Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A large town in West Yorkshire, Yorkshire and The Humber, home to 48,754 people.
At D overall, Keighley ranks #84 of 91 in West Yorkshire. It comes out better than just over a tenth of UK towns. Where it falls short is safety (D−) — police record 70.7 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, and 24.3 home and vehicle crimes. Only 2% of UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people have more crime per resident. Health is weaker too: life expectancy 75.6 for men, 80.9 for women. Buying a home costs less than in most towns (A): homes sell for a median £151,250, about 3.3 times local household income. Walkability is another plus (A): on the way to work, 24% walk, cycle or take a bus or train. Pupils here do less well than most: primary results beat 22% of towns in England; secondary results beat 6% of towns in England.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · commuting, Census 2021 · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · life expectancy, ONS.
The 3 things Keighley 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 Keighley is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 86 buildings inside Keighley’s built-up area, 3 of them Grade I.
32% 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 Keighley. Best known first.
CastleCliffe Castlein town · 65K visitors a year
Historic house · National TrustEast Riddlesden Hallin town
MuseumMuseum of Rail Travelin town
MuseumBronte Parsonage Museum2.1 km outside town, to the southwest
MuseumBracken Hall Countryside Centre4 km outside town, to the eastMuseumMuseumKeighley Bus 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 Keighley.
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Police recorded 6,261 crimes inside Keighley’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 735 reports of anti-social behaviour. For its size, Keighley records more crime per resident than 98% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 15.5 reports per 1,000, above West Yorkshire’s towns (6.8) and England’s towns (7.8) alike. Violence and sexual offences accounted for half 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.
GCSE results at the town’s 3 secondary schools: 31% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 36.8. Merlin Top Primary Academy’s results beat 79% of schools in England like it. Keighley’s 14 primaries and three secondaries have 7,229 pupils between them. Of its 20 schools, three are shown below, each with the reason.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eastwood Community SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 464 | C |
| Beckfoot OakbankLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,394 | D |
| Merlin Top Primary AcademyTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 343 | A− |
2 GP practices serve the town; two thirds of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 6% of the town. The nearest A&E to Keighley is Airedale General Hospital, 3.1 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Keighley | West Yorkshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 79% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 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 · A young population flatters these answers, which are not age-adjusted; the Health Grade instead uses measures that allow for age, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 18% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
18% of workers worked mainly from home, below West Yorkshire’s towns (28%) and England’s towns (31%) alike. Jobs per working resident: 0.8. Work in town: nearly two fifths of resident commuters. Income per household averages £42K a year, before tax.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
24% rent privately, above West Yorkshire’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (21%) alike. No town in West Yorkshire costs less to buy into than Keighley, at £151,250, the lowest of 91. Behind the median of £151,250: 1,460 standard sales inside the town’s built-up area, September 2023 to August 2026.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £296,500 | 208 |
| Semi-detached | £179,000 | 559 |
| Terraced | £115,500 | 668 |
| Flat or maisonette | £70,000 | 25 |
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.
At the top of the list, 3 are Grade I and 3 Grade II*. Conservation areas cover 5% of Keighley’s land, below both West Yorkshire’s towns (96%) and England’s towns (7%). Of the town’s 86 listed buildings on Historic England’s list, Grade I counts 3 and Grade II* 3.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
People 65 and over make up 15% of the town, below West Yorkshire’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. Half of Keighley is older than 36.1, half younger. Young adults of 15 to 24 account for 13% of the town.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Keighley | West Yorkshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 22% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 13% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 27% | 27% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 23% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 15% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 26% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 22% | 30% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · West Yorkshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
86 listed buildings in Keighley, 3 of them Grade I.
Dalton Mills, all attached buildings and yard surface: Photo: Tim Green from Bradford · CC BY 2.0 · Keighley War Memorial: Photo: SpaceMonkey · Public domain · Keighley Junction Signal Box Approximately 10 Metres to North-West of Bridge over Railway: Photo: Stephen Armstrong · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Fountain Inn: Photo: Andrew Riley · CC BY-SA 4.0
86 notable people were born in Keighley.
Tom Moore: British Army, Public domain · Simon Beaufoy: RealTVfilms, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Eric Pickles: ©House of Lords / photography by Roger Harris, CC BY 3.0 · Alastair Campbell: Chatham House, CC BY 2.0 · Ashley Fletcher: Egghead06, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ricky Wilson: Stefan Brending (2eight), CC BY-SA 3.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keighley | 48,754 | — | D | A | D− | D |
| Oakworth | 3,688 | 2.1 | C+ | A− | C+ | C+ |
| Harden | 1,602 | 2.2 | — | B− | B+ | B |
| East Morton | 1,227 | 2.6 | — | B | A | B+ |
| Haworth | 5,680 | 2.7 | B− | A− | C− | B− |
| Cullingworth | 3,096 | 2.9 | C | C+ | C− | C+ |
| Steeton | 5,019 | 2.9 | B+ | B | D | B |
| Silsden | 8,392 | 3.5 | B | B | C | C+ |
Harden and East Morton 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 Barn Approximately 80 Metres to North-East of East Riddlesden Hall.
GCSE results trail 94% of towns in England, and primary results trail 79% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £151,250, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £70,000, terraced houses £115,500, semi-detached houses £179,000 and detached houses £296,500.
Large town in West Yorkshire, England
Keighley is a built-up area of 48,754 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.