Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 1,249 people, this village lies in Cambridgeshire, East of England.
Households here earn well: households earn a mean £72,909 a year, and 0.6% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Its weakest subject is cost of living: homes sell for a median £370,000, about 6.9 times local household income. It lags on walkability as well (C+): on the way to work, 12% walk, cycle or take a bus or train. Natural hazards weigh less here than in most UK towns (A).
Figures: income, ONS · claimants, DWP · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · commuting, Census 2021 · flood risk, Environment Agency. With fewer than 2,500 residents, Helpston has subject grades but no overall one.
The 3 things Helpston 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 Helpston is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists them inside Helpston’s built-up area, along with 1 scheduled monument.
25% 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 Helpston.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Of Helpston’s 56 listed buildings on Historic England’s list, Grade I counts 1 and Grade II* 2. The town’s listed buildings include the Church of St Botolph, Grade I. Also worth knowing: a quarter of homes date from before 1919.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Below is its only school. GCSE results at the one secondary school within 3 km: 45% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 44.6. Its one primary school teaches 130 pupils.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| John Clare Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 130 | A |
Men in Helpston can expect to live to 82.4, women to 85.5 (2019–23). Self-reported good health: 87% of the town’s residents. 14% of residents have a disability, below both Cambridgeshire’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (17%). This Cambridgeshire town has no GP practice of its own; the nearest is 3.6 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Helpston | Cambridgeshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 87% | 84% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 2.4% | 4.4% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 14% | 16% | 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.
The 12 months to August 2026 brought 26 recorded crimes inside Helpston’s built-up area, and 13 reports of anti-social behaviour. Burglary and damage add up to 7.5 per 1,000 residents each year. Among the 1,541 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, Helpston has less crime per resident than 73% of them. Violence and sexual offences made up 54% of the total.
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.
Home ownership stands at just over four in five households. Social housing holds 6% of households, lower than both Cambridgeshire’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (18%). Behind the median of £370,000: 41 standard sales inside Helpston’s built-up area, September 2023 to August 2026.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £450,000 | 25 |
| Semi-detached | £312,500 | 13 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 42% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Work in town: 6% of resident commuters. 88% of commuters drove, above Cambridgeshire’s towns (72%) and England’s towns (70%) alike. Home was the main workplace for 42% of workers at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
At 45, the median resident of Helpston sits in the middle of the age range. 20% are under 15, above Cambridgeshire’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. Graduates make up just over two in five adults.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Helpston | Cambridgeshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 20% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.1% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 21% | 28% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 31% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 19% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 9% | 17% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.3% | 5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 20% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 41% | 37% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Cambridgeshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Helpston | 1,249 | — | — | C | A | A |
| Glinton | 1,743 | 2.2 | — | B− | C | B+ |
| Barnack | 1,007 | 2.6 | — | C | C+ | A− |
| Northborough | 1,336 | 2.8 | — | B− | A | B+ |
| Market Deeping | 6,533 | 3.4 | B | A− | B− | B− |
| Deeping St James | 7,255 | 3.6 | A | A | A− | A− |
| Castor and Ailsworth | 1,461 | 4.2 | — | C− | B | A− |
| Langtoft | 2,010 | 4.3 | — | B | A+ | A |
Glinton, Barnack, Northborough, Castor and Ailsworth and Langtoft have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 18.4 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of St Botolph. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £370,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: semi-detached houses £312,500 and detached houses £450,000.
Village in Cambridgeshire, England
Helpston is a built-up area of 1,249 people, in the Peterborough 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.