Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
It is a city of 333,968 residents in West Yorkshire, Yorkshire and The Humber.
Bradford grades low on several counts. Safety is its weak spot: 72.2 violent or sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, plus 28.3 home and vehicle crimes. Set beside UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, its crime per resident is higher than in 98%. At C− overall, Bradford is better than nearly a fifth of UK towns and ranks #80 of 91 in West Yorkshire. Health lags: men here can expect to live to 75, women to 79.8. Housing is within reach: a typical home costs £155,000 and rent runs £748 a month.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · life expectancy, ONS.
The 3 things Bradford 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 Bradford is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 959 buildings inside Bradford’s built-up area, 5 of them Grade I.
31% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 3 old photos and postcards going back to 1902 and a map from 17th century.
Two U.S. towns are named after Bradford.
USUS editionBradford, Rhode Island, settled in 1911, takes its name from this city.
Also named after Bradford:Bradford Township, MN3,549
Named after: each U.S. town’s Wikipedia article. Grades compare each town with towns in its own country, so they aren’t a head-to-head.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Bradford. Best known first.
MuseumNational Science and Media Museumin town · 442K visitors a year (2015)
CathedralBradford Cathedralin town
MuseumBolling Hall Museumin town
MuseumBradford Industrial Museumin town
Art galleryCartwright Hall Art Galleryin town
MuseumBradford Police Museumin townPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Bradford.
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Police figures for Bradford’s built-up area: 47,833 crimes and 4,664 anti-social behaviour reports in the 12 months to August 2026. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 13.9 reports per 1,000, above both West Yorkshire’s towns (6.8) and England’s towns (7.8). 46% of the crimes fell under violence and sexual offences.
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.
Secondary results at the town’s 24 secondary schools: an Attainment 8 score of 41.6, with 39% at grade 5 or above in English and maths. Lift Feversham’s results beat 96% of schools in England like it. Three of its 134 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. 58% of pupils at the town’s 100 primary schools met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beckfoot Heaton PrimaryLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 752 | A− |
| St Bede's and St Joseph's Catholic College, A Voluntary AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,800 | B− |
| Lift FevershamTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 478 | A+ |
42 GP practices serve the town; 67% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. 6.5% of residents described their health as bad or very bad, above West Yorkshire’s towns (5.7%) and England’s towns (5.2%) alike. The nearest A&E to Bradford is Bradford Royal Infirmary, 1.6 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Bradford | West Yorkshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 80% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.5% | 5.7% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 17% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · These answers aren’t adjusted for age, so young towns look healthier; the Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
55% of households own their home, lower than both West Yorkshire’s towns (61%) and England’s towns (61%). The median sale, £155,000, comes from 8,912 standard sales inside Bradford’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. It is the 88th most expensive of 91 towns of 2,500+ in West Yorkshire.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £287,000 | 1,033 |
| Semi-detached | £173,000 | 3,691 |
| Terraced | £124,000 | 3,508 |
| Flat or maisonette | £97,250 | 680 |
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.
31% of its homes were built before 1919, above West Yorkshire’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (16%) alike. Bradford’s listed buildings include Bolling Hall (Museum), Grade I.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 20% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
At the census, 22% of commuters got to work without a car. About 62% of its commuters stay in Bradford for work. There are 1.1 jobs in Bradford for each resident in work. Households had £43K a year before tax, lower than both West Yorkshire’s towns (£52K) and England’s towns (£55K).
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
People 65 and over make up just over a tenth of the town, lower than both West Yorkshire’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (18%). Line up the people of Bradford by age and the one in the middle is 33. 23% of adults hold a degree.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Bradford | West Yorkshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 24% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 15% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 29% | 27% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 21% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 12% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 28% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 4.9% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 15% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 23% | 30% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · West Yorkshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
959 listed buildings in Bradford, 5 of them Grade I.
Cathedral Church of St Peter: Photo: Mick Melvin · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Bradford Town Hall: Photo: John Illingworth · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Bolling Hall (Museum): Photo: StuartBurrows · CC BY-SA 3.0 · The Brewery Tap: Photo: Stephen Craven · CC BY-SA 2.0
669 notable people were born in Bradford.
Edward Victor Appleton: Nobel foundation, Public domain · Zayn Malik: First Access Entertainment, CC BY-SA 3.0 · David Hockney: United Press International, Public domain · Fabian Delph: Кирилл Венедиктов, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Mason Greenwood: User:Zafer, CC BY-SA 4.0 · J. B. Priestley: Associated Press, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bradford | 333,968 | — | C− | A | D− | D− |
| Shipley | 29,228 | 2.7 | C+ | A− | D− | D |
| Oakenshaw | 1,571 | 3.2 | — | A− | D | C− |
| Thornton | 5,410 | 3.6 | C | A | D | C− |
| Baildon | 17,056 | 3.7 | B− | B− | C− | B− |
| Pudsey | 34,853 | 3.7 | B− | C+ | C− | C+ |
| Calverley | 3,988 | 3.7 | B+ | C− | C+ | A− |
| Shelf and Northowram | 9,191 | 4 | B+ | A− | C+ | B+ |
Oakenshaw has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Its Grade I buildings include Cathedral Church of St Peter.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £155,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £97,250, terraced houses £124,000, semi-detached houses £173,000 and detached houses £287,000.
City in West Yorkshire, England
Bradford is a built-up area of 333,968 people, in the Bradford 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.