Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The town, home to 16,962 people, lies in South Yorkshire, Yorkshire and The Humber.
Easy on the wallet, harder on other counts. Its weakest subject is health — life expectancy 76.6 for men, 80 for women. Where it does best is cost of living (A): the median home sold for £179,975, 4 years of area income. All told, that adds up to a C overall and a rank of #33 of 63 in South Yorkshire. That leaves it better than 30% of UK towns. Crime is the sore point: police record 45.6 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, and 19.6 home and vehicle crimes. Against UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, it has more crime per resident than 84%. The rest of its grades are middling: C+ for schools and B− for walkability.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · life expectancy, ONS · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · commuting, Census 2021.
The 3 things Wath upon Dearne 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 Wath upon Dearne is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 24 buildings inside Wath upon Dearne’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
17% 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 Wath upon Dearne.
A disability affects 23% of people in Wath upon Dearne. 7.6% of residents described their health as bad or very bad, above both South Yorkshire’s towns (6.7%) and England’s towns (5.2%). Self-reported good health: 77% of the town’s residents. The nearest A&E to Wath upon Dearne is Rotherham General Hospital, 6.1 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Wath upon Dearne | South Yorkshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 77% | 79% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 7.6% | 6.7% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 23% | 21% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Because the census answers ignore age, a younger population lifts them; that is why the Health Grade is built on age-adjusted measures like life expectancy and early deaths.
Some 4,643 pupils attend Wath upon Dearne’s six primaries and two secondaries. Wath Church of England Primary School’s results beat 77% of schools in England like it. GCSE results at the town’s 2 secondary schools: 46% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 46.6.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brampton Ellis CofE Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 441 | B− |
| Wath AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 2,104 | B+ |
| Wath Church of England Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 423 | A− |
Over the year to August 2026, 1,658 offences were reported in Wath upon Dearne, along with 327 incidents of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences made up just over half of the total. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 17.1 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.
Social housing holds nearly a quarter of households, above South Yorkshire’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. Private rents average £686 a month across the Rotherham council area. The median sale, £179,975, comes from 586 standard sales inside Wath upon Dearne’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £280,000 | 124 |
| Semi-detached | £185,000 | 221 |
| Terraced | £125,000 | 220 |
| Flat or maisonette | £150,000 | 21 |
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.
Wath upon Dearne’s listed buildings include the Church of All Saints, Grade I. 17% of its homes were built before 1919, above both South Yorkshire’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (16%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 22% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
The average household earns £46K a year before tax. The car took 83% of commuters, higher than both South Yorkshire’s towns (77%) and England’s towns (70%). 36% of commuters travelled under 5 km to work. About 22% of its commuters stay in Wath upon Dearne for work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Ages in Wath upon Dearne split evenly at 39.9: half are older, half younger. 19% of residents are children under 15. Young adults of 15 to 24 are just over one in ten residents, below both South Yorkshire’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (12%).
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Wath upon Dearne | South Yorkshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 27% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 18% | 18% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 23% | 22% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.2% | 6.2% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 24% | 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 Wath upon Dearne. Best known first.
Historic houseWentworth Woodhouse3.3 km outside town, to the southwest
Heritage railwayElsecar Heritage Railway2.7 km outside town, to the west
MuseumElsecar Heritage Centre2.7 km outside town, to the westMuseumMuseumSouth Yorkshire Transport Museum4.6 km outside town, to the southMuseumMuseumMaurice Dobson Museum1.4 km outside town, to the northAttractionAttractionWentworth Garden Centre3.4 km outside town, to the southwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
24 listed buildings in Wath upon Dearne, 1 of them Grade I.
Hall Farmhouse: Photo: Neil Theasby · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Town Hall: Photo: Dave Bevis · CC BY-SA 2.0
15 notable people were born in Wath upon Dearne.
Jack Edwards: Nationaal Archief, CC0 · Daisy Makeig-Jones: Josiah Wedgwood / Daisy Makeig-Jones, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wath upon Dearne | 16,962 | — | C | A | D | D |
| Brampton | 4,620 | 1.2 | C | A | D | D |
| Bolton upon Dearne | 7,440 | 1.8 | C− | A− | C− | D |
| Swinton | 15,911 | 2.1 | C | A | D | C− |
| Hemingfield | 1,815 | 2.4 | — | B− | B+ | C− |
| Wombwell | 16,758 | 2.4 | D | B+ | D | D |
| Rawmarsh | 18,892 | 2.5 | C− | A | D | D− |
| Darfield | 7,209 | 2.6 | D | A− | D | D |
Hemingfield has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets 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 £179,975, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £150,000, terraced houses £125,000, semi-detached houses £185,000 and detached houses £280,000.
Band D council tax in Wath upon Dearne is £2,321 for 2026–27, less than in 71% of UK towns (council, county, police and fire, plus the parish or town council). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
Town in South Yorkshire, England
Wath upon Dearne is a built-up area of 16,962 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.
