Coventry grades D overall against UK towns: better than 13% of UK towns, and #17 of 35 in West Midlands. Its strongest subject is walkability (A): 24% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is safety (D): 47.6 violent and sexual offences and 23.7 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026. Among UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, it has less crime per resident than 26%. The median home sold for £225,000 in the last three years, 4.6 times what households in the Coventry council area earn in a year.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Coventry is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Coventry.
Safety
Crime per resident in Coventry is higher than in 93% 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.
In the 12 months to August 2026, police logged 34,103 crimes and 1,546 reports of anti-social behaviour inside Coventry’s built-up area. Among the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, Coventry has more crime per resident than nearly three quarters of them. Of all the crimes, 43% were violence and sexual offences.
47.6violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a yearDSafety Grade
Compared with UK towns its sizeLess crime per resident than 26% 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 & sexual14,747
Shoplifting3,603
Damage & arson2,834
Vehicle crime2,711
Other theft2,377
Public order2,051
Burglary1,727
Drugs1,082
Anti-social1,546
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.
47.6
violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
23.7
burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
8.3
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.
SchoolsC+
On exam results, Coventry’s schools trail 62% of towns in England
Secondary results at the town’s 21 secondary schools: an Attainment 8 score of 45, with 45% at grade 5 or above in English and maths. St John Vianney Catholic Primary School’s results beat 96% of schools in England like it. Below are three of its 117 schools, each with why it was picked. Nearly three in five pupils at the town’s 85 primary schools met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
6% of 16 to 64s in Coventry claim unemployment benefits, more than in both West Midlands’ towns and England’s towns
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.
Jobs per working resident: 1.1. Work in town: 58% of resident commuters. Also worth knowing: short trips to work, under 5 km: 50%, higher than both West Midlands’ towns (45%) and England’s towns (45%). Household income averages £49K a year before tax.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Who lives here
Coventry skews young, with 17% of residents aged 15 to 24, more than in both West Midlands’ towns and England’s towns
Degrees are held by 31% of adults, above West Midlands’ towns (28%) but below England’s towns (34%). Over-65s are 14% of the population. Coventry has a median age of 34.9 years. Children under 15 count for 19% of the people here.
34.9median age
CoventryWest MidlandsEngland
Ages · share of residents
17%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications19%
Apprenticeship5%
A levels or similar19%
Degree level31%
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
WomenEnglandMen
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
ONS Census 2021 · West Midlands and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Health
People in Coventry live shorter lives than in 85% of UK towns
51 GP practices serve the town; 79% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. 16% of residents have a disability, lower than West Midlands’ towns (18%) and near England’s towns (17%). The nearest A&E to Coventry is University Hospital, 3.1 miles away.
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Self-reported health favours young towns, since these answers ignore age; the Health Grade leans on age-adjusted measures such as life expectancy and early deaths.
HousingCost of living grade C
More households rent privately in Coventry than in West Midlands’ towns or across England’s towns: 25%
17% live in social housing, below West Midlands’ towns (22%) and close to England’s towns (18%). Half of the 9,453 standard sales inside Coventry’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £225,000. Private rents average £1,022 a month across the Coventry council area.
£225Kmedian sale
Median sale price · Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
Coventry£225K
Typical UK town£277K
By type
Median
Sales
Detached
£365,000
969
Semi-detached
£260,000
2,750
Terraced
£210,000
4,625
Flat or maisonette
£132,500
1,109
57%
of households own their home · England 61%
25%
rent privately · England 21%
£1,022
average private rent a month, Coventry council area
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
History
277 listed buildings, 19 of them Grade I
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
13% of its homes were built before 1919, higher than West Midlands’ towns (7%) and near England’s towns (16%). Coventry’s listed buildings include Bablake School, Grade I. Grade II* covers 24 of them, Grade I 19.
Clive Owen: Alfonso_Cuarón_y_Clive_Owen_(Children_of_men).jpg: Mario Antonio Pena Zapatería derivative work: Jan Arkesteijn, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Philip Larkin: Humphrey Ocean, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ellen Terry: Hayman Seleg Mendelssohn, Public domain · James Maddison: KrispyKrumpets, CC BY 4.0 · Frank Whittle: British Government, Public domain · Lee Child: Mark Coggins at Flickr, CC BY 2.0
Hawkesbury, Ryton-on-Dunsmore and Burton Green have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Questions about Coventry
How many listed buildings are there in Coventry?
Its Grade I buildings include Cathedral of St Michael. It also has 10 scheduled monuments.
About Coventry
City in West Midlands, England
Coventry is a built-up area of 344,289 people, in the Coventry 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
344,289 (Census 2021)
Council
Coventry (mostly)
County
West Midlands
Region
West Midlands
Area
30.3 sq mi (78.4 km²)
ONS code
E63003006
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.
