Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
This town in Staffordshire, West Midlands has a population of 19,388.
Leek’s lowest grade is for schools: primary results beat 31% of towns in England; secondary results beat 10% of towns in England. Crime runs high: 41.7 violent and sexual offences and 10.9 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Against UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, it has more crime per resident than 67%. Housing is within reach (A): a typical home costs £188,500 and rent runs £728 a month. The overall grade comes out at C+, #35 of 46 in Staffordshire. That leaves it better than 36% of UK towns.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026.
The 3 things Leek 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 Leek is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 119 buildings inside Leek’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I, and 4 scheduled monuments.
32% 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 Leek.
Half of the 840 standard sales inside Leek’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £188,500. Social housing holds 15% of households. The owner-occupied share of households is 67%.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £326,500 | 188 |
| Semi-detached | £215,000 | 225 |
| Terraced | £146,000 | 389 |
| Flat or maisonette | £113,750 | 38 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
St Mary's Catholic Academy’s results beat 94% of schools in England like it. At the town’s 3 primary schools, 58% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Of its 12 schools, three are shown below, each with the reason. Leek’s six primaries and four secondaries have 3,180 pupils between them.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Westwood First SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 251 | – |
| Westwood CollegeLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 735 | C− |
| St Mary's Catholic AcademyTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 179 | A |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
The top grade, Grade I, goes to 1 of them. Leek’s listed buildings include the Parish Church of All Saints, Grade I. Historic England’s list names 119 listed buildings in the town: 1 Grade I, 4 Grade II*.
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.
On foot, by bike or by bus and train: that was how just over a fifth of commuters travelled at the census. Nearly half of commuters travelled under 5 km, above Staffordshire’s towns (43%) and England’s towns (45%) alike. In 2026, 2.9% of 16 to 64s were claiming unemployment benefits.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Leek logged 1,431 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 327 complaints of anti-social conduct. Violence and sexual offences accounted for 52% of recorded crime. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 13.2 reports per 1,000, higher than 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; 92% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. 78% of people in Leek rate their own health good or very good. At the census, 6.9% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, above both Staffordshire’s towns (6%) and England’s towns (5.2%). Life expectancy here is 82.4 for women and 78 for men (2019–23).
| Census 2021 | Leek | Staffordshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 78% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.9% | 6% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 22% | 19% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Young towns look healthier on these answers, which aren’t adjusted for age; the Health Grade uses measures that are, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
Under 15: 16% of residents. People aged 15 to 24 make up a tenth of the town, below both Staffordshire’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (12%). Typical age in Leek: 46.3, the median. Degrees are held by 28% of adults.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Leek | Staffordshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.6% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 23% | 25% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 24% | 21% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 21% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6% | 6.3% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 28% | 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 Leek. Best known first.
Art galleryNicholson Institute and Leek College of Further Educationin townMuseumMuseumBrindley Millin townAttractionAttractionNicholson War Memorialin townHeritage railwayHeritage railwayChurnet Valley Railway2.8 km outside town, to the southMuseumMuseumCheddleton Flint Mill1.7 km outside town, to the southAttractionAttractionButter Cross2.8 km outside town, to the southPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
119 listed buildings in Leek, 1 of them Grade I.
Nicholson Institute and Leek College of Further Education: Photo: AtticTapestry · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Greystones: Photo: Dave.Dunford · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Condlyffe Almshouses: Photo: Dave.Dunford · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wellington Mill: Photo: Alan Murray-Rust · CC BY-SA 2.0
32 notable people were born in Leek.
Anna Watkins: Jim Thurston from London, UK, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Averil Cameron: Head girl, CC BY-SA 4.0 · James Ford: Henry Laurisch, CC BY-SA 3.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leek | 19,388 | — | C+ | A | C− | C− |
| Cheddleton | 4,027 | 2.8 | A− | A | A | B− |
| Endon | 2,655 | 4.3 | B+ | B | B− | B+ |
| Biddulph Moor | 1,286 | 4.9 | — | A− | B+ | B+ |
| Brown Edge | 2,374 | 5 | — | A− | A− | B+ |
| Biddulph | 17,490 | 6.1 | C+ | A | C | C |
| Werrington | 6,012 | 6.3 | B− | A | C+ | B− |
| Harriseahead, Mow Cop and Newchapel | 3,637 | 7.7 | B+ | B+ | B+ | B− |
Biddulph Moor and Brown Edge have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 2.5 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Parish Church of All Saints.
GCSE results trail 90% of towns in England, and primary results trail 69% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £188,500, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £113,750, terraced houses £146,000, semi-detached houses £215,000 and detached houses £326,500.
Town in Staffordshire, England
Leek is a built-up area of 19,388 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.