Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town in West Yorkshire, Yorkshire and The Humber, home to 5,410 people.
Good value, with catches elsewhere. Safety lags (D): 51.5 violent or sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, plus 23.7 home and vehicle crimes. Among UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, it has less crime per resident than 4%. Overall, Thornton earns a C, which places it #74 of 91 in West Yorkshire. Nationally, it does better than 29% of UK towns. Cost of living is its strong suit: a typical home costs £178,000 and rent runs £745 a month.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026.
The 3 things Thornton 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 Thornton is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 79 buildings inside Thornton’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade II*.
41% 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 Thornton.
Over the year to August 2026, 575 offences were reported in Thornton, along with 44 incidents of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences were just over two fifths of the crimes. There were 8.8 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), higher than both West Yorkshire’s towns (6.8) and England’s towns (7.8).
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.
Its one school is below. 57% of pupils at the 29 primary schools within 3 km met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). The town’s primary school has 449 pupils.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thornton Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 449 | C− |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Grade II* covers 2 of them. Of Thornton’s land, 9% lies in conservation areas, lower than West Yorkshire’s towns (96%) yet higher than England’s towns (7%). Relative to its size, Thornton keeps 146 listed buildings per 10,000 residents. This West Yorkshire town has 79 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 2 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
9% live in social housing, below West Yorkshire’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. From September 2023 to August 2026, 240 homes sold inside Thornton’s built-up area at standard prices; the middle one went for £178,000. Private tenants account for 22% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £280,000 | 37 |
| Semi-detached | £192,500 | 96 |
| Terraced | £136,250 | 102 |
| Flat or maisonette | £90,500 | 5 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Thornton has no GP practice of its own; the nearest is 1.6 miles away. At the census, 79% of people in Thornton called their health good or very good, lower than both West Yorkshire’s towns (81%) and England’s towns (82%). Women here live to 82.8 on average and men to 78.2 (2019–23).
| Census 2021 | Thornton | West Yorkshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 79% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.4% | 5.7% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 20% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Census health answers are raw, so younger towns score better on them; for the Health Grade we use age-adjusted figures like life expectancy and early deaths.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 28% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Driving is how just over four in five commuters got to work at the census. 6% of commuters who live in Thornton also work there. Jobs per working resident: 0.4. At the census, 14% went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport, below West Yorkshire’s towns (22%) and England’s towns (27%) alike.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Half the people of Thornton are older than 43.2. People 65 and over make up 20% of the town, higher than both West Yorkshire’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (18%). Among adults, 27% have a degree.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Thornton | West Yorkshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.9% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 25% | 27% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 20% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 19% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 27% | 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 Thornton. Best known first.
MuseumNational Science and Media Museum4.6 km outside town, to the east · 442K visitors a year (2015)
Art galleryCartwright Hall Art Gallery4.2 km outside town, to the northeast
MuseumBradford Police Museum4.8 km outside town, to the eastMuseumMuseumBD1 Gallery4.6 km outside town, to the eastArt galleryArt galleryImpressions Gallery4.6 km outside town, to the eastAttractionAttractionSpeakers' Corner4.8 km outside town, to the eastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
79 listed buildings in Thornton.
Church of St James: Photo: Tim Green from Bradford · CC BY 2.0 · Hill Top Public House: Photo: Alexander P Kapp · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Great Northern Public House and adjoining coach house to right: Photo: Michael Steele · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Long Row: Photo: Betty Longbottom · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph
6 notable people were born in Thornton.
Charlotte Brontë: George Richmond, Public domain · Emily Brontë: Branwell Brontë, Public domain · Anne Brontë: Branwell Brontë, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thornton | 5,410 | — | C | A | D | C− |
| Queensbury | 9,707 | 1.8 | C+ | A− | C− | C− |
| Wilsden | 3,749 | 2.1 | B | B | B− | B− |
| Denholme | 2,960 | 2.1 | C− | A− | D− | C+ |
| Cullingworth | 3,096 | 3 | C | C+ | C− | C+ |
| Shelf and Northowram | 9,191 | 3.3 | B+ | A− | C+ | B+ |
| Bradford | 333,968 | 3.6 | C− | A | D− | D− |
| Harden | 1,602 | 3.6 | — | B− | B+ | B |
Harden has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 6 times the typical UK town for its size.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £178,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £90,500, terraced houses £136,250, semi-detached houses £192,500 and detached houses £280,000.
GCSE results trail 59% of towns in England, and primary results trail 73% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). One state school is inside the town; places are handled by Bradford council.
Town in West Yorkshire, England
Thornton is a built-up area of 5,410 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.