Bar Hill, #1 overall · Photo: Cruccone · CC BY 3.0How the towns of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland stack up
Each list ranks the towns and cities of 2,500+ that have its grade, across the UK and within each county or council area. Bar Hill, Cambridgeshire leads the overall list.
Letters compare each town with every UK town; lists sort on the same grades every town page shows. How grades work
City of London makes the top 10 on four lists
Top-10 finishes on the 13 lists where first is plainly best (not climate or the size bands).
1- #1most walkable
- #1civic life
- #3highest income
- #3lowest council tax
2- #2lowest council tax
- #3most historic
- #4most walkable
3- #2highest income
- #3jobs & income
- #8best schools
- #1healthiest
- #4safest
- #2healthiest
- #3jobs & income
- #4highest income
- #7jobs & income
- #3best schools
- #8highest income
- #3jobs & income
- #8best place to live
- #5most historic
- #10civic life
- #7highest income
- #10healthiest
21 ways to rank the UK’s towns
Towns and cities of 2,500+ residents, grouped by what they measure.
Scottish towns are on the lists for the subjects they’re graded on, but not yet on best places to live, safest or the size-band lists: with no street-level crime from Police Scotland they have no Safety grade, and so no overall grade, until the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation arrives at the end of 2026. Their School grades are ranked within Scotland, so they’re on their own council areas’ school lists rather than the UK one. Northern Ireland’s towns are on most lists, but not those for jobs and income, flood risk, schools or council tax: no small-area income figures or open flood maps are published there, its GCSE results are ranked within Northern Ireland, and it pays rates rather than council tax. Welsh towns have no School grade, as Wales doesn’t publish school-level results.
The overall grade
- Bar Hill, CambridgeshireA+
- Elvetham Heath, HampshireA+
- Girton, CambridgeshireA+
- Richmond upon Thames, LondonA
- Sutton, LondonA
- Kingston upon Thames, LondonA
- Bar Hill, CambridgeshireA+
- Elvetham Heath, HampshireA+
- Girton, CambridgeshireA+
Livability
- Coalisland, Mid UlsterA+
- Dungannon, Mid UlsterA+
- Larne, Mid and East AntrimA+
- Richhill, Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon9.0 per 1kA+
- South Wonston, Hampshire9.2 per 1kA+
- Dunnington, North Yorkshire9.4 per 1kA+
- Bowdon, Greater ManchesterA+
- Gnosall, StaffordshireA+
- Collingham, NottinghamshireA+
- Marlow Bottom, BuckinghamshireA+
- Brookmans Park, HertfordshireA+
- Pangbourne, BerkshireA+
- Hale, Greater ManchesterA+
- Moor Park, HertfordshireA+
- Ashtead, SurreyA+
- City of London, LondonA+
- Islington, LondonA+
- Southwark, LondonA+
- Auchinleck, East AyrshireA
- Beith, North AyrshireA
- Bishopbriggs, East DunbartonshireA
Income & council tax
Character
- Blackfield and Langley, HampshireA+
- Netley, HampshireA+
- Swanage, DorsetA+
- Dolgellau, GwyneddA+
- Tenby, DyfedA+
- Dartmouth, DevonA+
- City of London, LondonA+
- Ash (Dover), KentA+
- Wotton-under-Edge, GloucestershireA+
Climate
- Penzance, Cornwall5.3°C
- Newlyn, Cornwall5.2°C
- St Ives, Cornwall5.1°C
- Islington, London23.9°C
- Buckhurst Hill, Essex23.9°C
- City of London, London23.8°C
- Lerwick, Shetland Islands15.3°C
- Alva, Clackmannanshire16.2°C
- Tillicoultry, Clackmannanshire16.2°C
- Ilfracombe, Devon5
- St Ives, Cornwall6
- Carbis Bay, Cornwall7
- Queenborough, Kent521 mm
- Jaywick, Essex528 mm
- Sheerness, Kent528 mm
- Treherbert, Mid Glamorgan2,687 mm
- Fort William, Highland2,590 mm
- Treorchy, Mid Glamorgan2,503 mm
How the rankings work
- 2,500+ residents. National lists rank every such town, 100 to a page; a county with 15 or more towns on a list has its own.
- One grade everywhere. A town’s letter is the same on every list and on its own page, and it compares the town with UK towns only.
- Schools are England’s. Wales doesn’t publish school-level results, so Welsh towns have no School Grade and aren’t on the schools lists.
- No police.uk data, no Safety. Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish to police.uk, so its towns are on neither the safety nor the overall lists.
- Described lists carry no letters. Climate, income and council tax are figures, not grades.
- Garrisons and campuses sit out the graded lists. 22 places where most residents serve in the forces or are students keep their grades but aren’t ranked. How grades work
Rankings in each county
Every town of 2,500+ with its county rank on each list. London’s boroughs rank within London.
Sources: 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.