Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
17,282 people live in this town in Staffordshire, West Midlands.
Good on most counts; one lags. Cost of living is its strong suit: homes sell for a median £250,000, about 4.6 times local household income. Stone’s overall B puts it #16 of 46 in Staffordshire. Set against the rest, it does better than 63% of UK towns. Crime is the sore point: police record 32.6 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, and 9 home and vehicle crimes. Only 57% of UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people have more crime per resident. It also trails on schools — primary results beat 44% of towns in England; secondary results beat 34% of towns in England. Elsewhere it is close to typical: B for jobs & income, 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 2 things Stone 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 Stone is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 79 buildings inside Stone’s built-up area, 6 of them Grade II*.
11% 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 Stone.
The social rented sector houses just over one in ten households. Private rents average £901 a month across the Stafford council area. Behind the median of £250,000: 855 standard sales inside Stone’s built-up area, September 2023 to August 2026.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £354,950 | 339 |
| Semi-detached | £230,000 | 191 |
| Terraced | £195,000 | 209 |
| Flat or maisonette | £134,000 | 116 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
St Dominic's Catholic Primary School’s results beat 97% of schools in England like it. Between them, five primaries and three secondaries teach 2,958 pupils in Stone. Of its 8 schools, three are shown below, each with the reason. Secondary results at the one secondary school within 3 km: an Attainment 8 score of 45.6, with 37% at grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manor Hill First SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 260 | – |
| Alleyne's AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 846 | C+ |
| St Dominic's Catholic Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 221 | A+ |
The 65-and-over age group makes up nearly a quarter of residents. Nearly a tenth of the population is aged 15 to 24, lower than both Staffordshire’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (12%); what’s more, the under-15s are 16% of the population here. Stone has a median age of 46.1.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Stone | Staffordshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.1% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 23% | 25% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 23% | 21% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 15% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.3% | 6.3% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 37% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Staffordshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Violence and sexual offences were 52% of the crimes. Reported offences in Stone came to 1,050 over twelve months to August 2026; nuisance and anti-social incidents added 204. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 11 reports per 1,000, above Staffordshire’s towns (7.3) and England’s towns (7.8) alike.
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.
2 GP practices serve the town; just over four in five patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. The nearest A&E to Stone is County Hospital, 6.5 miles away. A disability affects 18% of people in the town.
| Census 2021 | Stone | Staffordshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 82% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.8% | 6% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 18% | 19% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · A young population flatters these answers, which are not age-adjusted; the Health Grade instead uses measures that allow for age, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 28% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
There are 0.9 jobs in Stone for each resident in work. 16% of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train at the census, between Staffordshire’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (27%). Unemployment benefit claims reached 2.1% of 16 to 64s in 2026.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Homes from before 1919 make up 11% of the total. Grade II* covers 6 of them. Of Stone’s land, 8% lies in conservation areas, above both Staffordshire’s towns (4%) and England’s towns (7%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
79 listed buildings in Stone.
Crown Hotel: Photo: John M · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Stone Railway Station: Photo: Goose · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Trent and Mersey Canal Newcastle Road Bridge and Lock: Photo: Mat Fascione · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Former Ale Stores, Stables and Nos. 29A and 29B: Photo: Russett1 · CC BY-SA 4.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stone | 17,282 | — | B | A | C | C+ |
| Yarnfield | 2,144 | 2.3 | — | A | A− | A− |
| Barlaston | 1,418 | 3.1 | — | A− | C+ | B− |
| Eccleshall | 3,229 | 5.3 | A− | A− | B+ | A− |
| Blythe Bridge and Forsbrook | 6,798 | 5.6 | B | A− | C | B− |
| Weston | 1,056 | 6.3 | — | A− | A | A− |
| Stafford | 71,695 | 6.9 | B | A | C− | C |
| Upper Tean | 3,244 | 7.6 | A | A | B+ | B− |
Yarnfield, Barlaston and Weston have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
About the middle for its size: 43% 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.
Band D council tax in Stone is £2,337 for 2026–27, less than in 69% of UK towns (council, county, police and fire, plus the parish or town council). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
Town in Staffordshire, England
Stone is a built-up area of 17,282 people, in the Stafford 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.