Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
4,458 residents make their home in this town in West Yorkshire, Yorkshire and The Humber.
Plenty in its favour, and one clear drawback. Overall, Skelmanthorpe earns a B, better than 56% of UK towns. It ranks #38 of 91 in West Yorkshire. Schools are its strong suit — primary results beat 50% of towns in England; secondary results beat 86% of towns in England. Homes sell for a median £260,000, about 5.4 years of what households in the Kirklees council area earn. What counts against it is safety (C+): 28.4 violent or sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, plus 11.7 home and vehicle crimes. Only a third of UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people have more crime per resident. The rest of its grades are middling: C+ for health, B− for jobs & income and C+ for hazard risk.
Figures: crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · incomes and life expectancy, ONS · claimants, DWP · flood risk, Environment Agency.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Skelmanthorpe is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things Skelmanthorpe does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 10 buildings inside Skelmanthorpe’s built-up area.
24% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Skelmanthorpe.
Young adults of 15 to 24 are 9.1% of residents, below both West Yorkshire’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (12%). 16% of residents are children under 15. Line up the people of Skelmanthorpe by age and the one in the middle is 47.5.
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
| Skelmanthorpe | West Yorkshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.1% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 22% | 27% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 26% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 19% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.1% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 33% | 30% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · West Yorkshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Secondary results at the one secondary school within 3 km: an Attainment 8 score of 51.8, with 59% at grade 5 or above in English and maths. Of its 2 schools, one is shown below, with the reason. Key Stage 2 results at the 2 primary schools within 3 km: 62% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Aidan's Church of England AcademyLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 137 | – |
Reported offences in Skelmanthorpe came to 204 over twelve months to August 2026; nuisance and anti-social incidents added 34. 53% of the crimes fell under violence and sexual offences. For its size, Skelmanthorpe records more crime per resident than 67% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
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.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 29% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
There are 0.4 jobs in Skelmanthorpe for each resident in work. Short trips to work, under 5 km: 28%, lower than both West Yorkshire’s towns (46%) and England’s towns (45%), and the census found 12% of commuters going to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. Of the commuters living here, 10% work in the town itself.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
14% of households rent privately. Social housing holds nearly one in ten households, lower than both West Yorkshire’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (18%). The median sale, £260,000, comes from 336 standard sales inside Skelmanthorpe’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £342,950 | 126 |
| Semi-detached | £244,000 | 121 |
| Terraced | £192,500 | 86 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
One GP practice serves the town; 88% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. The nearest A&E to Skelmanthorpe is Barnsley Hospital, 6.5 miles away. At the census, nearly a fifth of people here had a disability, above both West Yorkshire’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (17%).
| Census 2021 | Skelmanthorpe | West Yorkshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 82% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.7% | 5.7% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 19% | 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 heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Homes from before 1919 make up 24% of the total. Of Skelmanthorpe’s land, 5% lies in conservation areas, below both West Yorkshire’s towns (96%) and England’s towns (7%). Per 10,000 residents, Skelmanthorpe counts 22 listed buildings.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Skelmanthorpe. Best known first.
MuseumYorkshire Sculpture Park4.8 km outside town, to the northeast · 300K visitors a year
MuseumCannon Hall3.1 km outside town, to the southeast
MuseumCawthorne Victoria Jubilee Museum4.4 km outside town, to the southeastHeritage railwayHeritage railwayWhistlestop Valley1.4 km outside town, to the eastMuseumMuseumDe Morgan Museum3.1 km outside town, to the southeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
4 notable people were born in Skelmanthorpe.
Jodie Whittaker: Ann Wallsmith for Galaxy Con, CC BY 4.0 · Biff Byford: S. Bollmann, CC BY-SA 4.0
Town in West Yorkshire, England
Skelmanthorpe is a built-up area of 4,458 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
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skelmanthorpe | 4,458 | — | B | B | C+ | C+ |
| Denby Dale | 2,734 | 1.4 | A− | B | B | B− |
| Clayton West and Scissett | 4,382 | 1.4 | B | B | C | B− |
| Emley | 1,433 | 1.7 | — | C+ | B+ | C+ |
| Shelley | 2,696 | 2.1 | A | B− | A | A− |
| Shepley | 2,515 | 2.6 | A | B | A | A− |
| Kirkburton | 4,033 | 2.8 | A− | B+ | B | B+ |
| Flockton | 1,732 | 2.8 | — | B | B− | B− |
Emley and Flockton have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
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.