Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
This large town in Worcestershire, West Midlands has a population of 57,567. Over-65s are 22% of the population.
More weak spots than strong ones. School results trail most towns: primary results beat 23% of towns in England; secondary results beat 12% of towns in England. With a D overall, Kidderminster is better than nearly a tenth of UK towns. At a median £230,000, a home costs 4.9 times the yearly income of households in the Wyre Forest council area. It is easy to get around without a car: on the way to work, 15% walk, cycle or take a bus or train. Safety is weaker too — 40.2 violent and sexual offences and 18.5 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Against UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, it has more crime per resident than 48%.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · incomes, ONS · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026.
The 3 things Kidderminster 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 Kidderminster is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 81 buildings inside Kidderminster’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
15% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Kidderminster. Best known first.
Heritage railwaySevern Valley Railwayin town
MuseumKidderminster Railway Museumin town
CastleHartlebury Castle2.6 km outside town, to the south
ZooWest Midland Safari Park500 m outside town, to the west
Historic houseHarvington Hall2.7 km outside town, to the southeast
FortDrakelow Tunnels1.6 km outside town, to the northPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Kidderminster.
Of its 18 schools, three are shown below, each with the reason. Key Stage 2 results at the town’s 14 primary schools: 56% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Sutton Park Primary School’s results beat 92% of schools in England like it. Secondary results at the town’s 3 secondary schools: an Attainment 8 score of 40.1, with 32% at grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Franche Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 726 | C− |
| King Charles I SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,140 | C |
| Sutton Park Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 233 | A |
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
5,060 crimes and 797 reports of anti-social behaviour: that is what police recorded inside Kidderminster’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 17.5 reports per 1,000, above Worcestershire’s towns (6.3) and England’s towns (7.8) alike. Of all the crimes, 42% 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.
5 GP practices serve the town; 83% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. 79% of Kidderminster’s residents described their health as good or very good at the census, below both Worcestershire’s towns (82%) and England’s towns (82%). Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 6.1% of the town. Also worth knowing: men in Kidderminster can expect to live to 77.7, women to 81.8 (2019–23).
| Census 2021 | Kidderminster | 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 · Young towns look healthier on these answers, which aren’t adjusted for age; the Health Grade uses measures that are, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
The 15-to-24 age group: 10%, near Worcestershire’s towns (10%) and lower than England’s towns (12%). Residents of Kidderminster have a median age of 43.6. People 65 and over make up 22% of the town.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Kidderminster | Worcestershire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 10% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 25% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 22% | 22% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 22% | 18% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.6% | 5.8% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 24% | 32% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Worcestershire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 20% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Just over four in five commuters drove, about level with Worcestershire’s towns (82%) and above England’s towns (70%). There are 0.8 jobs in Kidderminster for each resident in work. Income per household averages £46K a year, before tax.
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.
Of Kidderminster’s land, 2% lies in conservation areas, below Worcestershire’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (7%) alike. The town’s listed buildings include The Parish Church of St Mary and All Saints, Grade I. Relative to its size, Kidderminster keeps 14 listed buildings per 10,000 residents.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
No town in Worcestershire costs less to buy into than Kidderminster, at £230,000, the lowest of 22. Private rents average £825 a month across the Wyre Forest council area. 18% rent privately, higher than Worcestershire’s towns (15%) yet lower than England’s towns (21%).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £335,000 | 566 |
| Semi-detached | £240,000 | 810 |
| Terraced | £177,750 | 614 |
| Flat or maisonette | £115,000 | 161 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
81 listed buildings in Kidderminster, 1 of them Grade I.
Caldwall Hall: Photo: P L Chadwick · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Church of St George: Photo: Aspdin · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Morton's Works (former Carpet Manufacturing Company): Photo: Wooden.alien · CC BY-SA 4.0 · The Gainsborough House Hotel: Photo: Bill Boaden · CC BY-SA 2.0
61 notable people were born in Kidderminster.
Peter Collins: Jitesh Jagadish from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, CC BY 2.0 · Rowland Hill: The photographer is not credited in the book. I've found one other (poor quality) copy of the photo on the internet - at corbis.com, also uncredited., Public domain · Walter Nash: Geoffrey Perry, Public domain · Melissa Lawley: Katie Chan, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Alex Palmer: James Cracknell, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kidderminster | 57,567 | — | D | B− | D | C− |
| Wolverley | 1,208 | 1.9 | — | C− | B− | B |
| Cookley | 1,971 | 2.5 | — | C | B | B |
| Bewdley | 8,285 | 3 | C− | C | C+ | B− |
| Blakedown | 1,448 | 3.2 | — | D | B− | B+ |
| Stourport-on-Severn | 20,302 | 3.4 | D | C+ | C | C |
| Waresley | 1,526 | 3.8 | — | B− | C+ | B+ |
| Kinver | 4,651 | 4.6 | B | C+ | B− | B |
Wolverley, Cookley, Blakedown and Waresley have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Against all UK towns, most of them far smaller, it grades D.
An older town. At the 2021 Census, 22% of residents were 65 or over and 26% were 45 to 64, against 18% and 25% across England’s towns; 17% were under 15.
Large town in Worcestershire, England
Kidderminster is a built-up area of 57,567 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.