Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A village of 1,929 in Powys, Wales.
Presteigne has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Its strongest subject is walkability (A): 25% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is jobs & income (D−): mean household income £40,873; 3.8% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. The median home sold for £253,000 in the last three years, 6 times what households in the Powys council area earn in a year.
Dyfed Powys Police published 32 of the 36 months; rates are per year over the months published. This town's Health Grade uses ONS's small-area life expectancy and healthy life expectancy for 2019 to 2023, and two Census 2021 measures, bad health and disability, adjusted for age. English towns' grades also use OHID's small-area early deaths, hospital admissions and child obesity, which OHID publishes for England only.
The 3 things Presteigne does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within Wales), ordered by how far Presteigne is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Cadw lists them inside Presteigne’s built-up area.
27% 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 Presteigne.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Presteigne counts 120 listed buildings on the national list (Cadw): 1 Grade I, 5 Grade II*. Its listed buildings include St Andrew's Church, Grade I. Of the town’s land, 20% lies in conservation areas, higher than both Powys’ towns (12%) and Wales’s towns (0%).
Cadw list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
It is listed below. 173 pupils attend Presteigne’s one primary school.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Presteigne C.P. SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 173 | – |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 23% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
The car took nearly three quarters of commuters, lower than both Powys’ towns (77%) and Wales’s towns (81%). The 2026 claimant rate among 16 to 64s was 3.8%. There are 0.6 jobs in Presteigne for each resident in work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Violence and sexual offences accounted for three fifths of recorded crime. Presteigne logged 98 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 16 complaints of anti-social conduct. Violent crime ran at 34.6 per 1,000 residents a year, lower than Powys’ towns (41.8) and near Wales’s towns (33.8).
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 nearest A&E to Presteigne is The County Hospital, 19.3 miles away. 20% of residents have a disability, lower than both Powys’ towns (22%) and Wales’s towns (22%). One GP practice serves the town.
| Census 2021 | Presteigne | Powys | Wales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 78% | 78% | 78% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.1% | 6.5% | 7.1% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 20% | 22% | 22% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · ONS, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · No age adjustment applies to these census answers, which flatter younger towns; the Health Grade’s measures, life expectancy among them, do allow for age.
Social housing holds 17% of households, below both Powys’ towns (20%) and Wales’s towns (18%). 76 standard sales inside Presteigne’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put the median at £253,000. Households that own their home make up 65%.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £306,250 | 28 |
| Semi-detached | £240,000 | 28 |
| Terraced | £205,000 | 19 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Those aged 15 to 24 account for 8.6% of residents. 13% are under 15, lower than both Powys’ towns (15%) and Wales’s towns (17%). At 53.5, the median resident of Presteigne sits in the middle of the age range. Graduates make up a third of adults.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
| Presteigne | Powys | Wales | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 13% | 15% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 8.6% | 9.5% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 19% | 21% | 25% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 27% | 26% |
| 65+ | 32% | 27% | 21% |
| No qualifications | 19% | 20% | 20% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.5% | 6.2% | 5.6% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 33% | 30% | 31% |
ONS Census 2021 · Powys and Wales: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
8 notable people were born in Presteigne.
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Presteigne | 1,929 | — | — | B− | C− | B− |
| Kington | 2,423 | 4.7 | — | B+ | C | C+ |
| Knighton | 2,911 | 5.3 | C | B | C | B− |
| Weobley | 1,273 | 9.7 | — | C | C+ | B− |
| Leominster | 11,206 | 11 | C− | B+ | D | C− |
Kington and Weobley have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on Natural Resources Wales’s flood risk service.
120 on Cadw’s list, 1 of them Grade I and 5 Grade II*. That is 25.5 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is St Andrew's Church.
Village in Powys, Wales
Presteigne is a built-up area of 1,929 people, in the Powys 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) · Cadw listed buildings, scheduled monuments and registered historic parks and gardens via DataMapWales, 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.