Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A large town of 56,343 in West Midlands.
Smethwick grades D overall against UK towns: better than 6% of UK towns, and #23 of 35 in West Midlands. Its strongest subject is walkability (A+): 31% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is safety (D): 51.1 violent and sexual offences and 20.1 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 27%. The median home sold for £210,000 in the last three years, 4.9 times what households in the Sandwell council area earn in a year.
The 3 things Smethwick 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 Smethwick is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 33 buildings inside Smethwick’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I, and 4 scheduled monuments.
39% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Smethwick. Best known first.
Big drawMuseumBirmingham Museum & Art Gallery3.2 km outside town, to the east · 856K visitors a year
CathedralSt Philip's Cathedral3.5 km outside town, to the east
CathedralSt Chad's Cathedral3.3 km outside town, to the east
MuseumSoho House Museum1.3 km outside town, to the east
MuseumThe Barber Institute of Fine Arts3.7 km outside town, to the southeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Smethwick.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 19% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
There are 0.9 jobs in Smethwick for each resident in work. 15% of commuters who live in Smethwick also work there. Household income came to £42K a year before tax, below both West Midlands’ towns (£48K) and England’s towns (£55K). Working from home was the norm for nearly a fifth of workers at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Between them, 16 primaries and three secondaries teach 10,462 pupils in Smethwick. George Betts Primary Academy’s results beat 83% of schools in England like it. Three of its 19 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. Attainment 8 at the town’s 2 secondary schools averages 42, and 36% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uplands Manor Primary School and NurseryLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 734 | C− |
| Holly Lodge High School College of ScienceLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,636 | D |
| Shireland Technology PrimaryTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 440 | A− |
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
5,448 crimes and 203 reports of anti-social behaviour: that is what police recorded inside Smethwick’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026. Among the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, Smethwick has more crime per resident than 73% of them. Violence and sexual offences were half of the crimes.
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.
8 GP practices serve the town; nearly two thirds of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. 15% of residents have a disability, below both West Midlands’ towns (18%) and England’s towns (17%). The nearest A&E to Smethwick is Midland Metropolitan University Hospital, 0.9 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Smethwick | West Midlands | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 81% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.9% | 6% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 15% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Read these answers with age in mind: they aren’t adjusted, so younger places do better. The Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them.
Private renters make up 27% of households, higher than both West Midlands’ towns (20%) and England’s towns (21%). The social rented sector houses 25% of households. Behind the median of £210,000: 852 standard sales inside Smethwick’s built-up area, September 2023 to August 2026.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £400,000 | 29 |
| Semi-detached | £245,000 | 247 |
| Terraced | £195,000 | 542 |
| Flat or maisonette | £113,750 | 34 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Grade II* covers 4 of them, Grade I 1. Historic England’s list names 33 listed buildings in Smethwick: 1 Grade I, 4 Grade II*. Also worth knowing: the town has one registered historic park or garden.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Young adults of 15 to 24 are 14% of residents, close to West Midlands’ towns (14%) and above England’s towns (12%). The 65-and-over age group makes up 11% of residents. Smethwick has a median age of 33.7. Degrees are held by just over a quarter of adults.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Smethwick | West Midlands | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 24% | 20% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 14% | 14% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 30% | 27% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 21% | 24% | 25% |
| 65+ | 11% | 16% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 30% | 24% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 3.4% | 4.6% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 13% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 26% | 28% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · West Midlands and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
33 listed buildings in Smethwick, 1 of them Grade I.
Soho Foundry Former Boulton and Watt Foundry Pattern Stores and Erecting Shops: Photo: Oosoom · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Smethwick Old Church: Photo: Tony Hisgett from Birmingham, UK · CC BY 2.0 · Old Chapel Inn: Photo: Richard Law · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Smethwick Baths: Photo: Tony Hisgett from Birmingham, UK · CC BY 2.0
71 notable people were born in Smethwick.
Richard Swinburne: Andrzej Zet, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ken Wharton: Daan Noske / Anefo, CC0 · Nancy Mackay: Unknown (Toronto Star Archives), Public domain · David Davis: Birmingham City F.C., CC0 · Lee Hughes: https://www.flickr.com/photos/harriers-online/, CC BY-SA 2.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smethwick | 56,343 | — | D | C− | D | D |
| Oldbury | 45,188 | 1.6 | D− | D | D | D |
| Blackheath | 6,950 | 2.9 | D− | C− | D− | D |
| Rowley Regis | 39,052 | 3.2 | D | C− | C− | D |
| West Bromwich | 103,099 | 3.3 | D− | D | D− | D |
| Birmingham | 1,121,367 | 3.9 | D | C | D− | D |
| Halesowen | 60,103 | 4.3 | B− | B+ | C | C |
| Cradley Heath | 18,819 | 4.3 | D− | C− | D | D |
People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Its Grade I building is Galton Bridge Including Attached Railway Bridge Span, Roebuck Lane Birmingham Canal Birmingham Level.
GCSE results trail 80% of towns in England, and primary results trail 51% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Large town in West Midlands, England
Smethwick is a built-up area of 56,343 people, in the Sandwell 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.