Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
23,735 residents make their home in this large town in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands.
School results trail most towns: primary results beat 13% of towns in England; secondary results beat 29% of towns in England. Retford’s overall grade of C− puts it better than 17% of UK towns, #39 of 49 in Nottinghamshire. Work and incomes lag: the mean household earns £43,940 a year. Hazard risk is weaker too — 3.5% of homes face a high or medium risk of river or sea flooding. Prices are modest for what you get: homes sell for a median £195,000, about 4.2 times local household income. It also does well on walkability — 18% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · commuting, Census 2021 · income, ONS · claimants, DWP · flood risk, Environment Agency.
The 3 things Retford 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 Retford is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 135 buildings inside Retford’s built-up area, 7 of them Grade II*.
17% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 1 old photo or postcard going back to 1906.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Retford.
Secondary results at the town’s 2 secondary schools: an Attainment 8 score of 41.9, with 41% at grade 5 or above in English and maths. Bracken Lane Primary Academy’s results beat 79% of schools in England like it. Below are three of its 10 schools, each with why it was picked. Some 4,056 pupils attend Retford’s seven primaries and two secondaries.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ordsall Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 576 | C |
| The Elizabethan AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,230 | C+ |
| Bracken Lane Primary AcademyTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 233 | A− |
78% of Retford’s residents described their health as good or very good at the census, below Nottinghamshire’s towns (80%) and England’s towns (82%) alike. Life expectancy here is 82 for women and 78.3 for men (2019–23). The nearest A&E to Retford is Bassetlaw District General Hospital, 6.9 miles away. 3 GP practices serve the town; 75% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Retford | Nottinghamshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 78% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.1% | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 21% | 19% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Young towns look healthier on these answers, which aren’t adjusted for age; the Health Grade uses measures that are, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Violent crime runs at 32.9 per 1,000 residents a year. In the 12 months to August 2026, police logged 1,863 crimes and 323 reports of anti-social behaviour inside Retford’s built-up area. There were 15.6 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), higher than both Nottinghamshire’s towns (10.7) and England’s towns (7.8). 46% of the crimes fell under violence and sexual offences.
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 heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Retford counts 135 listed buildings on the national list (Historic England): 7 Grade II*. Of the town’s land, 14% lies in conservation areas, higher than both Nottinghamshire’s towns (5%) and England’s towns (7%). One registered park or garden lies here.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
18% rent privately, below both Nottinghamshire’s towns (20%) and England’s towns (21%). Private rents average £727 a month across the Bassetlaw council area. The £195,000 median rests on 1,105 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £303,500 | 429 |
| Semi-detached | £180,000 | 364 |
| Terraced | £135,000 | 235 |
| Flat or maisonette | £105,000 | 77 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 17% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Retford counts 0.8 jobs per working resident. About 35% of its commuters stay in Retford for work. Short trips to work, under 5 km: 38%, lower than both Nottinghamshire’s towns (45%) and England’s towns (45%); what’s more, at the census, 17% of workers worked mainly from home.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
25% of adults hold a degree, lower than both Nottinghamshire’s towns (29%) and England’s towns (34%). Over-65s are 22% of the population. Retford has a median age of 45 years.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Retford | Nottinghamshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.8% | 14% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 23% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 22% | 18% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 20% | 19% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.9% | 5.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 20% | 17% |
| Degree level | 25% | 29% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Nottinghamshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
135 listed buildings in Retford.
Sloswick's Hospital Almshouses: Photo: Richard Croft · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Parish Church of St Swithun: Photo: Beep boop beep · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Retford War Memorial: Photo: Enchufla Con Clave · CC BY-SA 4.0 · White Hart Hotel: Photo: Enchufla Con Clave · CC BY-SA 4.0
19 notable people were born in Retford.
Liam Lawrence: Add92, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Sam Trickett: World Poker Tour, CC BY 3.0 · Derek Randall: paddynapper, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Charles Woodhouse: Hudson, F A (Lt), Public domain · Ivor Royston: David J. Babb, CC BY-SA 3.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retford | 23,735 | — | C− | B+ | C− | C− |
| Ranby | 1,034 | 2.3 | — | B− | A+ | C+ |
| Clarborough | 1,220 | 2.4 | — | B | B | B− |
| North Leverton with Habblesthorpe | 1,079 | 5.1 | — | B | B | B− |
| East Markham | 1,273 | 5.2 | — | C− | A | B |
| Ranskill | 1,435 | 5.3 | — | C+ | B− | B− |
| Blyth | 1,264 | 6.2 | — | C− | C− | C− |
| Walesby | 1,217 | 6.4 | — | B+ | A+ | B+ |
Ranby, Clarborough, North Leverton with Habblesthorpe, East Markham, Ranskill, Blyth and Walesby have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 2.3 times the typical UK town for its size.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
GCSE results trail 71% of towns in England, and primary results trail 87% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
About the middle for its size: 59% 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−.
Large town in Nottinghamshire, England
Retford is a built-up area of 23,735 people, in the Bassetlaw 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.