Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The town, home to 18,892 people, lies in South Yorkshire, Yorkshire and The Humber.
The data are hard on it. Its lowest grade is for health (D−): life expectancy is 76 for men and 79.3 for women. It lags on safety as well (D) — 50 violent and sexual offences and 23.6 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Set beside UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, its crime per resident is higher than in 91%. Where it does best is cost of living (A): a typical home costs £155,000 and rent runs £686 a month. Getting around on foot or by bus is easy: on the way to work, 17% walk, cycle or take a bus or train. Put together, the subjects come to a C− overall, ranking #49 of 63 in South Yorkshire. Set against the rest, it does better than a fifth of UK towns.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · commuting, Census 2021 · life expectancy, ONS · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026.
The 3 things Rawmarsh 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 Rawmarsh is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 5 buildings inside Rawmarsh’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade II*.
16% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Rawmarsh. Best known first.
Historic houseWentworth Woodhouse2.4 km outside town, to the west
MuseumMagna Science Adventure Centre2.9 km outside town, to the southwest
MuseumClifton Park Museum1.4 km outside town, to the south
Heritage railwayElsecar Heritage Railway3.9 km outside town, to the northwest
MuseumElsecar Heritage Centre4 km outside town, to the northwestMuseumMuseumSouth Yorkshire Transport Museum200 m outside town, to the southPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Rawmarsh.
Residents of Rawmarsh have a median age of 40.7. People aged 15 to 24 make up 11% of the town, below South Yorkshire’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (12%) alike.
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Rawmarsh | South Yorkshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 26% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 18% | 18% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 27% | 22% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.3% | 6.2% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 18% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · South Yorkshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Rawmarsh’s seven primaries and one secondary have 2,570 pupils between them. Of its 10 schools, two are shown below, each with the reason. Attainment 8 at the 10 secondary schools within 3 km averages 43.9, and 41% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monkwood Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 436 | C− |
| Rawmarsh Community SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,067 | C− |
At the census, just over three quarters of people in Rawmarsh called their health good or very good, below South Yorkshire’s towns (79%) and England’s towns (82%) alike. 7.8% of residents report bad or very bad health. 3 GP practices serve the town; 85% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. Disability touches 23% of the town’s population.
| Census 2021 | Rawmarsh | South Yorkshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 76% | 79% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 7.8% | 6.7% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 23% | 21% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Census health answers are raw, so younger towns score better on them; for the Health Grade we use age-adjusted figures like life expectancy and early deaths.
Rawmarsh logged 2,545 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 342 complaints of anti-social conduct. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 16.8 reports per 1,000, higher than both South Yorkshire’s towns (13.4) and England’s towns (7.8). Of all the crimes, 36% 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.
Private renters make up 15% of households, lower than both South Yorkshire’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (21%). 57% of households are owner-occupiers. Half of the 560 standard sales inside Rawmarsh’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £155,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £272,500 | 118 |
| Semi-detached | £154,100 | 286 |
| Terraced | £120,000 | 150 |
| Flat or maisonette | £92,500 | 6 |
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.
Per 10,000 residents, Rawmarsh counts 3 listed buildings, lower than both South Yorkshire’s towns (11) and England’s towns (39). 16% of homes were built before 1919.
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.
Rawmarsh counts 0.6 jobs per working resident. Household income came to £42K a year before tax, below South Yorkshire’s towns (£46K) and England’s towns (£55K) alike. Home was the main workplace for 18% of workers at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
18 notable people were born in Rawmarsh.
Peter Elliott: Joe Mann, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rawmarsh | 18,892 | — | C− | A | D | D− |
| Greasbrough | 3,859 | 1.5 | C− | A | D− | D− |
| Swinton | 15,911 | 1.5 | C | A | D | C− |
| Thrybergh and Dalton | 5,858 | 2.1 | D | A | D− | D− |
| Wath upon Dearne | 16,962 | 2.5 | C | A | D | D |
| Rotherham | 71,535 | 2.6 | C− | A | D− | D |
| Mexborough | 15,560 | 3.2 | C | A | D− | D− |
| Brampton | 4,620 | 3.3 | C | A | D | D |
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: flats £92,500, terraced houses £120,000, semi-detached houses £154,100 and detached houses £272,500.
GCSE results trail 64% of towns in England, and primary results trail 82% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Town in South Yorkshire, England
Rawmarsh is a built-up area of 18,892 people, in the Rotherham 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.