Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
3,940 residents make their home in this town in South Yorkshire, Yorkshire and The Humber.
Easy on the wallet, harder on other counts. Its strongest subject is cost of living (A−): a typical home costs £198,500 and rent runs £686 a month. Whiston ranks #9 of 63 in South Yorkshire, with a B overall. It comes out better than three fifths of UK towns. School results are strong: primary results beat 93% of towns in England; secondary results beat 50% of towns in England. The trade-off is health — life expectancy 79.6 for men, 82 for women. Hazard risk is weaker too: 5.3% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · life expectancy, ONS · flood risk, Environment Agency.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Whiston is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things Whiston does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 6 buildings inside Whiston’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade II*.
6% 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 Whiston.
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 6 listed buildings in Whiston: 2 Grade II*. Per 10,000 residents, Whiston counts 15 listed buildings, between South Yorkshire’s towns (10) and England’s towns (39).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
One of its 2 schools is below, with the reason it’s listed. At the town’s 2 primary schools, 73% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Attainment 8 at the 5 secondary schools within 3 km averages 46, and 45% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whiston Worrygoose Junior and Infant SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 241 | A+ |
Just over two thirds of households own their home, higher than both South Yorkshire’s towns (61%) and England’s towns (61%). Half of the 154 standard sales inside Whiston’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £198,500. Social housing holds 21% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £351,250 | 30 |
| Semi-detached | £198,500 | 88 |
| Terraced | £153,000 | 30 |
| Flat or maisonette | £91,500 | 6 |
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 22% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
87% of commuters drove to work at the census. Households had £51K a year before tax, above South Yorkshire’s towns (£45K) but below England’s towns (£55K). There are 0.3 jobs in Whiston for each resident in work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
At the census, 23% of people here had a disability, above South Yorkshire’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (17%) alike. Self-reported good health: 76% of Whiston’s residents. Seeing a GP means leaving Whiston: the nearest practice is 0.7 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Whiston | South Yorkshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 76% | 79% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 8.8% | 6.7% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 23% | 21% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · 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.
Violence and sexual offences accounted for nearly half of recorded crime. The 12 months to August 2026 brought 211 recorded crimes inside Whiston’s built-up area, and 34 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violent crime ran at 23 per 1,000 residents a year, below South Yorkshire’s towns (33) and close to England’s towns (22).
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.
15% are under 15, below both South Yorkshire’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (18%). The age that splits Whiston in two is 48.2.
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
| Whiston | South Yorkshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 21% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 25% | 18% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 21% | 22% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.6% | 6.2% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 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 Whiston. Best known first.
MuseumMagna Science Adventure Centre3.8 km outside town, to the west
MuseumClifton Park Museum2.6 km outside town, to the northwestMuseumMuseumSouth Yorkshire Transport Museum3.8 km outside town, to the northMuseumMuseumYork And Lancaster Regimental Museum2.6 km outside town, to the northwestAttractionAttractionCatcliffe Glass Cone2.3 km outside town, to the southwestTheme parkTheme parkFun Park2.8 km outside town, to the northwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Town in South Yorkshire, England
Whiston is a built-up area of 3,940 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
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whiston | 3,940 | — | B | A− | C+ | C |
| Brinsworth | 8,764 | 1.8 | B | A− | B− | C |
| Treeton | 3,272 | 1.9 | C+ | A− | C+ | C− |
| Rotherham | 71,535 | 2.1 | C− | A | D− | D |
| Wickersley and Bramley | 24,653 | 2.4 | B | B+ | C+ | C |
| Waverley and Catcliffe | 5,342 | 2.5 | C | B− | C− | C− |
| Thrybergh and Dalton | 5,858 | 2.9 | D | A | D− | D− |
| Thurcroft | 6,101 | 3 | B− | A | D | D |
People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Secondary results are closer to the middle, beating 50%. Whiston has 2 state schools; places are handled by Rotherham council.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £198,500, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £91,500, terraced houses £153,000, semi-detached houses £198,500 and detached houses £351,250.
About the middle for its size: 62% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people report less crime per resident. Against all UK towns, it grades C+.
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.