Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 11,607 in West Yorkshire, Yorkshire and The Humber.
Cleckheaton grades C overall against UK towns: better than 31% of UK towns, and #71 of 91 in West Yorkshire. Its strongest subject is cost of living (A): median sale £197,000, 4.1 years of area income; rent £782 a month. Its weakest is safety (D−): 58.3 violent and sexual offences and 27.6 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026. Among UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, it has less crime per resident than 4%.
The 3 things Cleckheaton 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 Cleckheaton is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 20 buildings inside Cleckheaton’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade II*.
31% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Cleckheaton.
Violent crime ran at 58.3 per 1,000 residents a year, above both West Yorkshire’s towns (31.4) and England’s towns (22). Police recorded 1,395 crimes inside Cleckheaton’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 202 reports of anti-social behaviour. Among the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, Cleckheaton has more crime per resident than 96% of them.
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
Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whitechapel Church of England Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 419 | A− |
| Whitcliffe Mount, A Share AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,228 | B− |
The median sale price was £197K, below both West Yorkshire’s towns (£234K) and England’s towns (£308K). 13% of households live in social housing.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £336,750 | 122 |
| Semi-detached | £210,000 | 198 |
| Terraced | £145,000 | 217 |
| Flat or maisonette | £112,750 | 56 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Women here live to 81.1 on average and men to 75.7 (2019–23). 3 GP practices serve the town; 74% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. 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.
| Census 2021 | Cleckheaton | West Yorkshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 81% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.2% | 5.7% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 18% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
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.
Cleckheaton sits above both West Yorkshire’s towns (2.3%) and England’s towns (2.3%) on this measure. Household income averages £45K a year before tax.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
That puts Cleckheaton above both West Yorkshire’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (16%). Cleckheaton has 20 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 0 Grade I, 1 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
On this, Cleckheaton is below both West Yorkshire’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (12%). 17% of residents are children under 15. Half the people of Cleckheaton are older than 42.6.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Cleckheaton | West Yorkshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 26% | 27% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 20% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 19% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.7% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 19% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 27% | 30% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · West Yorkshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Cleckheaton. Best known first.
Historic houseRed House Museum1000 m outside town, to the east
Historic houseOakwell Hall1.8 km outside town, to the northeast
MuseumBolling Hall Museum4.1 km outside town, to the north
MuseumDewsbury Bus Museum4.8 km outside town, to the southeast
ZooPonderosa Zoo3.2 km outside town, to the southeast
MuseumBagshaw Museum3.6 km outside town, to the eastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
20 listed buildings in Cleckheaton.
Town Hall: Photo: Tim Green from Bradford · CC BY 2.0 · Savile Arms Public House: Photo: Humphrey Bolton · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Chapel at Cleckheaton Cemetery: Photo: Humphrey Bolton · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Cleckheaton Library: Photo: Humphrey Bolton · CC BY-SA 2.0
17 notable people were born in Cleckheaton.
Nancy Tyson Burbidge: Colin Totterdell, CSIRO, CC BY 3.0 · Edward Wadsworth: Coburn, Alvin Langdon, 1882-1966 -- 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleckheaton | 11,607 | — | C | A | D− | C− |
| Scholes (near Cleckheaton) | 2,896 | 1.2 | C | A− | C− | C |
| Liversedge | 17,519 | 1.3 | C+ | A | D | C− |
| Gomersal and Birkenshaw | 13,948 | 1.7 | B | A− | C | C+ |
| Oakenshaw | 1,571 | 1.8 | — | A− | D | C− |
| Heckmondwike | 13,368 | 2.4 | C+ | A | D | D |
| Brighouse | 33,159 | 3.1 | B− | A− | D | C |
| Drighlington | 5,280 | 3.2 | C+ | C | C− | C+ |
Oakenshaw has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Police recorded 1,395 crimes inside Cleckheaton’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 42% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £197,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £112,750, terraced houses £145,000, semi-detached houses £210,000 and detached houses £336,750.
Town in West Yorkshire, England
Cleckheaton is a built-up area of 11,607 people, in the Kirklees 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.