Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
In South Yorkshire, Yorkshire and The Humber, this large town has 71,535 residents.
Easy on the wallet, harder on other counts. Crime is the sore point: 61.7 violent or sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, plus 25.5 home and vehicle crimes. Among UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, it has less crime per resident than 8%. Overall, Rotherham earns a C−: better than 23% of UK towns, and #44 of 63 in South Yorkshire. Buying a home costs less than in most towns: homes sell for a median £165,000, about 3.6 times local household income. Walkability is another plus: nearly a fifth of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. It also trails on health: life expectancy is 76.2 for men and 79.9 for women. Incomes are on the low side (D): households earn a mean £41,719 a year, and 6% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · commuting, Census 2021 · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · life expectancy and income, ONS · claimants, DWP.
The 3 things Rotherham 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 Rotherham is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 57 buildings inside Rotherham’s built-up area, 3 of them Grade I, and 8 scheduled monuments.
18% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 1 old photo or postcard going back to 1879 and a map from 1840.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Rotherham. Best known first.
MuseumMagna Science Adventure Centrein town
MuseumClifton Park Museumin town
Historic houseWentworth Woodhouse2.3 km outside town, to the northwest
Heritage railwayElsecar Heritage Railway4.6 km outside town, to the northwest
MuseumElsecar Heritage Centre4.7 km outside town, to the northwestMuseumMuseumSouth Yorkshire Transport Museumin townPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Rotherham.
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Reported offences in Rotherham came to 10,071 over twelve months to August 2026; nuisance and anti-social incidents added 1,747. Among the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, Rotherham has more crime per resident than 92% of them. Also worth knowing: there were 24.9 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), above both South Yorkshire’s towns (13.4) and England’s towns (7.8). Violence and sexual offences made up two fifths 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.
Attainment 8 at the town’s 5 secondary schools averages 45.1, and 43% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths. Roughwood Primary School’s results beat 96% of schools in England like it. Three of its 33 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. Between them, 23 primaries and five secondaries teach 11,402 pupils in Rotherham.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Badsley Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 548 | D |
| Clifton Community SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,146 | D |
| Roughwood Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 262 | A+ |
Children are 19% of the town. Rotherham has a median age of 38.4 years. Retirement age and beyond: 17% of residents are 65 or older.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Rotherham | South Yorkshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 12% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 27% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 25% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 17% | 18% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 28% | 22% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.1% | 6.2% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 15% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 21% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · South Yorkshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Just over a fifth of residents have a disability, about level with South Yorkshire’s towns (21%) and above England’s towns (17%). Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 7.7% of the town. 8 GP practices serve the town; 77% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Rotherham | South Yorkshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 77% | 79% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 7.7% | 6.7% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 22% | 21% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Read these answers with age in mind: they aren’t adjusted, so younger places do better. The Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them.
Households that own their home make up 53%. Private rents average £686 a month across the Rotherham council area. 18% of households are private tenants.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £290,000 | 234 |
| Semi-detached | £180,000 | 965 |
| Terraced | £115,000 | 450 |
| Flat or maisonette | £90,000 | 157 |
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.
Driving is how 77% of commuters got to work at the census. 49% of commuters travelled under 5 km, above both South Yorkshire’s towns (43%) and England’s towns (45%). Rotherham counts 1.3 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.
Rotherham’s listed buildings include the Chapel of Our Lady, Grade I. 8 scheduled monuments lie here. Of the town’s land, 2% lies in conservation areas, higher than South Yorkshire’s towns (0%) yet lower than England’s towns (7%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
57 listed buildings in Rotherham, 3 of them Grade I.
Church of All Saints: Photo: Warofdreams · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Rotherham Bridge: Photo: Richard Croft · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Chapel of Our Lady: Photo: Steve F · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Cutlers Arms: Photo: Bobby Clegg · CC BY-SA 2.0
214 notable people were born in Rotherham.
Howard Webb: Katie Chan, CC BY-SA 4.0 · David Seaman: Christophe95, CC BY-SA 3.0 · William Hague: U.S. Department of State, Public domain · Chris Wolstenholme: Raph_PH, CC BY 2.0 · Justine Greening: Chris McAndrew, CC BY 3.0 · Ben Swift: filip bossuyt from Kortrijk, Belgium, CC BY 2.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rotherham | 71,535 | — | C− | A | D− | D |
| Greasbrough | 3,859 | 1.7 | C− | A | D− | D− |
| Brinsworth | 8,764 | 1.9 | B | A− | B− | C |
| Whiston | 3,940 | 2.1 | B | A− | C+ | C |
| Rawmarsh | 18,892 | 2.6 | C− | A | D | D− |
| Thrybergh and Dalton | 5,858 | 2.6 | D | A | D− | D− |
| Treeton | 3,272 | 3.1 | C+ | A− | C+ | C− |
| Waverley and Catcliffe | 5,342 | 3.1 | C | B− | C− | C− |
People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £165,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £90,000, terraced houses £115,000, semi-detached houses £180,000 and detached houses £290,000.
GCSE results trail 57% of towns in England, and primary results trail 73% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Large town in South Yorkshire, England
Rotherham is a built-up area of 71,535 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.