Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
9,868 residents make their home in this town in West Yorkshire, Yorkshire and The Humber.
A town of contrasts. Its weakest subject is safety: 47.3 violent or sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, plus 15.3 home and vehicle crimes. Only 8% of UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people have more crime per resident. School results are strong (A−): primary results beat 75% of towns in England; secondary results beat 73% of towns in England. It takes 4.6 years of household income in the Wakefield council area to buy the median home, at £210,000. Put together, the subjects come to a B− overall, ranking #51 of 91 in West Yorkshire. Set against the rest, it does better than 48% of UK towns. Elsewhere it is close to typical: C+ for jobs & income and B for walkability.
Figures: crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · incomes, ONS · claimants, DWP · commuting, Census 2021.
The 3 things Horbury 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 Horbury is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 23 buildings inside Horbury’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade I.
27% 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 Horbury. Best known first.
MuseumYorkshire Sculpture Park4.1 km outside town, to the south · 300K visitors a year
CastleSandal Castle3 km outside town, to the east
CathedralWakefield Cathedral3.4 km outside town, to the northeast
Art galleryThe Hepworth Wakefield3.4 km outside town, to the east
MuseumNational Coal Mining Museum2.9 km outside town, to the southwest
MuseumWakefield Museum3.1 km outside town, to the northeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Horbury.
783 crimes and 68 reports of anti-social behaviour: that is what police recorded inside Horbury’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026. Among the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Horbury has more crime per resident than 92% of them. Violence and sexual offences accounted for 52% 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.
Secondary results at the 5 secondary schools within 3 km: an Attainment 8 score of 49.3, with 53% at grade 5 or above in English and maths. Horbury Bridge Church of England Junior and Infant Academy’s results beat nearly every one of schools in England like it. Some 1,999 pupils attend the town’s three primaries and one secondary. Below are three of its 4 schools, each with why it was picked.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Horbury Primary AcademyLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 435 | A− |
| Horbury AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,070 | B+ |
| Horbury Bridge Church of England Junior and Infant AcademyTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 125 | A+ |
Those aged 15 to 24 account for one in ten residents. 16% are under 15, below West Yorkshire’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. Half of Horbury is older than 46.1, half younger.
52% women, 48% men
About 91 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Horbury | West Yorkshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.6% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 23% | 27% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 22% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 19% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.7% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 30% | 30% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · West Yorkshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Men in Horbury can expect to live to 78.3, women to 83.1 (2019–23). At the census, nearly a fifth of people here had a disability, above both West Yorkshire’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (17%). One GP practice serves the town; 65% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Horbury | West Yorkshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 81% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.9% | 5.7% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 19% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Because the census answers ignore age, a younger population lifts them; that is why the Health Grade is built on age-adjusted measures like life expectancy and early deaths.
Owners make up 68% of households, above West Yorkshire’s towns (61%) and England’s towns (61%) alike. 354 standard sales inside Horbury’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put the median at £210,000. Private rents average £806 a month across the Wakefield council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £365,000 | 85 |
| Semi-detached | £230,000 | 123 |
| Terraced | £166,975 | 132 |
| Flat or maisonette | £128,000 | 14 |
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.
The top grade, Grade I, goes to 2 of them. Horbury’s listed buildings include the Church of St Peter and St Leonard, Grade I. Before 1919: that is when 27% of homes were built. It has 23 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 2 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 27% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Horbury counts 0.7 jobs per working resident. At the census, 16% went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport, below West Yorkshire’s towns (22%) and England’s towns (27%) alike. Two in five commuters travelled under 5 km to work. Of the commuters living in the town, 9% work in the town itself.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
23 listed buildings in Horbury, 2 of them Grade I.
Horbury Hall: Photo: Stephen Craven · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Shepherds Arms Public House: Photo: Betty Longbottom · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 47,49,51, Tithe Barn Street: Photo: Stephen Craven · CC BY-SA 2.0 · St Peters Convent, The Main Ranges Around the Courtyard: Photo: SMJ · CC BY-SA 2.0
5 notable people were born in Horbury.
William Baines: Anon. photograph of subject taken before 1922, thus published more than 70 years ago, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Horbury | 9,868 | — | B− | B+ | D | C |
| Ossett | 21,854 | 1.5 | B | B+ | C | C |
| Netherton (Wakefield) | 2,331 | 1.6 | — | B− | B+ | B− |
| Crigglestone and Durkar | 6,672 | 1.7 | B | B | C | B− |
| Middlestown and Overton | 2,409 | 2.1 | — | B− | C+ | C+ |
| Hall Green | 2,307 | 2.4 | — | B | C− | C− |
| Wakefield | 97,871 | 2.6 | C | B | D− | D |
| Dewsbury | 63,730 | 3.5 | C− | A | D− | D |
Netherton (Wakefield), Middlestown and Overton and Hall Green have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Its Grade I buildings include Church of St Peter and St Leonard.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Town in West Yorkshire, England
Horbury is a built-up area of 9,868 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.