Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
2,696 people call this town in West Yorkshire, Yorkshire and The Humber home.
Mostly strong, with a single weak spot. Jobs & income is its strong suit — the mean household earns £65,254 a year. Overall, Shelley earns an A: better than 90% of UK towns, and #6 of 91 in West Yorkshire. What counts against it is walkability (D) — 7% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. At a median £300,000, a home costs 6.3 times the yearly income of households in the Kirklees council area.
Figures: income, ONS · claimants, DWP · commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
The 3 things Shelley 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 Shelley is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 10 buildings inside Shelley’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade II*.
28% 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 1913.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Shelley.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 33% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Driving is how 91% of commuters got to work at the census. 1.3% of 16 to 64s claimed unemployment benefits in 2026, lower than both West Yorkshire’s towns (2.3%) and England’s towns (2.3%). Shelley counts 0.3 jobs per working resident. About 3% of its commuters stay in Shelley for work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
There is one school here; it is shown below. 61% of pupils at the one primary school within 3 km met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). 159 pupils attend Shelley’s one primary school.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shelley First SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 159 | – |
Violence came to 12.7 per 1,000 residents a year, lower than both West Yorkshire’s towns (31.8) and England’s towns (22). Shelley logged 59 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 17 complaints of anti-social conduct. For its size, Shelley records less crime per resident than 92% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. Of all the crimes, 41% were violence and sexual offences.
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.
Self-reported good health: 88% of Shelley’s residents. At the census, 2.5% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, below West Yorkshire’s towns (5.7%) and England’s towns (5.2%) alike. There is no GP practice in the town: the nearest is 0.7 miles off.
| Census 2021 | Shelley | West Yorkshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 88% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 2.5% | 5.7% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 11% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · The census answers take no account of age, so a young town looks healthier; the Health Grade relies on age-adjusted measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Grade II* covers 1 of them. Shelley counts 10 listed buildings on the national list (Historic England): 1 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
4% live in social housing, below both West Yorkshire’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (18%). Private renters make up 9% of households. The median sale, £300,000, comes from 107 standard sales inside Shelley’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £385,000 | 53 |
| Semi-detached | £238,000 | 31 |
| Terraced | £215,000 | 23 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The 65-and-over age group makes up 20% of residents. 10% of the population is aged 15 to 24, below both West Yorkshire’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (12%). The share of residents under 15 is 17%. The middle age in Shelley is 46.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Shelley | West Yorkshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 21% | 27% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 32% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 20% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 12% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.4% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 41% | 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 Shelley. Best known first.
10 listed buildings in Shelley.
Church of Emmanuel: Photo: Humphrey Bolton · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Shelley Methodist Church: Photo: Humphrey Bolton · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph · 152 and 154, Penistone Road: Photo: Dave.Dunford · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 18 and 20, Dam Hill: Photo: Dave.Dunford · CC BY-SA 4.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shelley | 2,696 | — | A | B− | A | A− |
| Shepley | 2,515 | 1 | A | B | A | A− |
| Kirkburton | 4,033 | 1.2 | A− | B+ | B | B+ |
| Skelmanthorpe | 4,458 | 2.1 | B | B | C+ | C+ |
| Denby Dale | 2,734 | 2.5 | A− | B | B | B− |
| Lepton | 4,950 | 2.5 | B+ | B+ | B− | B |
| Emley | 1,433 | 3 | — | C+ | B+ | C+ |
| Honley | 14,399 | 3.1 | A− | B− | B− | A− |
Emley has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 1.5 times the typical UK town for its size.
Secondary schools stand out: GCSE results beat 86% of towns in England. Primary results are closer to the middle, trailing 53%. One state school is inside the town; places are handled by Kirklees council.
Town in West Yorkshire, England
Shelley is a built-up area of 2,696 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.