Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The large town has 87,440 residents and lies in South Yorkshire, Yorkshire and The Humber.
Good value, with catches elsewhere. Where it falls short is safety — police record 72.6 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, and 38.2 home and vehicle crimes. Among UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, it has less crime per resident than 1%. Health outcomes fall short of most towns: life expectancy 76.1 for men, 80.6 for women. Its strongest is cost of living (A) — the median home sold for £175,000, 4.1 years of area income. Walking, cycling and public transport work well here: 22% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. The overall grade lands at C, better than 27% of UK towns. It ranks #41 of 63 in South Yorkshire.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · commuting, Census 2021 · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · life expectancy, ONS.
The 3 things Doncaster 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 Doncaster is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 119 buildings inside Doncaster’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade I, and 1 scheduled monument.
17% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 2 old photos and postcards going back to 1808 and a map from c. 1947.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Doncaster.
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Doncaster logged 15,502 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 2,374 complaints of anti-social conduct. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 25.7 reports per 1,000, above both South Yorkshire’s towns (13.4) and England’s towns (7.8). Violence and sexual offences made up 37% of the total.
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.
Doncaster’s 21 primaries and six secondaries have 13,457 pupils between them. Willow Primary School’s results beat just over four in five schools in England like it. GCSE results at the town’s 6 secondary schools: 44% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 43.9. Below are three of its 31 schools, each with why it was picked.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Town Field Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 464 | C |
| Hall Cross AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 2,039 | B |
| Willow Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 417 | A− |
10 GP practices serve the town; 78% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. At the census, nearly a fifth of people here had a disability, below South Yorkshire’s towns (21%) but above England’s towns (17%). 6.5% of residents report bad or very bad health.
| Census 2021 | Doncaster | South Yorkshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 80% | 79% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.5% | 6.7% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 19% | 21% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · These shares come straight from the census, without allowing for age, and young towns benefit; the Health Grade instead weighs age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
55% of households are owner-occupiers. The £175,000 median rests on 2,930 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026). Private rents average £694 a month across the Doncaster council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £282,000 | 762 |
| Semi-detached | £174,000 | 1,229 |
| Terraced | £120,000 | 730 |
| Flat or maisonette | £115,000 | 209 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · 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.
73% of commuters drove, below South Yorkshire’s towns (77%) but above England’s towns (70%). About 45% of its commuters stay in Doncaster for work. This South Yorkshire town counts 1.6 jobs per working resident.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Doncaster’s listed buildings include the Minster Church of St George, Grade I. Grade II* covers 3 of them, Grade I 2. The national list protects one ancient monument locally.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
People aged 15 to 24 make up just over a tenth of the town, below both South Yorkshire’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (12%). Half of Doncaster is older than 38.9, half younger. Those 65 and older account for 17% of residents.
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Doncaster | South Yorkshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 29% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 25% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 17% | 18% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 25% | 22% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.2% | 6.2% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 15% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 25% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · South Yorkshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Doncaster. Best known first.
MuseumDanum Gallery, Library and Museumin town
ZooYorkshire Wildlife Park1 km outside town, to the east
MuseumCusworth Hall1.6 km outside town, to the westMuseumMuseumSouth Yorkshire Air Museumin townMuseumMuseumKings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry Museumin townMuseumMuseumAshworth Barracks Victoria Cross Museumin townPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
119 listed buildings in Doncaster, 2 of them Grade I.
Minster Church of St George: Photo: Frees · CC BY 3.0 · The Market Hall, Corn Exchange and Fish Market: Photo: Stan walker · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Church of St Wilfrid: Photo: Richard Croft · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Water Tower at Former Br Works: Photo: Christine Johnstone · CC BY-SA 2.0
278 notable people were born in Doncaster.
Diana Rigg: NBC Television, Public domain · Louis Tomlinson: Eva Rinaldi, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Danny Rose: Кирилл Венедиктов, CC BY-SA 3.0 · John McLaughlin: Буньков Денис, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Mason Holgate: Sven Mandel, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Yungblud: Moiyeah, CC BY-SA 4.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doncaster | 87,440 | — | C | A | D− | D |
| Sprotbrough | 7,546 | 2.4 | A− | B | B | B |
| Bentley | 12,044 | 2.5 | C− | A | D− | D− |
| Arksey | 1,578 | 2.8 | — | A | A− | C− |
| Scawthorpe and Cusworth | 13,020 | 2.8 | B | A | C− | C |
| Armthorpe | 14,161 | 2.8 | B− | A− | C− | D |
| Branton | 1,823 | 3.2 | — | B | B+ | A− |
| New Rossington and Rossington | 13,911 | 3.4 | B− | A | C− | D |
Arksey and Branton 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 £175,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £115,000, terraced houses £120,000, semi-detached houses £174,000 and detached houses £282,000.
GCSE results trail 59% of towns in England, and primary results trail 80% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Large town in South Yorkshire, England
Doncaster is a built-up area of 87,440 people, in the Doncaster 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.