Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Private rents average £728 a month. A town in Staffordshire, West Midlands, home to 11,403 people.
Homes are affordable here, though not without reasons. Cheadle’s overall grade, B−, puts it better than 53% of UK towns. The ranking puts it #27 of 46 in Staffordshire. Buying a home costs less than in most towns (A): homes sell for a median £218,375, about 4.6 times local household income. Crime is the sore point: 38.2 violent or sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, plus 10.6 home and vehicle crimes. Among UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, it has less crime per resident than 41%. Work and incomes lag: the mean household earns £46,062 a year. Its remaining grades are unremarkable: B for schools, B for walkability and B− for hazard risk.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · income, ONS · claimants, DWP · commuting, Census 2021 · flood risk, Environment Agency.
The 3 things Cheadle 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 Cheadle is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 56 buildings inside Cheadle’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 Cheadle.
12% of households live in social housing. Private renters make up 15% of households, below Staffordshire’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (21%) alike. The median sale, £218,375, comes from 570 standard sales inside Cheadle’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £285,000 | 217 |
| Semi-detached | £200,000 | 245 |
| Terraced | £145,800 | 101 |
| Flat or maisonette | £75,000 | 7 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Below are three of its 5 schools, each with why it was picked. At the town’s 3 primary schools, 58% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Some 2,387 pupils attend Cheadle’s three primaries and two secondaries.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheadle Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 312 | D |
| Painsley Catholic CollegeLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,340 | A− |
| St Giles' Catholic Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 211 | A |
53% of the crimes fell under violence and sexual offences. In the 12 months to August 2026, police logged 812 crimes and 151 reports of anti-social behaviour inside Cheadle’s built-up area. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 10.2 reports per 1,000, above both Staffordshire’s towns (7.3) 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.
3 GP practices serve the town; 82% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. At the census, 79% of people in Cheadle called their health good or very good, close to Staffordshire’s towns (80%) and below England’s towns (82%). The nearest A&E to Cheadle is Royal Stoke University Hospital, 9.5 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Cheadle | Staffordshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 79% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.9% | 6% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 21% | 19% | 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.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Cheadle’s listed buildings include Roman Catholic Church of St. Giles, Grade I. 17% of its homes were built before 1919, higher than both Staffordshire’s towns (12%) and England’s towns (16%). Per 10,000 residents, Cheadle counts 49 listed buildings.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 17% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
15% of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train at the census, higher than Staffordshire’s towns (15%) yet lower than England’s towns (27%). Cheadle counts 0.9 jobs per working resident. Of the commuters living locally, 25% work in the town itself. Among 16 to 64s, 2.6% claimed unemployment benefits in 2026.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Children under 15 make up 15%, lower than both Staffordshire’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (18%). Young adults of 15 to 24 account for 10% of the town. Half of Cheadle is older than 47.6, half younger.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Cheadle | Staffordshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 22% | 25% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 25% | 21% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 23% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.2% | 6.3% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 24% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Staffordshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Cheadle. Best known first.
CastleCaverswall Castle3.8 km outside town, to the west
Heritage railwayFoxfield Railway3 km outside town, to the westAttractionAttractionCaverswall Stocks3.8 km outside town, to the westFortFortFlag Tower4.9 km outside town, to the eastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
56 listed buildings in Cheadle, 1 of them Grade I.
Former Black Horse Public House: Photo: Dave.Dunford · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Market Cross and Stepped Plinth: Photo: Mike Faherty · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Lodge: Photo: Dave.Dunford · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Drinking fountain: Photo: Graham Hogg · CC BY-SA 2.0
8 notable people were born in Cheadle.
Mary Adela Blagg: Unknown photographer, Public domain · Gareth Owen: EchetusXe, Public domain · John Manchester Allen: Supplement to the Auckland Weekly News, 28 September 1938, page 49 - photographer unknown, Public domain · William Harris: Signed E. C. Mountfort, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheadle | 11,403 | — | B− | A | C− | C |
| Upper Tean | 3,244 | 2.1 | A | A | B+ | B− |
| Blythe Bridge and Forsbrook | 6,798 | 3.5 | B | A− | C | B− |
| Werrington | 6,012 | 5.2 | B− | A | C+ | B− |
| Cheddleton | 4,027 | 6 | A− | A | A | B− |
| Rocester | 1,679 | 6.6 | — | A | C | B− |
| Uttoxeter | 14,024 | 7.3 | B− | B+ | C | C |
| Stoke-on-Trent | 260,560 | 7.7 | D | B+ | D− | D |
Rocester has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 2 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Roman Catholic Church of St. Giles.
About the middle for its size: 59% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people report less crime per resident. Against all UK towns, most of them smaller, it grades C−.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £218,375, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £75,000, terraced houses £145,800, semi-detached houses £200,000 and detached houses £285,000.
Town in Staffordshire, England
Cheadle is a built-up area of 11,403 people, in the Staffordshire Moorlands 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.