Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Population 10,037: a town in Shropshire, West Midlands.
A town of contrasts. Where it falls short is jobs & income (D) — households earn a mean £41,342 a year, and 3.3% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. With a C overall, Ludlow is better than a third of UK towns and ranks #17 of 19 in Shropshire. Homes sell for a median £245,000, about 4.9 years of what households in the Shropshire council area earn. Walkability is its strong suit: 26% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · income, ONS · claimants, DWP · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
The 3 things Ludlow 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 Ludlow is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 436 buildings inside Ludlow’s built-up area, 9 of them Grade I, and 5 scheduled monuments.
20% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 5 old photos and postcards going back to 1890.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Ludlow. Best known first.
CastleLudlow Castlein town
MuseumShropshire Museums' Collections Centrein town
CastleRichard's Castle4.7 km outside town, to the southwestMuseumMuseumLudlow Museumin townAbbey or prioryAbbey or priorySaint Mary the Virgin2.1 km outside town, to the northwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Ludlow.
13% are under 15, lower than both Shropshire’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (18%), and on top of that people aged 15 to 24 are nearly a tenth of the population. At 52.2, the median resident of Ludlow sits in the middle of the age range. Graduates make up 29% of adults.
52% women, 48% men
About 91 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.
| Ludlow | Shropshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 13% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.2% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 19% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 32% | 21% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 20% | 18% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.9% | 5.9% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 29% | 29% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Shropshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
62% of pupils at the town’s 2 primary schools met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Of its 3 schools, two are shown below, each with the reason. GCSE results at the one secondary school within 3 km: 28% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 40.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ludlow Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 397 | C+ |
| Ludlow Church of England SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 626 | C− |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
A fifth of its homes were built before 1919, higher than both Shropshire’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (16%). Grade II* covers 28 of them, Grade I 9. Ludlow has 5 scheduled monuments.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 19% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
For 53% of commuters, work was under 5 km away. 73% of commuters drove, lower than Shropshire’s towns (80%) yet higher than England’s towns (70%). Of the commuters living in Ludlow, 42% work in the town itself.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
There were 13.7 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), above both Shropshire’s towns (8.1) and England’s towns (7.8). Per 1,000 residents, 31 violent crimes are recorded each year. Over the year to August 2026, 646 offences were reported in Ludlow, along with 128 incidents of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences accounted for 41% 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.
The median sale, £245,000, comes from 525 standard sales inside Ludlow’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Private rents average £823 a month across the Shropshire council area. 18% rent privately, about level with Shropshire’s towns (19%) and below England’s towns (21%).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £329,385 | 156 |
| Semi-detached | £241,000 | 112 |
| Terraced | £210,000 | 183 |
| Flat or maisonette | £122,500 | 74 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Asked at the census, 76% of residents of Ludlow said they were in good or very good health. 2 GP practices serve the town; 86% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. A disability affects nearly a quarter of people in the town, and at the census, 6.7% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, above both Shropshire’s towns (5.7%) and England’s towns (5.2%).
| Census 2021 | Ludlow | Shropshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 76% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.7% | 5.7% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 23% | 19% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · A young population flatters these answers, which are not age-adjusted; the Health Grade instead uses measures that allow for age, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
436 listed buildings in Ludlow, 9 of them Grade I.
Ludlow Castle, the standing structural remains: Photo: Ian Capper · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Butter Cross: Photo: Pauline Eccles · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Guildhall and Adjoining Coachhouse: Photo: Jeremy Bolwell · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Ludford Mill and Mill Weir (That Part in Ludford Civil Parish): Photo: Fabian Musto · CC BY-SA 2.0
32 notable people were born in Ludlow.
Charles Cardale Babington: Worthy Vizard, Public domain · Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March: Photo British Library; painted by or for William Bruges, Public domain · Dick Heckstall-Smith: Heinrich Klaffs, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Edmund Mortimer: John Neagle, Public domain · Katherine Mortimer, Countess of Warwick: Own work by Editornado, CC BY-SA 3.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ludlow | 10,037 | — | C | B+ | C | C+ |
| Tenbury Wells | 3,936 | 6.6 | B | B+ | C | B+ |
| Craven Arms | 2,563 | 7.1 | C+ | A− | C− | B− |
| Cleobury Mortimer | 2,963 | 9.7 | B− | B+ | B | B+ |
| Leominster | 11,206 | 10 | C− | B+ | D | C− |
People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 17.8 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include Castle House Flats.
Band D council tax in Ludlow is £2,655 for 2026–27, more than in 93% of UK towns (council, county, police and fire, plus the parish or town council). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
About the middle for its size: 55% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people report less crime per resident. Against all UK towns, most of them smaller, it grades C.
Town in Shropshire, England
Ludlow is a built-up area of 10,037 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.