Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
279 buildings are listed here, 0 at Grade I. It is a town of 8,285 residents in Worcestershire, West Midlands.
The data are hard on it. Schools lag: primary results beat 14% of towns in England; secondary results beat 9% of towns in England. Bewdley grades C− overall, better than 18% of UK towns. That places it #19 of 22 in Worcestershire. It also trails on cost of living — the median home sold for £275,000, 5.9 years of area income. Its other grades sit near the middle: B− for health, C+ for jobs & income and C+ for walkability.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · life expectancy and income, ONS · claimants, DWP · commuting, Census 2021.
The 3 things Bewdley 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 Bewdley is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 279 buildings inside Bewdley’s built-up area, 9 of them Grade II*.
20% 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 1900.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Bewdley. Best known first.
MuseumBewdley Museumin town
Heritage railwaySevern Valley Railway3.8 km outside town, to the east
ZooWest Midland Safari Park800 m outside town, to the east
MuseumKidderminster Railway Museum3.7 km outside town, to the eastMuseumMuseumMilitary Wireless Museum in the Midlands3.3 km outside town, to the eastMuseumMuseumMuseum of Carpet3.4 km outside town, to the eastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Bewdley.
The share of residents under 15 is 13%. Young adults of 15 to 24 are nearly one in ten residents, below both Worcestershire’s towns (10%) and England’s towns (12%). The middle age in Bewdley is 53.5.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Bewdley | Worcestershire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 13% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.5% | 10% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 17% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 32% | 22% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 20% | 18% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.1% | 5.8% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 31% | 32% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Worcestershire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Secondary results at the 3 secondary schools within 3 km: an Attainment 8 score of 38.6, with 31% at grade 5 or above in English and maths. Key Stage 2 results at the town’s 2 primary schools: 53% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Bewdley’s two primaries and one secondary have 1,648 pupils between them.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bewdley Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 431 | C |
| The Bewdley SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 970 | C+ |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
A fifth of homes were built before 1919. Bewdley counts 279 listed buildings on the national list (Historic England): 9 Grade II*. Of the town’s land, 14% lies in conservation areas, higher than both Worcestershire’s towns (9%) and England’s towns (7%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Private renters make up 15% of households, near Worcestershire’s towns (15%) and lower than England’s towns (21%). 10% of households live in social housing. The £275,000 median rests on 351 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £380,000 | 120 |
| Semi-detached | £250,000 | 101 |
| Terraced | £250,000 | 89 |
| Flat or maisonette | £157,500 | 41 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
There were 10.9 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), higher than both Worcestershire’s towns (6.3) and England’s towns (7.8). A year of reports to August 2026 adds up to 419 offences in Bewdley and 74 cases of nuisance behaviour. Burglary and damage add up to 11.5 per 1,000 residents each year. Of all the crimes, 61% 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.
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.
Short trips to work, under 5 km: 38%, below Worcestershire’s towns (46%) and England’s towns (45%) alike. By car: that was how 85% of commuters travelled at the census. About just over a tenth of its commuters stay in Bewdley for work. A household here earns £49K a year before tax, on average.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
At the census, 79% of people in Bewdley called their health good or very good, lower than both Worcestershire’s towns (82%) and England’s towns (82%). 6.1% of residents report bad or very bad health. The nearest A&E to Bewdley is Russells Hall Hospital, 12.1 miles away. One GP practice serves the town; 85% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Bewdley | Worcestershire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 79% | 82% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.1% | 5.1% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 20% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · No age adjustment applies to these census answers, which flatter younger towns; the Health Grade’s measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them, do allow for age.
279 listed buildings in Bewdley.
The Town Hall: Photo: Richard Symonds · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Beales Corner: Photo: Richard Symonds · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Bailiff's House: Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Hop Pole Inn: Photo: Mat Fascione · CC BY-SA 2.0
11 notable people were born in Bewdley.
Stanley Baldwin: Bain News Service, Public domain · Becky Hill: Junefreund, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Mary Sidney: Nicholas Hilliard, Public domain · Quantic: Mike Reger, CC BY 2.0 · John Beddoe: unattributed, Public domain · Luke Woodhouse: DARTS NOW, CC BY 3.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bewdley | 8,285 | — | C− | C | C+ | B− |
| Stourport-on-Severn | 20,302 | 2.8 | D | C+ | C | C |
| Kidderminster | 57,567 | 3 | D | B− | D | C− |
| Wolverley | 1,208 | 3.3 | — | C− | B− | B |
| Waresley | 1,526 | 4.7 | — | B− | C+ | B+ |
| Cookley | 1,971 | 4.7 | — | C | B | B |
| Alveley | 1,505 | 6 | — | B | A− | B |
| Highley | 3,305 | 6.1 | C+ | A | C+ | B− |
Wolverley, Waresley, Cookley and Alveley have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 13.8 times the typical UK town for its size.
GCSE results trail 91% of towns in England, and primary results trail 86% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). Bewdley has 3 state schools; places are handled by Worcestershire council.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Town in Worcestershire, England
Bewdley is a built-up area of 8,285 people, in the Wyre Forest 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.