Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
It has 64 listed buildings, 0 of them Grade I. This town in Worcestershire, West Midlands has a population of 3,936.
What it saves you on housing, it gives back elsewhere. Walking, cycling and public transport work well here: nearly a quarter of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. The catch is jobs & income: households earn a mean £47,949 a year, and 3.7% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. At a median £283,750, a home costs 5.3 times the yearly income of households in the Malvern Hills council area. All told, that adds up to a B overall and a rank of #9 of 22 in Worcestershire. It comes out better than 62% of UK towns.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · income, ONS · claimants, DWP · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Tenbury Wells is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things Tenbury Wells does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 64 buildings inside Tenbury Wells’s built-up area, 4 of them Grade II*.
23% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →64 listed buildings in Tenbury Wells.
Cornwall House: Photo: Philip Pankhurst · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Old Market Hall: Photo: Philip Pankhurst · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Pembroke House Inn: Photo: Dgreenfields · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Former barn adjoining No 68, Berrington Road to the south: Photo: Derek Harper · CC BY-SA 2.0
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Tenbury Wells.
8.8% of the population is aged 15 to 24, lower than both Worcestershire’s towns (10%) and England’s towns (12%). Tenbury Wells has a median age of 50.8. The share of residents under 15 is 16%.
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.
| Tenbury Wells | Worcestershire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.8% | 10% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 19% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 30% | 22% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 22% | 18% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6% | 5.8% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 25% | 32% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Worcestershire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Of its 3 schools, two are shown below, each with the reason. 64% of pupils at the town’s 2 primary schools met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Secondary results at the one secondary school within 3 km: an Attainment 8 score of 47, with 48% at grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tenbury CofE Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 224 | A− |
| Tenbury High Ormiston AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 453 | B |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 17% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Working mainly from home: 17% of workers, below Worcestershire’s towns (27%) and England’s towns (31%) alike. Also worth knowing: about 41% of its commuters stay in Tenbury Wells for work. The car carried 75% of commuters at the census.
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.
23% of its homes were built before 1919, higher than both Worcestershire’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (16%). Tenbury Wells has 163 listed buildings for every 10,000 residents. Grade II* covers 4 of them. It has 64 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 4 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Council and housing-body homes hold a fifth of households. Private rents average £906 a month across the Malvern Hills council area. The £283,750 median rests on 174 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £345,000 | 87 |
| Semi-detached | £245,000 | 47 |
| Terraced | £179,000 | 37 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Among the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Tenbury Wells has more crime per resident than 70% of them. Reported offences locally came to 211 over twelve months to August 2026; nuisance and anti-social incidents added 25. Burglary and damage came to 10.8 per 1,000 residents a year, higher than both Worcestershire’s towns (9.1) and England’s towns (9.4). Of all the crimes, 59% 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.
One GP practice serves the town; 92% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. Just over a fifth of residents have a disability, above Worcestershire’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (17%) alike. Men in Tenbury Wells can expect to live to 80.5, women to 85.5 (2019–23).
| Census 2021 | Tenbury Wells | Worcestershire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 78% | 82% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.7% | 5.1% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 21% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Because the census answers ignore age, a younger population lifts them; that is why the Health Grade is built on age-adjusted measures like life expectancy and early deaths.
4 notable people were born in Tenbury Wells.
Elizabeth of Lancaster, Duchess of Exeter: Mike Searle, CC BY-SA 2.0
Town in Worcestershire, England
Tenbury Wells is a built-up area of 3,936 people, in the Malvern Hills 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tenbury Wells | 3,936 | — | B | B+ | C | B+ |
| Ludlow | 10,037 | 6.6 | C | B+ | C | C+ |
| Cleobury Mortimer | 2,963 | 6.8 | B− | B+ | B | B+ |
| Leominster | 11,206 | 8.7 | C− | B+ | D | C− |
| Bromyard | 3,816 | 9 | C− | B | D | C+ |
People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 6.7 times the typical UK town for its size.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
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.