Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Some 63,057 people live in this large town, in Staffordshire, West Midlands.
Cannock’s lowest grade is for health — life expectancy is 77.9 for men and 82.4 for women. Crime is the sore point: police record 39.1 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, and 10.9 home and vehicle crimes. Among UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, it has less crime per resident than 76%. Housing is within reach (B): the median home sold for £223,000, 4.7 years of area income. The overall grade lands at C−, #43 of 46 in Staffordshire. It comes out better than a fifth of UK towns.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · life expectancy, ONS · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026.
The 2 things Cannock 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 Cannock is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 25 buildings inside Cannock’s built-up area, 3 of them Grade II*, and 1 scheduled monument.
9% 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 Cannock.
Line up the people of Cannock by age and the one in the middle is 41.8. 10% of residents are 15 to 24, below both Staffordshire’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (12%). The 65-and-over age group makes up nearly a fifth of residents.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Cannock | Staffordshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 26% | 25% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 19% | 21% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 22% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.9% | 6.3% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 19% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 23% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Staffordshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Secondary results at the town’s 4 secondary schools: an Attainment 8 score of 41.9, with 34% at grade 5 or above in English and maths. St Joseph's Catholic Primary School’s results beat 89% of schools in England like it. Of its 24 schools, three are shown below, each with the reason. Between them, 16 primaries and four secondaries teach 8,981 pupils in Cannock.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Five Ways Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 597 | C |
| Kingsmead SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,427 | C+ |
| St Joseph's Catholic Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 223 | A |
At the census, a fifth of people here had a disability, about level with Staffordshire’s towns (19%) and above England’s towns (17%). The nearest A&E to Cannock is New Cross Hospital, 7.7 miles away. 6.4% of residents report bad or very bad health. 9 GP practices serve the town; 81% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Cannock | Staffordshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 79% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.4% | 6% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 20% | 19% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · These answers aren’t adjusted for age, so young towns look healthier; the Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 11.5 reports per 1,000, above Staffordshire’s towns (7.3) and England’s towns (7.8) alike. Over the year to August 2026, 4,877 offences were reported in Cannock, along with 834 incidents of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences accounted for 54% of recorded crime.
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.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Nearly a tenth of its homes were built before 1919, below Staffordshire’s towns (12%) and England’s towns (16%) alike. Grade II* covers 3 of them. Cannock has one scheduled monument.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 20% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Unemployment benefit claims reached 3.2% of 16 to 64s in 2026. At the census, 11% went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport, below both Staffordshire’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (27%). Before tax, the average household brings in £48K a year. Also worth knowing: about nearly a third of its commuters stay in Cannock for work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Private rents average £868 a month across the Cannock Chase council area. 16% rent privately, near Staffordshire’s towns (16%) and lower than England’s towns (21%). 2,406 standard sales inside the town’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put the median at £223,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £325,000 | 725 |
| Semi-detached | £210,000 | 1,126 |
| Terraced | £183,500 | 368 |
| Flat or maisonette | £115,000 | 187 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Cannock. Best known first.
Heritage railwayChasewater Railway2.3 km outside town, to the southeastMuseumMuseumMuseum of Cannock Chase100 m outside town, to the northeastAttractionAttractionBirches Valley Forest Centre3.4 km outside town, to the northeastAttractionAttractionGo Ape!3.5 km outside town, to the northeastZooZooRodbaston Animal Zone4.4 km outside town, to the westPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
25 listed buildings in Cannock.
Council House: Photo: John M · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Cross Keys Inn: Photo: John M · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Cannock Mill: Photo: Richard Law · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph · Congregational Chapel: Photo: Richard Law · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph
55 notable people were born in Cannock.
Glenn Hughes: Drew de F Fawkes, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Mel Galley: Geffen Records, Public domain · Elgar Howarth: Tom Yates at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Andy Bishop: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ingythewingy/, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Lewis Askey: Joost Pauwels, CC0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cannock | 63,057 | — | C− | B | C− | C− |
| Huntington | 4,715 | 1.5 | C+ | A | C+ | C |
| Rawnsley | 2,470 | 1.9 | — | B+ | B− | C− |
| Norton Canes | 8,155 | 2.5 | C | B− | C− | C− |
| Great Wyrley and Cheslyn Hay | 17,647 | 2.8 | B− | A− | C+ | C |
| Burntwood | 27,891 | 4 | B− | A− | C+ | C |
| Penkridge | 8,364 | 4.4 | B | B+ | C+ | B |
| Clayhanger | 1,698 | 5 | — | D | B− | C |
Rawnsley and Clayhanger have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Against all UK towns, most of them far smaller, it grades C−.
GCSE results trail 84% of towns in England, and primary results beat 51% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Large town in Staffordshire, England
Cannock is a built-up area of 63,057 people, in the Cannock Chase 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.