Photo: David Dixon · CC BY-SA 2.0How Staffordshire stacks up
In Staffordshire, Gnosall ranks #4 of 2,331 towns in the UK for schools, the best showing of any town here. All told, Staffordshire grades C, 47th of 65 graded areas with a score of 28. Its weak spots are a reliance on the car (only 14% of commuters walk, cycle or ride) and more crime than most areas.
Each subject puts the official figure for the whole county beside a measure built from our town grades. How this works
Safety
55th of 65C−16/100 Crime runs high here. At 40.5 violent offences per 1,000 residents, Staffordshire sits 13th highest among the areas. Town by town it lands near the middle, with Cheddleton its best at #67 of 2,138.
With theft, burglary and the rest counted too, 79 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 19th highest.
Source: police.uk street-level crime, September 2025 to August 2026 (each crime placed by its LSOA); Census 2021 residents. Greater Manchester Police publishes none.
Measure: recorded crime against residents (violence, burglary, vehicle crime, criminal damage), as in our Safety grades. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,138 graded towns. 46 Staffordshire towns.
Where recorded crime concentrates
At the quiet end sit Rolleston on Dove (#100), Loggerheads (#220) and Barton-under-Needwood (#234) of 2,138 towns. The busiest quarter for recorded crime takes in Stoke-on-Trent. By population, 22% of its town residents are in top-quarter towns and 27% in bottom-quarter ones.
| County | Safest quarter | Most-crime quarter | Split |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ards and North Down | 100% | 0% | |
| Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | 100% | 0% | |
| Lisburn and Castlereagh | 100% | 0% | |
| Mid Ulster | 100% | 0% | |
| Antrim and Newtownabbey | 78% | 0% | |
| Staffordshire | 22% | 27% |
Town centres and the people who live there
Each crime on police.uk is pinned to a nearby street or public place, not an address; both figures count crimes where those points fall. The county-wide rate takes in town centres, stations and shopping streets, where many offences are recorded but few people live. Our town grades leave shop theft and other town-centre crime out and count violence, burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage, the crimes that reach people at home.
Schools
53rd of 90C+42/100 Results slightly under the middle for England. Its standout is Gnosall, #4 in the UK for schools. Staffordshire’s eleven-year-olds rank 12th highest in the national tests: 64% reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths. Results shift with age: 12th highest at the end of primary school, 3rd lowest at GCSE.
Attainment 8 at GCSE: 42.8 (3rd lowest), weighed equally with the primary results.
Source: DfE key stage 2 results 2024/25 and key stage 4 (Attainment 8), every state school in the county, pupil-weighted. England only.
Measure: our Schools grade: primary and secondary results of the schools in and around each town. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,331 graded towns. 46 Staffordshire towns.
Cost of living
53rd of 98B−46/100 About average on cost. At £230,000 for a typical home and £48,700 of household income, prices run 4.7 times income, the 47th highest ratio of 98 areas. 45% of town residents live in top-quarter towns such as Stafford and Leek, and almost none at the bottom. Over five years, typical prices have risen 12%.
The middle home sold for £230,000 over the past year, 47th highest of the areas.
Private rent £855 a month (38th lowest); Band D council tax £2,299 (37th lowest). Shown for context.
Source: HM Land Registry Price Paid, standard sales September 2025 to August 2026; ONS small-area income estimates (financial year ending 2023); ONS Price Index of Private Rents (August 2026); council Band D 2026/27.
Measure: our Cost of living grade: prices and rents against local income, plus council tax. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,515 graded towns. 46 Staffordshire towns.
Health
57th of 98C+42/100 Health a notch below average. People here can expect 64.4 years in good health, against 65.2 across England and Wales (20th shortest of 55 areas with figures). Gnosall leads its towns at #383 of 2,515; 14% of town residents live in top-quarter towns.
Life expectancy at birth: 80.5 years, 20th shortest.
Source: ONS life expectancy and healthy life expectancy by small area (MSOA), 2019 to 2023, men and women averaged.
Measure: our Health grade: ONS life and healthy life expectancy, Census health, and OHID indicators in England. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,515 graded towns. 46 Staffordshire towns.
Jobs & income
69th of 98C30/100 Incomes a notch below average. At £48,700 a year, household incomes here are the 49th lowest of 98 areas. Town by town it lands near the middle, with Barton-under-Needwood its best at #172 of 2,156.
Claimant rate: 3.4% of 16 to 64-year-olds claim out-of-work benefits (August 2026), 35th highest. Counted half in the grade.
Source: ONS small-area income estimates (financial year ending 2023), household-weighted; DWP claimant count (August 2026) by council.
Measure: our Jobs & income grade: household income. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,156 graded towns. 46 Staffordshire towns.
Getting about
83rd of 98C−15/100 Hard going without a car. No town here reaches the top quarter for the UK; its best is Leek, #534. 14% of commuters walk, cycle or take the bus or train to work, against 26% across England and Wales (19th lowest of 98 areas). Every neighbour scores higher, the West Midlands, Derbyshire and Cheshire among them.
Worked mainly from home at the 2021 Census: 23% of workers (context; they are left out of the commuting share).
Source: ONS Census 2021, method of travel to work (TS061) by council; people working mainly from home left out.
Measure: our Walkability grade: how many everyday places are within reach on foot. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,515 graded towns. 46 Staffordshire towns.
