Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Over-65s are 25% of the population. Some 12,062 people live in this town, in Shropshire, West Midlands.
What it saves you on housing, it gives back elsewhere. The local economy is weaker than most: the mean household earns £44,824 a year. It lags on schools as well (C−): primary results beat 45% of towns in England; secondary results beat 6% of towns in England. Its standout strength is cost of living: the median home sold for £225,000, 4.5 years of area income. Getting around on foot or by bus is easy: 21% of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. All told, that adds up to a C+ overall and a rank of #10 of 19 in Shropshire. Set against the rest, it does better than 43% of UK towns.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · commuting, Census 2021 · income, ONS · claimants, DWP.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Market Drayton is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things Market Drayton does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 80 buildings inside Market Drayton’s built-up area, 4 of them Grade II*.
14% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →80 listed buildings in Market Drayton.
Tudor House Restaurant: Photo: Yarah · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Cotton's House: Photo: Jonathan Hutchins · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Kings Arms: Photo: Jonathan Hutchins · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Butter Market: Photo: Jonathan Hutchins · CC BY-SA 2.0
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Market Drayton.
The middle age in Market Drayton is 45.8. One in ten residents are 15 to 24, lower than both Shropshire’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (12%). The share of residents under 15 is 17%.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Market Drayton | Shropshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 22% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 25% | 21% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 21% | 18% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.6% | 5.9% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 25% | 29% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Shropshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Key Stage 2 results at the town’s 2 primary schools: just over three in five pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Below are two of its 4 schools, each with why it was picked. Some 1,736 pupils attend Market Drayton’s three primaries and one secondary.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Market Drayton Infant & Nursery SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 346 | – |
| The Grove SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 856 | D |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 17% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
38% of commuters who live in Market Drayton also work there. For every resident in work, Market Drayton has 1 jobs. Working mainly from home: 17% of workers, below Shropshire’s towns (24%) and England’s towns (31%) alike. The car carried 77% of commuters at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Private rents average £823 a month across the Shropshire council area. 18% rent privately, near Shropshire’s towns (19%) and lower than England’s towns (21%). Behind the median of £225,000: 510 standard sales inside Market Drayton’s built-up area, September 2023 to August 2026.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £326,000 | 174 |
| Semi-detached | £215,000 | 194 |
| Terraced | £175,000 | 99 |
| Flat or maisonette | £120,000 | 43 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Reported offences in Market Drayton came to 760 over twelve months to August 2026; nuisance and anti-social incidents added 113. Property crime (burglary and damage) runs at 10.8 per 1,000 residents a year. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 12.4 reports per 1,000, above both Shropshire’s towns (8.1) and England’s towns (7.8). 52% of the crimes fell under violence and sexual offences.
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 heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
14% of its homes were built before 1919, below Shropshire’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (16%) alike. Grade II* covers 4 of them. Per 10,000 residents, Market Drayton counts 66 listed buildings.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The nearest A&E to Market Drayton is The Princess Royal Hospital, 13.2 miles away. One GP practice serves the town; 83% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. Also worth knowing: a disability affects 20% of people in the town.
| Census 2021 | Market Drayton | Shropshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 80% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.5% | 5.7% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 20% | 19% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Self-reported health favours young towns, since these answers ignore age; the Health Grade leans on age-adjusted measures such as life expectancy and early deaths.
6 notable people were born in Market Drayton.
Ben Garratt: Paul W, CC BY-SA 4.0
Town in Shropshire, England
Market Drayton is a built-up area of 12,062 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
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Market Drayton | 12,062 | — | C+ | A− | C | C+ |
| Loggerheads | 2,523 | 4.7 | B | C | A− | B+ |
| Audlem | 1,833 | 6 | — | C | B+ | A− |
| Prees Higher Heath | 1,226 | 6.8 | — | B | A | B |
| Prees | 1,013 | 7.2 | — | B+ | B | B+ |
| Baldwin's Gate | 1,121 | 8.6 | — | C− | A | B+ |
| Edgmond | 1,560 | 8.9 | — | C+ | A | B+ |
| Whitchurch | 9,856 | 9.2 | C | B+ | C+ | C |
Audlem, Prees Higher Heath, Prees, Baldwin's Gate and Edgmond have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 2.7 times the typical UK town for its size.
About the middle for its size: 48% 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.
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.