Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
3,046 people live in this town in Shropshire, West Midlands.
More weak spots than strong ones. Schools lag: primary results beat 14% of towns in England; secondary results beat 3% of towns in England. Housing is within reach: the median home sold for £208,000, 4.1 years of area income. Put together, the subjects come to a C− overall, better than a fifth of UK towns.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
The 3 things Gobowen 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 Gobowen is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 6 buildings inside Gobowen’s built-up area, and 2 scheduled monuments.
17% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Gobowen. Best known first.
Castle · National TrustChirk Castle4.9 km outside town, to the northwest
CastleWhittington Castle2 km outside town, to the southeast
Fort · English HeritageOld Oswestry1.3 km outside town, to the south
CastleOswestry Castle2.6 km outside town, to the south
Historic houseBrynkinalt Hall3.4 km outside town, to the northAttractionAttractionPark Hall Farm400 m outside town, to the southPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Gobowen.
66% of households own their home, above both Shropshire’s towns (64%) and England’s towns (61%). The social rented sector houses 20% of households. Private rents average £823 a month across the Shropshire council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £360,000 | 40 |
| Semi-detached | £208,000 | 77 |
| Terraced | £158,500 | 26 |
| Flat or maisonette | £126,250 | 12 |
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 21% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Before tax, the average household brings in £48K a year. 87% of commuters drove, above Shropshire’s towns (80%) and England’s towns (70%) alike. In 2026, 3.3% of 16 to 64s were claiming unemployment benefits. Of the commuters living in Gobowen, 20% work in the town itself.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Each year, 11.4 burglaries and acts of damage are recorded per 1,000 residents. The 12 months to August 2026 brought 194 recorded crimes inside Gobowen’s built-up area, and 21 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences accounted for 54% of recorded crime.
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.
77% of Gobowen’s residents described their health as good or very good at the census, lower than both Shropshire’s towns (80%) and England’s towns (82%). At the census, 6.6% of people here described their health as bad or very bad. Life expectancy here is 82.5 for women and 76.7 for men (2019–23). The town has no GP practice of its own; the nearest is 2.3 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Gobowen | Shropshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 77% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.6% | 5.7% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 25% | 19% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · These shares come straight from the census, without allowing for age, and young towns benefit; the Health Grade instead weighs age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Relative to its size, Gobowen keeps 20 listed buildings per 10,000 residents, below Shropshire’s towns (75) and England’s towns (39) alike. The national list protects 2 ancient monuments here. 17% of homes were built before 1919.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Residents of Gobowen have a median age of 45.6. The under-15s are 16% of the population here.
53% women, 47% men
About 90 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
| Gobowen | Shropshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 22% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 24% | 21% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 22% | 18% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.8% | 5.9% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 26% | 29% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Shropshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gobowen | 3,046 | — | C− | A | C | C |
| Weston Rhyn | 1,381 | 1.9 | — | A | C+ | C+ |
| Whittington | 1,618 | 2.1 | — | B+ | B− | B |
| St Martins | 2,692 | 2.2 | B− | A | B | C+ |
| Oswestry | 17,500 | 2.6 | C+ | A | C | C |
| Chirk | 3,930 | 3.2 | C | B+ | C− | C |
| Morda | 1,976 | 3.8 | — | B+ | A− | C+ |
| Acrefair and Cefn-mawr | 6,905 | 5.8 | D | B+ | D | D |
Weston Rhyn, Whittington and Morda have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Places are handled by Shropshire council.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
It has more crime per resident than most places its size: 73% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people report less.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £208,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £126,250, terraced houses £158,500, semi-detached houses £208,000 and detached houses £360,000.
Town in Shropshire, England
Gobowen is a built-up area of 3,046 people, in the Shropshire 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.