78.9, women to 82.3. Few people walk, cycle or take the bus to work: 9% of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. A median £207,500 buys a home here, 4.9 times what households in the Mansfield council area earn in a year. Floods and other hazards weigh less here (A). Overall, that makes a C, better than 25% of UK towns. Its place in the ranking is #34 of 49 in Nottinghamshire. Its other grades sit near the middle: B− for safety and C+ for schools.
Figures: flood risk, Environment Agency · life expectancy and incomes, ONS · commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026.
The 3 things Forest Town 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 Forest Town is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 2 buildings inside Forest Town’s built-up area.
6% 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 Forest Town.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
For its size, Forest Town has the second fewest listed buildings of the towns in Nottinghamshire. 6% of its homes were built before 1919, lower than both Nottinghamshire’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (16%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Newlands Junior School’s results beat 83% of schools in England like it. Three of its 8 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. Key Stage 2 results at the town’s 6 primary schools: 63% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abbey Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 459 | B− |
| The Garibaldi SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,017 | B |
| Newlands Junior SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 230 | A− |
Graduates make up 23% of adults. Children under 15 make up 19%, higher than both Nottinghamshire’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (18%). At 40.2, the median resident of Forest Town sits in the middle of the age range.
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Forest Town | Nottinghamshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.8% | 14% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 28% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 17% | 18% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 20% | 19% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.2% | 5.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 20% | 20% | 17% |
| Degree level | 23% | 29% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Nottinghamshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 19% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Working mainly from home: 19% of workers, below both Nottinghamshire’s towns (26%) and England’s towns (31%), and 36% of commuters travelled under 5 km to work. Of the commuters living in Forest Town, 8% work in the town itself. Income per household averages £47K a year, before tax.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
One GP practice serves the town; 64% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. At the census, 6.4% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, above Nottinghamshire’s towns (5.9%) and England’s towns (5.2%) alike. Disability touches a fifth of Forest Town’s population.
| Census 2021 | Forest Town | Nottinghamshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 79% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.4% | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 20% | 19% | 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.
Private renters make up 15% of households, below Nottinghamshire’s towns (20%) and England’s towns (21%) alike. The social rented sector houses 10% of households. The £207,500 median rests on 769 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £270,000 | 375 |
| Semi-detached | £175,000 | 277 |
| Terraced | £155,000 | 115 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Violence and sexual offences accounted for just over half of recorded crime. 903 crimes and 196 reports of anti-social behaviour: that is what police recorded inside Forest Town’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026. Burglary and damage came to 8.5 per 1,000 residents a year, lower than both Nottinghamshire’s towns (10.4) and England’s towns (9.4).
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.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Forest Town. Best known first.
Abbey or priory · English HeritageRufford Abbey4.5 km outside town, to the east
MuseumMansfield Museum1.1 km outside town, to the southwestAttractionAttractionGo Ape! Sherwood Pines1.1 km outside town, to the eastAttractionAttractionMajor Oak4.6 km outside town, to the northeastMuseumMuseumMaking It! Discovery Centre1.5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forest Town | 19,015 | — | C | C | B− | C− |
| Mansfield Woodhouse | 19,521 | 2 | D | C+ | C+ | D |
| Mansfield | 63,448 | 2.6 | D− | C+ | D− | D |
| Market Warsop | 6,970 | 3 | D− | C | C− | D− |
| Rainworth | 7,990 | 3.2 | C+ | A | C− | D |
| Church Warsop | 2,139 | 3.8 | — | C+ | C+ | D |
| Edwinstowe | 5,327 | 3.8 | B | B | B | C− |
| Meden Vale | 2,095 | 4.3 | — | B− | C | D |
Church Warsop and Meden Vale have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
At the 2021 Census, 9.8% of Forest Town’s 19,015 residents were 15 to 24 and 17% were 65 or over, against 12% and 18% across England’s towns.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £207,500, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: terraced houses £155,000, semi-detached houses £175,000 and detached houses £270,000.
Town in Nottinghamshire, England
Forest Town is a built-up area of 19,015 people, in the Mansfield 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.