Flood risk
7th of 87A93/100 Low flood risk, town after town. 55% of town residents live in top-quarter towns such as Harriseahead, Mow Cop and Newchapel and Talke and Talke Pits, and almost none at the bottom. Staffordshire ranks 4th lowest of 55 areas with figures for flood risk: 0.4% of town homes are in harm’s way. No neighbour beats it on flood risk; Cheshire comes closest.
Source: Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales flood-risk maps (rivers and the sea), homes in every town of the county.
Measure: our Hazard risk grade: the share of homes at high or medium flood risk. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,452 graded towns. 46 Staffordshire towns.
Growth
44th of 98B56/100 Steady growth. Staffordshire grew 7.2% from 2011 to 2024, against 10.0% for England and Wales. 12% of town residents live in a top-quarter town, 18% in a bottom-quarter one; Fradley ranks highest.
From 2021 to 2024 alone, +3.7% (24th fastest).
Source: ONS mid-year population estimates, 2011 and 2024.
Measure: population change from 2011 to 2024 (ONS estimates for built-up areas). The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 1,579 graded towns. 37 Staffordshire towns.
How Staffordshire compares to its neighbours
Next to the West Midlands, Derbyshire, Cheshire, Shropshire and Leicestershire, it comes out ahead on flood risk and behind on getting about.
| Staffordshire | West Midlands | Derbyshire | Cheshire | Shropshire | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | C 2847th of 65 | C− 1953rd of 65 | C 3046th of 65 | B 6424th of 65 | C+ 4238th of 65 |
| Safety | C− 1653rd official · 22% in top towns | D 563rd official · 10% in top towns | C− 2157th official · 25% in top towns | C+ 4237th official · 26% in top towns | B 5628th official · 26% in top towns |
| Schools | C+ 4212th official · 7% in top towns | B 5612th official · 8% in top towns | C 2643rd official · 7% in top towns | A− 816th official · 30% in top towns | C− 2425th official · 4% in top towns |
| Cost of living | B− 4652nd official · 45% in top towns | C 3058th official · 4% in top towns | B 5749th official · 69% in top towns | C 3368th official · 28% in top towns | C+ 4463rd official · 59% in top towns |
| Health | C+ 4236th official · 14% in top towns | D 1353rd official · 9% in top towns | B− 4640th official · 19% in top towns | A− 7519th official · 29% in top towns | B 5825th official · 18% in top towns |
| Jobs & income | C 3050th official · 5% in top towns | C 2755th official · 9% in top towns | B− 4846th official · 11% in top towns | B+ 6936th official · 20% in top towns | C 3441st official · 3% in top towns |
| Getting about | C− 1580th official · 0% in top towns | B 6021st official · 0% in top towns | C 2767th official · 0% in top towns | C 2668th official · 0% in top towns | C− 1878th official · 0% in top towns |
| Flood risk | A 934th official · 55% in top towns | A− 768th official · 25% in top towns | B 6229th official · 29% in top towns | A− 7820th official · 40% in top towns | B+ 7212th official · 22% in top towns |
| Growth | B 5645th official · 12% in top towns | B+ 7023rd official · 21% in top towns | C+ 4344th official · 3% in top towns | B+ 6623rd official · 15% in top towns | A 8719th official · 54% in top towns |
Each cell: the subject’s grade and score, the county’s rank on the official figure (1st = the better end), and the share of its town residents living in a top-quarter town for the UK. Neighbour names open their report cards.
How this report card works
Two measures, side by side. The left card is an official figure for the whole county, its towns, villages and countryside together, built from the small areas and councils that make it up and ranked against the other counties. The right card is built from our town grades: of everyone living in the county’s graded towns of 2,500 or more, the share whose town is in the top quarter for the UK. Quarters are of people, not towns: the top quarter is the best-placed towns that together hold a quarter of everyone living in graded towns, so a county of big cities is not marked down just for being urban. A county can do well on one measure and not the other; that difference is often the story.
Scores and grades. Each subject’s score (0–100) is the area’s standing in one UK league of 98: the ceremonial counties of England (London counts as one), Wales’s eight preserved counties, and Scotland’s 32 and Northern Ireland’s 11 council areas, each called by its own name. The two measures’ percentiles are averaged, then ranked again, the same method as our town grades. Where a nation publishes its own kind of figure, the official figure is ranked within that nation: school results everywhere, health in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and flood risk in Scotland. Each area’s figures are set beside its own nation’s. 100 is the best county, 0 the last. Letters use the town-grade scale (A+ from 95, A from 85, A− from 75 … D below 15). The overall score weighs safety 18, cost of living 18, schools 16, health 14, jobs & income 12, getting about 8, growth 8, flood risk 6 (out of 100), over the subjects a county has. Counties with fewer than 5 graded towns (Rutland, Bristol) are graded on the official figures alone.
What it is not. A county figure averages everyone, so it cannot show whether a county is evenly good or a mix of very good and struggling places. The town measure shows the mix but leaves out villages and towns under 2,500. Neither says anything about any one street.
Gaps. Wales publishes no school results that compare with England’s, so Welsh counties have no Schools grade. Greater Manchester Police publishes no street-level crime, so Greater Manchester has no Safety grade and, as for its towns, no overall grade. Nor does Police Scotland, so Scotland’s council areas have no Safety grade or overall grade yet. Scotland and Northern Ireland have no small-area income figures, so their household income is estimated from ONS household income per head. Flood risk has no county-wide official figure; it is the share of homes in the county’s towns at high or medium risk. Sources are named under each figure. How grades work
Sources: 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.