Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Population 7,209: a town in South Yorkshire, Yorkshire and The Humber.
Darfield grades low on several counts. Its weakest is health — life expectancy is 75.7 for men and 80.5 for women. Taken together, its subjects give Darfield a D overall, better than 8% of UK towns. Where it does best is cost of living: the median home sold for £155,000, 3.7 years of area income. Police record more crime here than in most towns: 38 violent or sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, plus 24.4 home and vehicle crimes. Only 8% of UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people have more crime per resident. Jobs and pay trail most towns: mean household income £40,455; 3.7% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · life expectancy and income, ONS · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · claimants, DWP.
The 3 things Darfield 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 Darfield is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 9 buildings inside Darfield’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I, and 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 Darfield.
Young adults of 15 to 24 are 9.7% of residents, below both South Yorkshire’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (12%). Those 65 and older account for 23% of residents. Residents of Darfield have a median age of 44.3.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Darfield | South Yorkshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.7% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 24% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 23% | 18% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 28% | 22% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.6% | 6.2% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 20% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · South Yorkshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Attainment 8 at the one secondary school within 3 km averages 41, and 38% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths. Outwood Primary Academy Darfield’s results beat 77% of schools in England like it. 58% of pupils at the town’s 2 primary schools met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outwood Primary Academy DarfieldLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 221 | A− |
Asked at the census, 74% of residents of Darfield said they were in good or very good health. At the census, 24% of people here had a disability, higher than both South Yorkshire’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (17%). The nearest A&E to Darfield is Barnsley Hospital, 5.1 miles away. One GP practice serves the town; 78% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Darfield | South Yorkshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 74% | 79% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 8.4% | 6.7% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 24% | 21% | 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.
Violence and sexual offences accounted for 45% of recorded crime. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 19.5 reports per 1,000, above both South Yorkshire’s towns (13.4) and England’s towns (7.8). The 12 months to August 2026 brought 555 recorded crimes inside Darfield’s built-up area, and 108 reports of anti-social behaviour.
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.
23% live in social housing, above South Yorkshire’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. Private rents average £696 a month across the Barnsley council area. The £155,000 median rests on 217 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £225,000 | 41 |
| Semi-detached | £163,000 | 109 |
| Terraced | £117,000 | 65 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Darfield’s listed buildings include the Church of All Saints, Grade I. Homes from before 1919 make up 18% of the total, higher than both South Yorkshire’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (16%). It has one scheduled monument.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
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.
At the census, 84% of commuters went by car. Short trips to work, under 5 km: 36%, below both South Yorkshire’s towns (43%) and England’s towns (45%). Jobs per working resident: 0.4.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Darfield. Best known first.
Abbey or priory · English HeritageMonk Bretton Priory3.3 km outside town, to the northwest
MuseumElsecar Heritage Centre4.6 km outside town, to the southwest
Heritage railwayElsecar Heritage Railway4.7 km outside town, to the southwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
9 listed buildings in Darfield, 1 of them Grade I.
Garland House Surgery: Photo: Steve F · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Middlewood Lodge: Photo: Steve F · CC BY-SA 2.0
11 notable people were born in Darfield.
Fred Tunstall: [Unknown], Public domain · Ian McMillan: Steve Bowbrick from Radlett, United Kingdom, CC BY 2.0 · Obadiah Walker: No machine-readable author provided. Amakuru assumed (based on copyright claims)., Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darfield | 7,209 | — | D | A− | D | D |
| Wombwell | 16,758 | 1.4 | D | B+ | D | D |
| Great Houghton | 2,489 | 1.8 | — | B+ | D | D− |
| Brampton | 4,620 | 2 | C | A | D | D |
| Hemingfield | 1,815 | 2.3 | — | B− | B+ | C− |
| Wath upon Dearne | 16,962 | 2.6 | C | A | D | D |
| Bolton upon Dearne | 7,440 | 2.7 | C− | A− | C− | D |
| Grimethorpe | 5,065 | 2.8 | C− | A− | D− | D− |
Great Houghton and Hemingfield have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £155,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: terraced houses £117,000, semi-detached houses £163,000 and detached houses £225,000.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Town in South Yorkshire, England
Darfield is a built-up area of 7,209 people, in the Barnsley 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.
