Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 15,827 people, this town lies in West Midlands. Mortgage-free owners make up 46% of households.
Cost of living is its weak spot (D): the median home sold for £281,000, 6.1 years of area income. Aldridge’s overall grade of C puts it better than a third of UK towns, #12 of 35 in West Midlands. Safety lags: 24 violent or sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, plus 18.4 home and vehicle crimes. Among UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, it has less crime per resident than 55%. Schools are where it shines: primary results beat 68% of towns in England; secondary results beat 63% of towns in England.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026.
The 3 things Aldridge 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 Aldridge is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 12 buildings inside Aldridge’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade II*.
4% 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 Aldridge.
11% rent privately, below West Midlands’ towns (20%) and England’s towns (21%) alike. Council and housing-body homes hold just over one in ten households. Private rents average £924 a month across the Walsall council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £399,500 | 134 |
| Semi-detached | £301,250 | 274 |
| Terraced | £247,250 | 116 |
| Flat or maisonette | £150,000 | 152 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Three of its 5 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. Between them, three primaries and two secondaries teach 3,648 pupils in Aldridge. Attainment 8 at the town’s 2 secondary schools averages 47.3, and 50% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leighswood SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 442 | C+ |
| Aldridge School - A Science CollegeLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,629 | C+ |
| St Mary of the Angels Catholic Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 239 | A |
The under-15s are 15% of the population here. People aged 15 to 24 make up 9.2% of the town, below West Midlands’ towns (14%) and England’s towns (12%) alike. Typical age in Aldridge: 49, the median.
52% women, 48% men
About 91 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
| Aldridge | West Midlands | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 20% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.2% | 14% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 21% | 27% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 24% | 25% |
| 65+ | 28% | 16% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 21% | 24% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.4% | 4.6% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 30% | 28% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · West Midlands and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Homes built before 1919 account for 4% of the housing. Grade II* covers 1 of them. Aldridge has 8 listed buildings for every 10,000 residents, between West Midlands’ towns (6) and England’s towns (39).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Over the year to August 2026, 906 offences were reported in Aldridge, along with 23 incidents of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences made up 40% of the total. There were 4.2 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), below both West Midlands’ towns (6.2) 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.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 26% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Average household income comes to £51K a year before tax. The car took 86% of commuters, above both West Midlands’ towns (73%) and England’s towns (70%). 31% of commuters travelled under 5 km to work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
2 GP practices serve the town; nearly nine in ten patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. A fifth of residents have a disability, above both West Midlands’ towns (18%) and England’s towns (17%). The nearest A&E to Aldridge is Manor Hospital, 3.7 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Aldridge | West Midlands | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 78% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6% | 6% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 20% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · The census answers take no account of age, so a young town looks healthier; the Health Grade relies on age-adjusted measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Aldridge. Best known first.
MuseumAston Manor Transport Museumin town
Art galleryThe New Art Gallery3.3 km outside town, to the southwest
MuseumThe Leather Museum3 km outside town, to the southwestGardenGardenWalsall Arboretum2.1 km outside town, to the southwestZooZooOak Tree Children's Farm1.4 km outside town, to the northeastMuseumMuseumChasewater Railway Museum4.9 km outside town, to the northPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
12 listed buildings in Aldridge.
Bosty Lane Farmhouse and Farm Building Adjoining to East: Photo: Richard Law · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph · Aldridge War Memorial: Photo: Andy Mabbett · 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aldridge | 15,827 | — | C | D | C | C+ |
| Rushall and Shelfield | 12,844 | 1.5 | D− | C− | C− | D |
| Stonnall | 1,340 | 2 | — | C+ | B+ | B+ |
| Streetly | 16,790 | 2.4 | A− | D− | A− | A− |
| Brownhills | 21,238 | 2.5 | D− | C− | D | D |
| Pelsall | 10,455 | 2.5 | D | D | C | C |
| Clayhanger | 1,698 | 2.5 | — | D | B− | C |
| Walsall | 70,777 | 3.1 | D | C− | D− | D |
Stonnall and Clayhanger 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: 45% 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.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Town in West Midlands, England
Aldridge is a built-up area of 15,827 people, in the Walsall 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.