Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Population 4,031: a town in Cambridgeshire, East of England. It skews older: 23% of residents are 65 or over.
Where it does best is cost of living: the median home sold for £335,000, 5.3 years of area income. At A− overall, Little Paxton ranks #20 of 50 in Cambridgeshire. Nationally, it does better than 84% of UK towns. The trade-off is hazard risk — 2.1% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. Its remaining grades are unremarkable: B for safety, C+ for schools and B− for walkability.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · flood risk, Environment Agency · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · commuting, Census 2021.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Little Paxton is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things Little Paxton does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 8 buildings inside Little Paxton’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade II*.
1% 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 Little Paxton.
Private renters make up 16% of households. 8% live in social housing, below both Cambridgeshire’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (18%). Behind the median of £335,000: 275 standard sales inside Little Paxton’s built-up area, September 2023 to August 2026.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £493,500 | 75 |
| Semi-detached | £330,000 | 102 |
| Terraced | £320,000 | 54 |
| Flat or maisonette | £198,500 | 44 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
GCSE results at the 2 secondary schools within 3 km: 47% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 46.6. The one school in town appears below. At the 11 primary schools within 3 km, 58% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Little Paxton Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 292 | D |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
1% of its homes were built before 1919, below Cambridgeshire’s towns (12%) and England’s towns (16%) alike. Little Paxton has 20 listed buildings for every 10,000 residents.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
People 65 and over make up nearly a quarter of the town. The age that splits Little Paxton in two is 44. 33% of adults hold a degree, below Cambridgeshire’s towns (37%) and close to England’s towns (34%).
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Little Paxton | Cambridgeshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.3% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 25% | 28% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 25% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 23% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 15% | 17% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.5% | 5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 33% | 37% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Cambridgeshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Little Paxton has no GP practice of its own; the nearest is 1.1 miles away. At the census, 3.7% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, below Cambridgeshire’s towns (4.4%) and England’s towns (5.2%) alike. Add to that, 15% of residents in Little Paxton live with a disability. The nearest A&E to Little Paxton is Hinchingbrooke Hospital, 6.4 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Little Paxton | Cambridgeshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 85% | 84% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.7% | 4.4% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 15% | 16% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Read these answers with age in mind: they aren’t adjusted, so younger places do better. The Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them.
Violence and sexual offences accounted for 49% of recorded crime. Police figures for Little Paxton’s built-up area: 146 crimes and 26 anti-social behaviour reports in the 12 months to August 2026. Homes saw 10.2 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year, above both Cambridgeshire’s towns (9) and England’s towns (9.4).
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.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 37% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Households had £73K a year before tax, higher than both Cambridgeshire’s towns (£65K) and England’s towns (£55K). By car: that was how 85% of commuters travelled at the census. Work in town: 6% of resident commuters. For 34% of commuters, work was under 5 km away.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Little Paxton. Best known first.
FortBuckden Towers4.4 km outside town, to the north
CastleEaton Socon Castle2.9 km outside town, to the south
MuseumSt Neots Museum1.3 km outside town, to the southPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Town in Cambridgeshire, England
Little Paxton is a built-up area of 4,031 people, in the Huntingdonshire 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Little Paxton | 4,031 | — | A− | A | B | B+ |
| St Neots | 33,262 | 1.6 | B+ | A | C | B− |
| Great Paxton | 1,003 | 1.7 | — | A− | A+ | B+ |
| Offord D'Arcy and Offord Cluny | 1,385 | 3.1 | — | A | A− | B |
| Buckden | 2,757 | 3.2 | B | A− | B | B |
| Brampton | 6,585 | 5.3 | B+ | A− | C+ | B |
| Godmanchester | 7,714 | 6.1 | A− | A− | C+ | B+ |
| Papworth Everard | 3,821 | 6.2 | B+ | A | B | B+ |
Great Paxton and Offord D'Arcy and Offord Cluny have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Band D council tax in Little Paxton is £2,528 for 2026–27, more than in 71% of UK towns (council, county, police and fire, plus the parish or town council). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
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.