A tough set of grades. The weak point is safety: 62.8 violent or sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, plus 28.5 home and vehicle crimes. Against UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, it has more crime per resident than 94%. Health lags: men here can expect to live to 76, women to 81.2. Fewer journeys need a car (A): 28% of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. Homes sell for a median £225,000, about 4.8 years of what households in the Birmingham council area earn. All told, that adds up to a D overall, better than 10% of UK towns. It ranks #21 of 35 in West Midlands.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · life expectancy and incomes, ONS · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Birmingham is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
The Barber Institute of Fine Arts: GavinWarrins, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
The data
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Birmingham.
Safety
Per resident, Birmingham sees more crime than 98% of UK towns
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
143,030 crimes and 5,579 reports of anti-social behaviour: that is what police recorded inside Birmingham’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026. Violence and sexual offences accounted for 45% of recorded crime. There were 8.8 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), above both West Midlands’ towns (6) and England’s towns (7.8).
62.8violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a yearD−Safety Grade
Compared with UK towns its sizeLess crime per resident than 6% of the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more: more crime than most for its size. Context only, not part of the grade.
More crimeLess crime
Reports by type · Sep 2025 to Aug 2026
Violence & sexual63,923
Vehicle crime12,478
Shoplifting12,123
Damage & arson11,947
Public order9,361
Other theft9,264
Burglary6,706
Drugs4,949
Anti-social5,579
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.
62.8
violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
28.5
burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
8.8
anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 (not graded)
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.
SchoolsB
Exam results at Birmingham’s schools top 55% of towns in England
Cromwell Junior and Infant School’s results beat nearly every one of schools in England like it. Attainment 8 at the town’s 86 secondary schools averages 46.8, and 46% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths. Of its 440 schools, three are shown below, each with the reason. Between them, 286 primaries and 87 secondaries teach 186,643 pupils in Birmingham.
More people aged 16 to 64 in Birmingham claim unemployment benefits than in West Midlands’ towns or England’s towns: 11%
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 24% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Households had £46K a year before tax, near West Midlands’ towns (£48K) and lower than England’s towns (£55K). Birmingham counts 1.3 jobs per working resident. 66% of commuters who live in Birmingham also work there. The car carried 68% of commuters at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Health
Birmingham’s life expectancy trails 89% of UK towns
165 GP practices serve the town; 73% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. At the census, 6.2% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, near West Midlands’ towns (6%) and higher than England’s towns (5.2%). The nearest A&E to Birmingham is Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, 2.3 miles away.
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.
HousingCost of living grade C
Home ownership in Birmingham, 51%, runs below West Midlands’ towns and England’s towns
25% live in social housing, above both West Midlands’ towns (22%) and England’s towns (18%). Private rents average £1,107 a month across the Birmingham council area. Renting privately is how 23% of households live.
£225Kmedian sale
Median sale price · Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
Birmingham£225K
Typical UK town£277K
By type
Median
Sales
Detached
£385,000
1,944
Semi-detached
£253,000
8,929
Terraced
£210,000
9,435
Flat or maisonette
£148,000
4,490
51%
of households own their home · England 61%
23%
rent privately · England 21%
£1,107
average private rent a month, Birmingham council area
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
History
Birmingham has 1,410 listed buildings, 24 of them Grade I
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Birmingham’s listed buildings include Aston Hall, Grade I. Homes built before 1919 account for 20% of the housing. Conservation areas cover 13% of the town’s land, higher than both West Midlands’ towns (3%) and England’s towns (7%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Who lives here
Birmingham skews young, with 16% of residents aged 15 to 24, more than in both West Midlands’ towns and England’s towns
13% of residents have reached 65. Children under 15 make up 21%, higher than both West Midlands’ towns (20%) and England’s towns (18%). Half the people of Birmingham are older than 33.6.
33.6median age
BirminghamWest MidlandsEngland
Ages · share of residents
16%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications25%
Apprenticeship4%
A levels or similar17%
Degree level28%
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
WomenEnglandMen
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Neville Chamberlain: Lafayette Ltd, Public domain · Francis Galton: Eveleen Myers (née Tennant), Public domain · Austen Chamberlain: Georges Chevalier, CC BY 4.0 · Felicity Jones: Gabriel Hutchinson, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Barbara Cartland: Allan warren, CC BY-SA 3.0
How many listed buildings are there in Birmingham?
Its Grade I buildings include Bakehouse at Castle Bromwich Hall. It also has 11 scheduled monuments.
Does Birmingham flood?
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
About Birmingham
City in West Midlands, England
Birmingham is a built-up area of 1,121,367 people, in the Birmingham 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
Population
1,121,367 (Census 2021)
Council
Birmingham (mostly)
County
West Midlands
Region
West Midlands
Area
85.3 sq mi (220.9 km²)
ONS code
E63002904
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.
