Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 15,527 people, this town lies in South Yorkshire, Yorkshire and The Humber. Walking, cycling and public transport carry 16% of commuters.
Health is its weak spot: life expectancy is 77.4 for men and 80.6 for women. Buying a home costs less than in most towns (B+): the median home sold for £163,000, 3.9 years of area income. Put together, the subjects come to a C− overall, ranking #50 of 63 in South Yorkshire. It comes out better than 20% of UK towns. Crime runs high: 35.9 violent or sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, plus 21.6 home and vehicle crimes. Set beside UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, its crime per resident is higher than in 74%. The rest of its grades are middling: B for walkability and B for hazard risk.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · life expectancy, ONS · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · commuting, Census 2021 · flood risk, Environment Agency.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Hoyland is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things Hoyland does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 26 buildings inside Hoyland’s built-up area, 10 of them Grade II*, and 2 scheduled monuments.
24% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →26 listed buildings in Hoyland.
Elsecar Mill: Photo: David Dixon · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Church of St Peter: Photo: Chemical Engineer · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Fitzwilliam Lodge: Photo: Gordon Hatton · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph · Church of the Holy Trinity: Photo: David Dixon · CC BY-SA 2.0
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Hoyland.
The middle age in Hoyland is 45. Aged 15 to 24: 10% of residents. Just over a fifth of residents are 65 or over, above South Yorkshire’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. The share of residents under 15 is 16%.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Hoyland | South Yorkshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 24% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 22% | 18% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 25% | 22% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 8.1% | 6.2% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 21% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · South Yorkshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Below are two of its 6 schools, each with why it was picked. At the town’s 5 primary schools, 49% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). GCSE results at the 2 secondary schools within 3 km: 47% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 44.5.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greenfield Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 251 | C+ |
| Kirk Balk AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,318 | B |
At the census, a quarter of people here had a disability, above South Yorkshire’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (17%) alike. 2 GP practices serve the town; 84% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. The nearest A&E to Hoyland is Barnsley Hospital, 4.8 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Hoyland | South Yorkshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 74% | 79% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 8.5% | 6.7% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 25% | 21% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · The census answers take no account of age, so a young town looks healthier; the Health Grade relies on age-adjusted measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them.
Police figures for Hoyland’s built-up area: 1,379 crimes and 247 anti-social behaviour reports in the 12 months to August 2026. Violence and sexual offences were 40% of the crimes. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 14.2 reports per 1,000, higher than both South Yorkshire’s towns (13.4) and England’s towns (7.8).
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.
Private renters make up 15% of households, lower than both South Yorkshire’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (21%). The £163,000 median rests on 505 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026). It is the 44th most expensive of 63 towns of 2,500+ in South Yorkshire.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £300,000 | 113 |
| Semi-detached | £168,000 | 207 |
| Terraced | £133,000 | 167 |
| Flat or maisonette | £94,000 | 18 |
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.
Historic England’s list names 26 listed buildings in Hoyland: 10 Grade II*. 2 scheduled monuments lie in the town. The town has 17 listed buildings for every 10,000 residents, above South Yorkshire’s towns (10) but below England’s towns (39).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 19% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Unemployment benefit claims came to 3% of 16 to 64s in 2026, above South Yorkshire’s towns (2.8%) and England’s towns (2.3%) alike. 34% of commuters travelled under 5 km to work. Of the commuters living in Hoyland, 14% work in the town itself. Home was the main workplace for nearly a fifth of workers at the census.
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 Hoyland. Best known first.
MuseumElsecar Heritage Centrein town
Heritage railwayElsecar Heritage Railwayin town
Historic houseWentworth Woodhouse2.3 km outside town, to the southeast
Abbey or priory · English HeritageMonk Bretton Priory4.8 km outside town, to the north
CastleWentworth Castle4.1 km outside town, to the northwestAttractionAttractionWentworth Garden Centre1.9 km outside town, to the southeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
10 notable people were born in Hoyland.
Jordan Clark: Pinkd56, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Joe Hooley: Koen Suyk / Anefo, CC0
Town in South Yorkshire, England
Hoyland is a built-up area of 15,527 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
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hoyland | 15,527 | — | C− | B+ | D | D |
| Jump | 1,424 | 0.8 | — | A− | C− | D |
| Hemingfield | 1,815 | 1.4 | — | B− | B+ | C− |
| Birdwell | 3,363 | 1.8 | C+ | B− | C | C− |
| Wombwell | 16,758 | 2.3 | D | B+ | D | D |
| Brampton | 4,620 | 2.6 | C | A | D | D |
| Worsbrough | 8,840 | 2.7 | C | B+ | D− | D− |
| Thorpe Hesley | 4,153 | 2.7 | B | B+ | B | B− |
Jump 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 £163,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £94,000, terraced houses £133,000, semi-detached houses £168,000 and detached houses £300,000.
GCSE results trail 52% of towns in England, and primary results trail 93% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
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.