Guides · 2026-10-28
Retford or Worksop: which Bassetlaw town suits you?
Retford records less crime per resident and has a GP closer to its centre; Worksop has more schools, buses, green space and better broadband. Here is how Bassetlaw's two main towns compare on the official data.
Retford and Worksop are the two main towns in Bassetlaw, in the north of the county. If you are moving to the area, they are usually the first two places you look at, and they suit different people.
Side by side
| Measure (about 3 km around the centre) | Retford | Worksop |
|---|---|---|
| Crime and anti-social behaviour per 1,000 residents a year | 92 | 131 |
| Open schools within 3 km | 9 | 16 |
| Bus stops within 800 m | 38 | 61 |
| Nearest GP | 0.2 km | 0.7 km |
| Homes able to get gigabit broadband | 60.6% | 83.8% |
| Green space within 3 km | 19.2% | 29.9% |
| Parks, playing fields and play areas | 28 | 39 |
| Shops and everyday services per square km | 6.2 | 9.3 |
| Postcodes with homes at medium or high flood risk | 6.5% | 2.5% |
| Modelled peak drive to the nearest major town or city | 44 min | 36 min |
What the numbers say
- Retford records noticeably less crime per resident: 92 reports per 1,000 a year against 131 around Worksop.
- Worksop is the bigger town on almost every count of things nearby: 16 schools in range against 9, 61 bus stops within a 10-minute walk against 38, and more parks and green space.
- Broadband is better around Worksop, where about 83.8% of homes can get gigabit, against about 60.6% around Retford.
- Flood risk is low in both, though higher around Retford (6.5% of nearby postcodes) than Worksop (2.5%).
If lower recorded crime and a GP close to the centre matter most, Retford looks the better fit. If you want more schools, buses and green space, and faster broadband for working from home, Worksop has more of it.
Crime figures are reports to the police per resident, not a measure of how safe a street feels. Each place is measured over the 2021 neighbourhoods centred within about 3 km, so neighbouring places share some of the same records, and anywhere close to a busy centre has a higher rate per resident because more people pass through than live there.
Retford in full · Worksop in full · Compare both against your own priorities
Figures as published on PlaceFit's area pages on 22 October 2026, measured over about 3 km around each place's centre unless stated. Sources: police.uk street-level crime and anti-social behaviour, September 2025 to August 2026, per Census 2021 resident; Get Information about Schools (DfE); NaPTAN bus stops (DfT), within 800 m; NHS England GP practices and branch surgeries (ODS), straight-line distance; Ofcom Connected Nations (broadband July 2025, by postcode district); OS Open Greenspace and OS Open Zoomstack; Environment Agency Risk of Flooding from Rivers and Sea. Shops from Overture Maps Places. Drive times are modelled on the OpenStreetMap road network with OSRM and a fixed peak-time allowance, not live traffic; routing uses OpenStreetMap data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.