Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
1,618 people live in this village in Shropshire, West Midlands.
Whittington’s strongest subject is cost of living (B+): the median home sold for £270,000, 5.4 years of area income. School results trail most towns: primary results beat 12% of towns in England. Its remaining grades are unremarkable: B− for safety, B for health and B− for hazard risk. Walkability is weaker too — one in ten commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · life expectancy, ONS · flood risk, Environment Agency · commuting, Census 2021. An overall grade needs 2,500 residents, so Whittington is graded subject by subject only.
The 3 things Whittington 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 Whittington is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists them inside Whittington’s built-up area, along with 1 scheduled monument.
18% 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 Whittington.
52% of pupils at the 4 primary schools within 3 km met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). The one school in town appears below. The town’s primary school has 239 pupils.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whittington CofE (VA) Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 239 | D− |
Young adults of 15 to 24 are 10% of residents, about level with Shropshire’s towns (11%) and below England’s towns (12%). Half of Whittington is older than 46.7, half younger. Children are 16% of the town.
53% women, 47% men
About 89 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.
| Whittington | Shropshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 21% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 24% | 21% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 15% | 18% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.4% | 5.9% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 20% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 33% | 29% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Shropshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · 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.
There are 0.5 jobs in Whittington for each resident in work. Short trips to work, under 5 km: 41%, below both Shropshire’s towns (45%) and England’s towns (45%). 2% of people aged 16 to 64 were on unemployment benefits in 2026. About 4% of its commuters stay in Whittington for work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
13% of households rent privately. Social housing holds just over one in ten households, below Shropshire’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. Private rents average £823 a month across the Shropshire council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £315,000 | 30 |
| Semi-detached | £235,995 | 27 |
| Terraced | £197,000 | 12 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The nearest A&E to Whittington is Wrexham Maelor Hospital, 12 miles away. There is no GP practice in the town: the nearest is 1.9 miles off. Women here live to 85.7 on average and men to 80.6 (2019–23).
| Census 2021 | Whittington | Shropshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 83% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.9% | 5.7% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 18% | 19% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Young towns look healthier on these answers, which aren’t adjusted for age; the Health Grade uses measures that are, such as 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.
The top grade, Grade I, goes to 1 of them. Whittington’s listed buildings include Whittington Castle, Grade I. Historic England’s list names 10 listed buildings in the town: 1 Grade I.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Among the 1,541 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, Whittington has more crime per resident than 71% of them. This Shropshire town logged 77 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 21 complaints of anti-social conduct. Of all the crimes, 62% were 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.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Whittington. Best known first.
CastleWhittington Castle100 m outside town, to the northeast
Fort · English HeritageOld Oswestry2.3 km outside town, to the west
CastleOswestry Castle3.1 km outside town, to the westAttractionAttractionPark Hall Farm1.4 km outside town, to the westMuseumMuseumCambrian Railways Museum2.8 km outside town, to the southwestCastleCastleHalston Hall1 km outside town, to the northeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whittington | 1,618 | — | — | B+ | B− | B |
| Oswestry | 17,500 | 2 | C+ | A | C | C |
| Gobowen | 3,046 | 2.1 | C− | A | C | C |
| Morda | 1,976 | 3 | — | B+ | A− | C+ |
| St Martins | 2,692 | 3.5 | B− | A | B | C+ |
| Weston Rhyn | 1,381 | 3.9 | — | A | C+ | C+ |
| Ellesmere | 4,268 | 5.1 | B− | A− | C+ | B− |
| Chirk | 3,930 | 5.1 | C | B+ | C− | C |
Morda and Weston Rhyn have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 2.5 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Whittington Castle. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
Primary results trail 88% of towns in England (Department for Education, Key Stage 2). One state school is inside the town; places are handled by Shropshire council.
Village in Shropshire, England
Whittington is a built-up area of 1,618 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.