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Cross Foxes pub, Gobowen (geograph 4024017)Gobowen, #1 on this list · Photo: El Pollock · CC BY-SA 2.0
Shropshire rankings · Cost of living

Most affordable towns in Shropshire

Gobowen ranks first on cost of living among Shropshire’s 19 towns of 2,500+; 8 of the 19 grade A− or better against UK towns.

The Cost of living Grade: the median sale price (Land Registry), a year’s private rent (ONS) and Band D council tax with the parish precept, each against the mean household income of the town’s council area. The rank across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland sits beside each letter. How grades work

#1

Gobowen

3,046 people
A

Homes cost 4.1 years of area income·#408 of 2,515 in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

#2

Highley

3,305 people
A

Homes cost 3.9 years of area income·#411 of 2,515 in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

#3

Oswestry

17,500 people
A

Homes cost 4.1 years of area income·#457 of 2,515 in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

All 19 towns, ranked

Cost of living grade, best first; ranks are the county ranks on each town’s page (T = tied). Military garrison towns and university campuses keep their grades but aren’t ranked. Each rank across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland links to the national list.

Every town in Shropshire →

19 towns.

#TownGrade · UK rankCompared with UK towns
1Gobowen3,046 peopleA#408 of 2,515 nationallyhomes cost 4.1 years of area income
2Highley3,305 peopleA#411 of 2,515 nationallyhomes cost 3.9 years of area income
3Oswestry17,500 peopleA#457 of 2,515 nationallyhomes cost 4.1 years of area income
4St Martins2,692 peopleA#460 of 2,515 nationallyhomes cost 4.5 years of area income
5Telford156,890 peopleA−#517 of 2,515 nationallyhomes cost 4.4 years of area income
6Craven Arms2,563 peopleA−#578 of 2,515 nationallyhomes cost 4.7 years of area income
7Market Drayton12,062 peopleA−#595 of 2,515 nationallyhomes cost 4.5 years of area income
8Ellesmere4,268 peopleA−#745 of 2,515 nationallyhomes cost 4.5 years of area income
9Whitchurch9,856 peopleB+#787 of 2,515 nationallyhomes cost 4.8 years of area income
10Wem6,287 peopleB+#902 of 2,515 nationallyhomes cost 4.8 years of area income
11Cleobury Mortimer2,963 peopleB+#929 of 2,515 nationallyhomes cost 5.0 years of area income
12Newport14,191 peopleB+#945 of 2,515 nationallyhomes cost 5.3 years of area income
13Ludlow10,037 peopleB+#1,011 of 2,515 nationallyhomes cost 4.9 years of area income
14Broseley5,596 peopleB#1,062 of 2,515 nationallyhomes cost 5.1 years of area income
15Shifnal8,973 peopleB#1,072 of 2,515 nationallyhomes cost 5.2 years of area income
16Bridgnorth12,172 peopleB#1,075 of 2,515 nationallyhomes cost 5.2 years of area income
17Shrewsbury76,013 peopleB#1,083 of 2,515 nationallyhomes cost 5.3 years of area income
18Bayston Hill5,221 peopleB#1,100 of 2,515 nationallyhomes cost 5.6 years of area income
19Church Stretton3,576 peopleC#1,918 of 2,515 nationallyhomes cost 7.2 years of area income
Not ranked

Not on this list

1 military garrison town or university campus keeps its grade but isn’t ranked: most residents serve in the forces or are students.

Quick answers

Questions people ask

What is the most affordable town in Shropshire?

Gobowen ranks first on cost of living among 19 towns, with an A: homes cost 4.1 years of area income. Highley and Oswestry follow.

How are these towns ranked?

The Cost of living Grade: the median sale price (Land Registry), a year’s private rent (ONS) and Band D council tax with the parish precept, each against the mean household income of the town’s council area. The letter and rank are the same as on each town’s page. How grades work.

Why isn’t my town on this list?

Garrison towns and university campuses aren’t ranked, and towns without the figures this grade needs are counted above. The list covers Shropshire’s towns of 2,500+ with the figure. Smaller places show it on their own pages; every town in Shropshire is on the county page.

Go deeper

More 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 HillSafest towns19 towns · #1 Bayston HillTowns with the best schools19 towns · #1 NewportHealthiest towns19 towns · #1 Church StrettonBest towns for jobs & income19 towns · #1 ShifnalMost walkable towns19 towns · #1 LudlowTowns with the lowest flood risk19 towns · #1 Bayston Hill and 3 moreBest towns for the outdoors19 towns · #1 TelfordMost historic towns19 towns · #1 LudlowTowns with the most civic life19 towns · #1 Church StrettonTowns with the highest household incomes20 towns · #1 ShifnalDescribed, no lettersTowns with the lowest council tax20 towns · #1 NewportDescribed, no lettersTowns with the mildest winters20 towns · #1 WhitchurchDescribed, no lettersTowns with the warmest summers20 towns · #1 AlbrightonDescribed, no lettersTowns with the coolest summers20 towns · #1 Church StrettonDescribed, no lettersTowns with the fewest frosts20 towns · #1 Gobowen and WhitchurchDescribed, no lettersDriest towns20 towns · #1 ShrewsburyDescribed, no lettersWettest towns20 towns · #1 Church StrettonDescribed, no letters
County by county

Most affordable towns, county by county

AberdeenshireBedfordshireBerkshireBuckinghamshireCambridgeshireCheshireClwydCornwallCounty DurhamCumbriaDerbyshireDevonDorsetDyfedEast Riding of YorkshireEast SussexEssexFifeGloucestershireGreater ManchesterGwentHampshireHertfordshireHighlandKentLancashireLeicestershireLincolnshireLondonMerseysideMid GlamorganNorfolkNorth LanarkshireNorth YorkshireNorthamptonshireNorthumberlandNottinghamshireOxfordshireShropshireSomersetSouth LanarkshireSouth YorkshireStaffordshireSuffolkSurreyTyne and WearWarwickshireWest GlamorganWest MidlandsWest SussexWest YorkshireWiltshireWorcestershire

Sources: 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) · ONS small-area income estimates (financial year ending 2023) · 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.