Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A large town of 33,159 in West Yorkshire, Yorkshire and The Humber.
What it saves you on housing, it gives back elsewhere. Safety lags: 46.3 violent or sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, plus 16.2 home and vehicle crimes. Among UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, it has less crime per resident than 19%. Its strongest subject is cost of living: a typical home costs £216,000 and rent runs £756 a month. Overall, that makes a B−, good for #50 of 91 in West Yorkshire. That leaves it better than nearly half of UK towns. Elsewhere it is close to typical: B for schools, C+ for jobs & income and B for walkability.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · income, ONS · claimants, DWP · commuting, Census 2021.
The 3 things Brighouse 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 Brighouse is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 114 buildings inside Brighouse’s built-up area, 6 of them Grade II*, and 1 scheduled monument.
30% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 2 old photos and postcards going back to 1908 and a map from 1893.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Brighouse. Best known first.
MuseumTolson Museum4.7 km outside town, to the south
MuseumShibden Hall500 m outside town, to the northwest
Art galleryHuddersfield Library and Art Gallery4.1 km outside town, to the south
MuseumEureka! The National Children's Museum1.7 km outside town, to the west
MuseumCalderdale Industrial Museum1.7 km outside town, to the westPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Brighouse.
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
The 12 months to August 2026 brought 3,031 recorded crimes inside Brighouse’s built-up area, and 286 reports of anti-social behaviour. Among the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, Brighouse has more crime per resident than just over four fifths of them. Violence and sexual offences accounted for 47% of recorded crime.
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.
Of its 16 schools, three are shown below, each with the reason. Secondary results at the town’s 3 secondary schools: an Attainment 8 score of 45.3, with 43% at grade 5 or above in English and maths. At the town’s 11 primary schools, 65% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Woodhouse Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 415 | A− |
| Rastrick High SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,774 | A− |
| Trinity Academy St Chad'sTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 121 | A |
The private rented sector houses 17% of households. 14% live in social housing, lower than both West Yorkshire’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (18%). The £216,000 median rests on 1,495 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £370,000 | 257 |
| Semi-detached | £232,500 | 576 |
| Terraced | £159,500 | 567 |
| Flat or maisonette | £120,000 | 95 |
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.
Of Brighouse’s land, 1% lies in conservation areas, lower than both West Yorkshire’s towns (96%) and England’s towns (7%). Grade II* covers 6 of them. This West Yorkshire town counts 114 listed buildings on the national list (Historic England): 6 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Children under 15 count for 16% of the people here. The 15-to-24 age group: 9.8%, below West Yorkshire’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (12%) alike. Graduates make up 31% of adults.
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Brighouse | West Yorkshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.8% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 23% | 27% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 23% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 18% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.7% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 31% | 30% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · West Yorkshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
5 GP practices serve the town; 83% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. The nearest A&E to Brighouse is Calderdale Royal Hospital, 2.8 miles away. At the census, 5.4% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, about level with both West Yorkshire’s towns (5.7%) and England’s towns (5.2%).
| Census 2021 | Brighouse | West Yorkshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 81% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.4% | 5.7% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 19% | 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.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 29% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
For every resident in work, Brighouse has 1.1 jobs. The car took just over four in five commuters, above West Yorkshire’s towns (74%) and England’s towns (70%) alike. The 2026 claimant rate among 16 to 64s was 3.1%. Of the commuters living here, 25% work in the town itself.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
114 listed buildings in Brighouse.
Church of St Matthew: Photo: Tim Marchant · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Highley Hall and Barn: Photo: Humphrey Bolton · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Old Manor House: Photo: Humphrey Bolton · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Anchor Pit Lock: Photo: Humphrey Bolton · CC BY-SA 2.0
19 notable people were born in Brighouse.
Divina de Campo: Bearas, CC BY 4.0 · Josiah Firth: Unknown photographer, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brighouse | 33,159 | — | B− | A− | D | C |
| Scholes (near Cleckheaton) | 2,896 | 2.2 | C | A− | C− | C |
| Elland | 15,788 | 2.6 | B | A | D | C− |
| Shelf and Northowram | 9,191 | 3 | B+ | A− | C+ | B+ |
| Cleckheaton | 11,607 | 3.1 | C | A | D− | C− |
| Oakenshaw | 1,571 | 3.5 | — | A− | D | C− |
| Liversedge | 17,519 | 3.6 | C+ | A | D | C− |
| Huddersfield | 141,683 | 4 | C | A | D | D |
Oakenshaw has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 1.4 times the typical UK town for its size. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Large town in West Yorkshire, England
Brighouse is a built-up area of 33,159 people, in the Calderdale 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.