Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Population 1,526: a village in Worcestershire, West Midlands.
Hazard risk is its strong suit (A). Getting around depends on the car: on the way to work, 7% walk, cycle or take a bus or train. Schools lag (C+): primary results beat 79% of towns in England; secondary results beat 5% of towns in England. Homes sell for a median £409,750, about 7.4 years of what households in the Wychavon council area earn. The rest of its grades are middling: C+ for safety and B− for jobs & income.
Figures: flood risk, Environment Agency · commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · incomes, ONS · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · claimants, DWP. Waresley has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
The 3 things Waresley 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 Waresley is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists them inside Waresley’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 Waresley.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 30% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
The car took 92% of commuters, above Worcestershire’s towns (82%) and England’s towns (70%) alike. For every resident in work, Waresley has 0.6 jobs. Average household income comes to £60K a year before tax.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The town has one school, shown below. GCSE results at the one secondary school within 3 km: 27% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 37.4. 167 pupils attend Waresley’s one primary school.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hartlebury CofE Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 167 | B− |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Grade II* covers 3 of them. Waresley has 125 listed buildings for every 10,000 residents, above both Worcestershire’s towns (48) and England’s towns (39). Before 1919: that is when nearly a quarter of homes were built.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The nearest A&E to Waresley is Worcestershire Royal Hospital, 9.9 miles away. There is no GP practice locally: the nearest is 2.2 miles off. Women here live to 85.8 on average and men to 81.2 (2019–23).
| Census 2021 | Waresley | Worcestershire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 83% | 82% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.5% | 5.1% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 17% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Self-reported health favours young towns, since these answers ignore age; the Health Grade leans on age-adjusted measures such as life expectancy and early deaths.
Three fifths of the crimes fell under violence and sexual offences. Police recorded 65 crimes inside Waresley’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 5 reports of anti-social behaviour. Also worth knowing: among the 1,541 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, Waresley has more crime per resident than 76% of them.
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.
Owners make up just over three quarters of households, higher than both Worcestershire’s towns (67%) and England’s towns (61%). Private rents average £954 a month across the Wychavon council area. 47 standard sales inside Waresley’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put the median at £409,750.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £445,000 | 30 |
| Semi-detached | £335,000 | 13 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or over, higher than both Worcestershire’s towns (22%) and England’s towns (18%). Residents of Waresley have a median age of 47.6. Degrees are held by 36% of adults.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Waresley | Worcestershire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 7.7% | 10% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 22% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 30% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 23% | 22% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 14% | 18% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.3% | 5.8% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 36% | 32% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Worcestershire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Waresley. Best known first.
CastleHartlebury Castle300 m outside town, to the northwest
Heritage railwaySevern Valley Railway5 km outside town, to the north
Historic houseHarvington Hall4.5 km outside town, to the northeast
MuseumKidderminster Railway Museum5 km outside town, to the northMuseumMuseumWorcestershire County Museum300 m outside town, to the northwestMuseumMuseumCanal Heritage Room2.7 km outside town, to the westPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waresley | 1,526 | — | — | B− | C+ | B+ |
| Stourport-on-Severn | 20,302 | 2.3 | D | C+ | C | C |
| Kidderminster | 57,567 | 3.8 | D | B− | D | C− |
| Bewdley | 8,285 | 4.7 | C− | C | C+ | B− |
| Blakedown | 1,448 | 5.5 | — | D | B− | B+ |
| Wolverley | 1,208 | 5.6 | — | C− | B− | B |
| Wychbold | 2,005 | 5.7 | — | B− | C+ | B |
| Droitwich Spa | 26,413 | 5.8 | B− | A− | C+ | C+ |
Blakedown, Wolverley and Wychbold have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 5.1 times the typical UK town for its size.
Burglary was rare, with 2 reports in the year.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £409,750, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: semi-detached houses £335,000 and detached houses £445,000.
Village in Worcestershire, England
Waresley is a built-up area of 1,526 people, in the Wychavon 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.