Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The large town, home to 32,982 people, lies in West Yorkshire, Yorkshire and The Humber.
Pontefract’s overall grade of C+ puts it better than 41% of UK towns, #59 of 91 in West Yorkshire. Crime is the sore point: 57.2 violent or sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, plus 17.8 home and vehicle crimes. Only 8% of UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people have more crime per resident. Health outcomes fall short of most towns (C−): life expectancy is 77.7 for men and 80.8 for women. Schools do well (A): primary results beat 96% of towns in England; secondary results beat 69% of towns in England. Homes are affordable (B+): a typical home costs £205,000 and rent runs £806 a month.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · life expectancy, ONS.
The 2 things Pontefract 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 Pontefract is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 63 buildings inside Pontefract’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I, and 3 scheduled monuments.
8% 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 1887 and a map from 1887.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Pontefract.
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 16.1 reports per 1,000, higher than both West Yorkshire’s towns (6.8) and England’s towns (7.8). Pontefract logged 3,486 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 512 complaints of anti-social conduct. Violence and sexual offences made up 49% of the total.
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 town’s 2 secondary schools: an Attainment 8 score of 48.1, with 51% at grade 5 or above in English and maths. Three of its 15 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. 75% of pupils at the town’s 10 primary schools met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ark Halfpenny Lane Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 434 | A+ |
| Ark The King's SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,041 | A− |
| Ark Larks Hill Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 203 | A+ |
The nearest A&E to Pontefract is Pinderfields Hospital, 7.5 miles away. 6.7% of residents described their health as bad or very bad, above West Yorkshire’s towns (5.7%) and England’s towns (5.2%) alike; what’s more, a disability affects a fifth of people locally. Also worth knowing: 3 GP practices serve the town; 70% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Pontefract | West Yorkshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 79% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.7% | 5.7% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 20% | 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.
Social housing holds 22% of households, higher than both West Yorkshire’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (18%). The £205,000 median rests on 1,270 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026). The owner-occupied share of households is 64%.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £315,000 | 357 |
| Semi-detached | £195,000 | 630 |
| Terraced | £165,000 | 203 |
| Flat or maisonette | £90,000 | 80 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 21% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
3.4% of 16 to 64s claimed unemployment benefits in 2026, above West Yorkshire’s towns (2.3%) and England’s towns (2.3%) alike. By car: that was how 81% of commuters travelled at the census. Of the commuters living in Pontefract, 22% work in the town itself. For nearly two in five commuters, work was under 5 km away.
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.
8% of homes date from before 1919. Pontefract has 63 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 1 Grade I, 8 Grade II*. Its listed buildings include The Hermitage, Grade I.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
10% of the population is aged 15 to 24, below both West Yorkshire’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (12%). At 41.2, the median resident of Pontefract sits in the middle of the age range. Retirement age and beyond: nearly a fifth of residents are 65 or older.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Pontefract | West Yorkshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 27% | 27% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 19% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 23% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.3% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 25% | 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 Pontefract. Best known first.
CastlePontefract Castlein town
MuseumPontefract Museumin town
MuseumQueen's Mill3.3 km outside town, to the northwestTheme parkTheme parkDiggerland Yorkshire3.4 km outside town, to the northwestMuseumMuseumCastleford Forum Museum3.1 km outside town, to the northwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
63 listed buildings in Pontefract, 1 of them Grade I.
Pontefract Castle: part of late Saxon cemetery and town ditch, Norman motte and bailey castle and later medieval enclosure castle: Photo: Unknown photographer · Public domain · The Hermitage: Photo: Bill Henderson · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Church of All Saints: Photo: Tim Green from Bradford · CC BY 2.0 · The Green Dragon Public House: Photo: Rept0n1x · CC BY-SA 3.0
164 notable people were born in Pontefract.
Toby Kebbell: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Helen Baxendale: David L. Williams, Public domain · Paul Green: Michael Kranewitter, CC BY-SA 3.0 at · Charles Wood, 1st Viscount Halifax: William Walker, Public domain · Jane Collins: Derek Bennett, CC BY 2.0 · Arthur Maude: Arthur Maude (1880-1950), Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pontefract | 32,982 | — | C+ | B+ | D | C− |
| Darrington | 1,194 | 1.9 | — | C− | C− | A− |
| Holmfield | 4,150 | 2.1 | C− | A− | D− | D− |
| Featherstone | 11,657 | 2.3 | D | B+ | D− | D |
| Castleford | 45,363 | 2.5 | D | B+ | D− | D |
| Knottingley | 9,516 | 2.6 | C | B+ | D− | D− |
| Byram | 1,436 | 2.9 | — | A | C | B− |
| Ackworth Moor Top | 6,275 | 3.7 | B | B− | C+ | A− |
Darrington and Byram have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Secondary results beat 69%.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £205,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £90,000, terraced houses £165,000, semi-detached houses £195,000 and detached houses £315,000.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Large town in West Yorkshire, England
Pontefract is a built-up area of 32,982 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.