England · County

Find your town in Shropshire

Shropshire has 20 towns of 2,500 or more and 67 villages and smaller places. Towns are graded against towns across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on cost of living, safety, schools, health and more.

20graded towns

3grade A− or better

67villages and smaller places

Telfordlargest · 156,890

How Shropshire compares: its report card →

#1 in ShropshireBayston HillA

#2 in ShropshireNewportA⁻

Nos 13 & 15 High Street, Church Stretton

#3 in ShropshireChurch StrettonB⁺

#4 in ShropshireShifnalB⁺

Shropshire at a glance

What Shropshire is like

The typical Shropshire town grades highest on walkability and cost of living against towns across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and lowest on outdoors. Choose a subject to find the towns that do best on it.

The typical town, subject by subjectThe median Shropshire town against UK towns · the line marks the typical UK town

How Shropshire’s towns grade overall20 graded towns

A3B6C11

3 of 20 (15%) grade A− or better, against 25% of UK towns.

Every town ranked by scoreThe full Shropshire list, with what drives each grade Compare two townsSide by side, subject by subject

The finder

Find a town that’s…

20 towns · ordered by Shropshire rank

Bayston Hill

Town · 5,221 people · #252 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestA⁺SafetyAHazard riskLowestC⁺Walkability

A⁻

Newport

Town · 14,191 people · #375 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestASchoolsB⁺Cost of livingLowestB⁻Health

B⁺

Church Stretton

Town · 3,576 people · #544 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestAWalkabilityA⁻HealthLowestD⁻Hazard risk

B⁺

Shifnal

Town · 8,973 people · #682 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestB⁺Jobs & incomeB⁺SchoolsLowestC⁺Safety

B⁻

Ellesmere

Town · 4,268 people · #957 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestA⁻Cost of livingB⁺WalkabilityLowestCJobs & income

B⁻

Bridgnorth

Town · 12,172 people · #998 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestB⁺WalkabilityBCost of livingLowestCJobs & income

B⁻

Cleobury Mortimer

Town · 2,963 people · #1,017 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestB⁺Cost of livingB⁺HealthLowestC⁻Schools

B⁻

St Martins

Town · 2,692 people · #1,100 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestAHazard riskACost of livingLowestDSchools

C⁺

Craven Arms

Town · 2,563 people · #1,186 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestAWalkabilityA⁻Cost of livingLowestDJobs & income

C⁺

Market Drayton

Town · 12,062 people · #1,218 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestAHazard riskA⁻WalkabilityLowestDJobs & income

C⁺

Shrewsbury

Large town · 76,013 people · #1,229 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestAWalkabilityBCost of livingLowestC⁻Hazard risk

C⁺

Broseley

Town · 5,596 people · #1,317 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestBCost of livingBHazard riskLowestDSchools

C⁺

Oswestry

Town · 17,500 people · #1,331 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestACost of livingAHazard riskLowestDSchools

C⁺

Wem

Town · 6,287 people · #1,344 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestB⁺WalkabilityB⁺Cost of livingLowestDJobs & income

C⁺

Highley

Town · 3,305 people · #1,353 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestACost of livingB⁻HealthLowestD⁻Jobs & income

Whitchurch

Town · 9,856 people · #1,387 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestA⁻WalkabilityB⁺Cost of livingLowestDSchools

Ludlow

Town · 10,037 people · #1,434 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestAWalkabilityB⁺Cost of livingLowestDJobs & income

Telford

City · 156,890 people · #1,589 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestA⁻Cost of livingC⁺Hazard riskLowestDHealth

C⁻

Gobowen

Town · 3,046 people · #1,714 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestACost of livingCHealthLowestDSchools

Albrighton Garrison town

Town · 6,983 people

StrongestAWalkabilityASafetyLowestCSchools

Military garrison towns and university campuses keep their grades but aren’t ranked: most residents serve in the forces or are students.

Go deeper

Shropshire lists

Every list ranks the same 2,500+ towns, so a town’s rank means the same thing on each.

All Shropshire rankings →

Best places to live19 towns · #1 Bayston Hill Most affordable towns19 towns · #1 Gobowen Safest towns19 towns · #1 Bayston Hill Towns with the best schools19 towns · #1 Newport Healthiest towns19 towns · #1 Church Stretton Best towns for jobs & income19 towns · #1 Shifnal Most walkable towns19 towns · #1 Ludlow Towns with the lowest flood risk19 towns · #1 Bayston Hill and 3 more Best towns for the outdoors19 towns · #1 Telford Most historic towns19 towns · #1 Ludlow Towns with the most civic life19 towns · #1 Church Stretton Towns with the highest household incomes20 towns · #1 ShifnalDescribed, no letters Towns with the lowest council tax20 towns · #1 NewportDescribed, no letters Towns with the mildest winters20 towns · #1 WhitchurchDescribed, no letters Towns with the warmest summers20 towns · #1 AlbrightonDescribed, no letters Towns with the coolest summers20 towns · #1 Church StrettonDescribed, no letters Towns with the fewest frosts20 towns · #1 Gobowen and WhitchurchDescribed, no letters Driest towns20 towns · #1 ShrewsburyDescribed, no letters Wettest towns20 towns · #1 Church StrettonDescribed, no letters

Villages and small towns

67 smaller places in Shropshire

Places of 1,000 to 2,500 people have subject grades on their pages, but no overall grade or rank. The search at the top finds these too.

Baschurch2,007 Morda1,976 Pontesbury1,968 Shawbury1,962 Bishop's Castle1,847 Much Wenlock1,766 Minsterley1,719 Whittington1,618 Edgmond1,560 Alveley1,505 Weston Rhyn1,381 Bomere Heath1,364 Hanwood1,257 Prees Higher Heath1,226 Pant1,173 Llanymynech1,040 Prees1,013

50 places under 1,000 people

Photos: 0: Richard Law · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 1: Stephen McKay · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 4: Christopher Hilton · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 5: Jeff Gogarty · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 6: David Gearing · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 7: Peter Wood · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 8: Jaggery · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 9: Jonathan Hutchins · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 10: TCExplorer · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 11: Des Blenkinsopp · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 13: David Weston · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 14: Richard Webb · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 15: Noisar · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 16: Philip Halling · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 18: El Pollock · CC BY-SA 2.0

Sources: TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only · ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area. 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.