Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 3,305 in Shropshire, West Midlands. 11% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport.
Highley grades C+ overall against UK towns: better than 37% of UK towns, and #15 of 19 in Shropshire. Its strongest subject is cost of living (A): median sale £195,000, 3.9 years of area income; rent £823 a month. Its weakest is jobs & income (D−): mean household income £44,180; 3.2% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits.
The 3 things Highley 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 Highley is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 8 buildings inside Highley’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade II*.
26% 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 Highley.
No town in Shropshire costs less to buy into than Highley, at £195,000, the lowest of 20. From September 2023 to August 2026, 120 homes sold inside the town’s built-up area at standard prices; the middle one went for £195,000. 65% of households own their home, close to Shropshire’s towns (64%) and above England’s towns (61%).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £282,500 | 30 |
| Semi-detached | £200,000 | 50 |
| Terraced | £147,500 | 39 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
There is one school here; it is shown below. Key Stage 2 results at the 3 primary schools within 3 km: 55% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). The town’s primary school has 234 pupils.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highley Community Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 234 | C− |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 18% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
88% of commuters took the car to work at the census. There are 0.2 jobs in Highley for each resident in work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Per 1,000 residents, 11.1 burglaries and acts of damage are recorded a year. 183 crimes and 22 reports of anti-social behaviour: that is what police recorded inside Highley’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026. Violence and sexual offences made up just over three fifths of the total.
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.
At the census, a fifth of people here had a disability, near Shropshire’s towns (19%) and higher than England’s towns (17%). The nearest A&E to Highley is Russells Hall Hospital, 12 miles away. One GP practice serves the town; 66% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Highley | Shropshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 78% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.2% | 5.7% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 20% | 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, Highley keeps 24 listed buildings per 10,000 residents, below both Shropshire’s towns (75) and England’s towns (39). Historic England’s list names 8 listed buildings here: 1 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Young adults of 15 to 24 are nearly a tenth of the population. People 65 and over make up a quarter of the town, higher than both Shropshire’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (18%). Children are 16% of the town. The age that splits Highley in two is 48.2.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Highley | Shropshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.7% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 22% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 25% | 21% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 23% | 18% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.1% | 5.9% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 24% | 29% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Shropshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
8 listed buildings in Highley.
The Manor House: Photo: Richard Law · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Church House: Photo: nick macneill · CC BY-SA 2.0
3 notable people were born in Highley.
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highley | 3,305 | — | C+ | A | C+ | B− |
| Alveley | 1,505 | 1.8 | — | B | A− | B |
| Wolverley | 1,208 | 6 | — | C− | B− | B |
| Bridgnorth | 12,172 | 6 | B− | B | C+ | B− |
| Bewdley | 8,285 | 6.1 | C− | C | C+ | B− |
| Cleobury Mortimer | 2,963 | 6.3 | B− | B+ | B | B+ |
| Kinver | 4,651 | 6.6 | B | C+ | B− | B |
| Cookley | 1,971 | 7.1 | — | C | B | B |
Alveley, Wolverley and Cookley have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Primary results trail 80% of towns in England (Department for Education, Key Stage 2). One state school is inside the town; places are handled by Shropshire council.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £195,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: terraced houses £147,500, semi-detached houses £200,000 and detached houses £282,500.
About the middle for its size: 66% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people report less crime per resident. Against all UK towns, it grades C+.
Town in Shropshire, England
Highley is a built-up area of 3,305 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.
