Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 6,127 in West Yorkshire, Yorkshire and The Humber.
Crofton grades B overall against UK towns: better than 58% of UK towns, and #36 of 91 in West Yorkshire. Its strongest subject is hazard risk (A): 0% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. Its weakest is walkability (C+): 12% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. The median home sold for £235,000 in the last three years, 5.2 times what households in the Wakefield council area earn in a year.
The 2 things Crofton 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 Crofton is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 8 buildings inside Crofton’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade II*.
7% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 1 old photo or postcard going back to 1925.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Crofton.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Conservation areas cover 100% of Crofton’s land, above both West Yorkshire’s towns (48%) and England’s towns (7%). Crofton has 8 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
Two of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shay Lane Primary (J and I) SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 233 | C+ |
| Crofton AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,045 | B |
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.
On this, Crofton is below both West Yorkshire’s towns (46%) and England’s towns (45%). 86% of commuters drove to work at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Police recorded 314 crimes inside Crofton’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 39 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences were 54% of the crimes; the police category includes harassment and stalking, so it runs higher than U.S. “violent 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
82% of Crofton’s residents described their health as good or very good in 2021, against 81% across West Yorkshire’s towns. 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 | Crofton | West Yorkshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 82% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.6% | 5.7% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 18% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
In the comparison, Crofton comes below both West Yorkshire’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (21%). 75% of households own their home.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £310,000 | 81 |
| Semi-detached | £215,000 | 81 |
| Terraced | £150,000 | 21 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
For Crofton, that is below both West Yorkshire’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (12%). Those 65 and older account for 21% of residents. The median resident of Crofton is 44.1 years old.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Crofton | West Yorkshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.7% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 24% | 27% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 21% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 21% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.3% | 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 Crofton. Best known first.
CastleSandal Castle2.5 km outside town, to the west
CathedralWakefield Cathedral3.3 km outside town, to the northwest
Historic house · National TrustNostell Priory1.4 km outside town, to the east
Art galleryThe Hepworth Wakefield2.6 km outside town, to the northwest
MuseumWakefield Museum3.8 km outside town, to the northwest
Art galleryThe Art House3.6 km outside town, to the northwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
8 listed buildings in Crofton.
Church of All Saints: Photo: Poliphilo · CC0 · 1 Santingley Lane: Photo: Steve Partridge · CC BY-SA 2.0
5 notable people were born in Crofton.
Richard Fleming: Rudolph Ackermann, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crofton | 6,127 | — | B | B− | C+ | C+ |
| Sharlston | 2,163 | 1 | — | B | C− | D |
| Walton | 3,266 | 1.5 | B | C | B | B |
| Streethouse | 1,691 | 1.7 | — | B+ | D− | D |
| Havercroft and Ryhill | 5,204 | 2.4 | C | B+ | D | D |
| Fitzwilliam and Kinsley | 4,993 | 2.8 | D− | B | D− | D− |
| Normanton | 21,976 | 2.9 | C+ | B+ | D | C− |
| Featherstone | 11,657 | 3.2 | D | B+ | D− | D |
Sharlston and Streethouse have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
About the middle for its size: 64% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people report less crime per resident. Against all UK towns, it grades C+.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
GCSE results beat 65% of towns in England, and primary results beat 64% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Town in West Yorkshire, England
Crofton is a built-up area of 6,127 people, in the Wakefield 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.
