Photo: John Sutton · CC BY-SA 2.0How Cambridgeshire stacks up
Cambridgeshire’s strongest suits are fast growth (+16% since 2011) and well-off households. That balance adds up to an A overall and 10th place among the UK’s areas. Histon and Impington and Cottenham rank near the top in the UK for schools; Peterborough and Wisbech sit near the bottom.
Each subject puts the official figure for the whole county beside a measure built from our town grades. How this works
Safety
24th of 65B64/100 Somewhat below-average crime. Hemingford Grey leads its towns at #30 of 2,138; 37% of town residents live in top-quarter towns. Cambridgeshire records 35.0 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 people a year, against 37.9 across England and Wales.
Counting every recorded crime, not just violence: 76 per 1,000 a year (26th highest).
Source: police.uk street-level crime, September 2025 to August 2026 (each crime placed by its LSOA); Census 2021 residents. Greater Manchester Police publishes none.
Measure: recorded crime against residents (violence, burglary, vehicle crime, criminal damage), as in our Safety grades. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,138 graded towns. 50 Cambridgeshire towns.
Quiet towns, busier ones
Its safest towns are Over (#34), Girton (#70) and Great Shelford and Stapleford (#71), ranked against every graded town in the UK. At the other end are Peterborough and Wisbech, in the quarter of town residents living with the most recorded crime.
| County | Safest quarter | Most-crime quarter | Split |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ards and North Down | 100% | 0% | |
| Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | 100% | 0% | |
| Lisburn and Castlereagh | 100% | 0% | |
| Mid Ulster | 100% | 0% | |
| Antrim and Newtownabbey | 78% | 0% | |
| Cambridgeshire | 37% | 31% |
Where crimes are counted
police.uk places every crime at a street or public place near where it happened, never an address, and we count it where that point falls. The county figure counts violent and sexual offences everywhere in Cambridgeshire, including town centres, stations and shopping streets. Town grades count the crimes that touch residents where they live (violence, burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage), so a town with a busy centre is not marked down for its shoplifting.
Schools
27th of 90B+71/100 Strong schools overall, unusually split. 30% of town residents live in top-quarter towns like Histon and Impington and Cottenham, and 50% in bottom-quarter places such as Peterborough and Wisbech. At the end of primary school it ranks 14th lowest of 47 English counties, with 61% of pupils at the expected standard in all three Rs. Results shift with age: 14th lowest at the end of primary school, 9th highest at GCSE.
GCSE: an average Attainment 8 score of 48.0, 9th highest. The grade weighs primary and GCSE results equally.
Source: DfE key stage 2 results 2024/25 and key stage 4 (Attainment 8), every state school in the county, pupil-weighted. England only.
Measure: our Schools grade: primary and secondary results of the schools in and around each town. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,331 graded towns. 50 Cambridgeshire towns.
Cost of living
56th of 98C+43/100 Pricier than the typical area. Homes are dear in pounds (17th highest prices) but local incomes keep up: 37th highest against income. Homes cost 5.2 times what the average household takes in a year: a typical sale of £317,550 against income of £61,100. Yaxley leads its towns at #193 of 2,515; 57% of town residents live in top-quarter towns.
Typical sale price: £317,550 (8,682 sales, 17th highest).
Private rent £1,205 a month (22nd highest); Band D council tax £2,466 (24th highest). Shown for context.
Source: HM Land Registry Price Paid, standard sales September 2025 to August 2026; ONS small-area income estimates (financial year ending 2023); ONS Price Index of Private Rents (August 2026); council Band D 2026/27.
Measure: our Cost of living grade: prices and rents against local income, plus council tax. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,515 graded towns. 50 Cambridgeshire towns.
Health
17th of 98A−84/100 Healthy nearly everywhere. People here can expect 67.0 years in good health, against 65.2 across England and Wales (16th longest of 55 areas with figures). Town after town lands in the top quarter for the UK: 54% of residents live in one.
Life expectancy at birth: 82.1 years, 14th longest.
Source: ONS life expectancy and healthy life expectancy by small area (MSOA), 2019 to 2023, men and women averaged.
Measure: our Health grade: ONS life and healthy life expectancy, Census health, and OHID indicators in England. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,515 graded towns. 50 Cambridgeshire towns.
Jobs & income
13th of 98A88/100 Incomes above most areas. Incomes and work tell different stories: 9th highest household income, but the 47th highest share claiming out-of-work benefits (3.1%). Cambridgeshire ranks 9th highest for household income, at £61,100 a year before tax. Its best town is Girton, #15 of 2,156, and 44% of town residents live in top-quarter towns.
Claimant rate: 3.1% of 16 to 64-year-olds claim out-of-work benefits (August 2026), 47th highest. Counted half in the grade.
Source: ONS small-area income estimates (financial year ending 2023), household-weighted; DWP claimant count (August 2026) by council.
Measure: our Jobs & income grade: household income. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,156 graded towns. 50 Cambridgeshire towns.
Getting about
15th of 98A86/100 Easier to get about than most. No neighbour beats it on walkability; Hertfordshire comes closest. 24% of commuters walk, cycle or take the bus or train to work, against 26% across England and Wales (17th highest of 98 areas). Town by town it lands near the middle, with Cambridge its best at #18 of 2,515.
Worked mainly from home at the 2021 Census: 34% of workers (context; they are left out of the commuting share).
Source: ONS Census 2021, method of travel to work (TS061) by council; people working mainly from home left out.
Measure: our Walkability grade: how many everyday places are within reach on foot. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,515 graded towns. 50 Cambridgeshire towns.
Flood risk
81st of 87D7/100 Flooding is the big risk here. Every neighbour scores higher, Norfolk, Suffolk and Lincolnshire among them. 4.4% of homes in its towns are at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea, against 1.6% across England and Wales (3rd highest). Town by town it lands near the middle, with Haddenham its best at #252 of 2,452.
Source: Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales flood-risk maps (rivers and the sea), homes in every town of the county.
Measure: our Hazard risk grade: the share of homes at high or medium flood risk. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,452 graded towns. 50 Cambridgeshire towns.
Growth
5th of 98A+96/100 Growing fast. ONS estimates put 933,972 people here in 2024, +15.8% on 2011 (6th fastest). Longstanton and Northstowe is among the ten best towns in the UK for growth (#4).
Since the 2021 Census: +4.1%, 16th fastest.
Source: ONS mid-year population estimates, 2011 and 2024.
Measure: population change from 2011 to 2024 (ONS estimates for built-up areas). The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 1,579 graded towns. 33 Cambridgeshire towns. Covers 88% of residents of Cambridgeshire’s graded towns.
How Cambridgeshire compares to its neighbours
Against Norfolk, Suffolk, Lincolnshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire leads on getting about but trails on flood risk.
| Cambridgeshire | Norfolk | Suffolk | Lincolnshire | Bedfordshire | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | A 8610th of 65 | B− 4735th of 65 | B− 5033rd of 65 | C+ 3642nd of 65 | B− 5331st of 65 |
| Safety | B 6432nd official · 37% in top towns | B+ 7324th official · 40% in top towns | B+ 6917th official · 33% in top towns | C+ 4147th official · 29% in top towns | B+ 6625th official · 33% in top towns |
| Schools | B+ 7134th official · 30% in top towns | C− 2046th official · 3% in top towns | D 1141st official · 1% in top towns | C+ 3731st official · 9% in top towns | D 844th official · 0% in top towns |
| Cost of living | C+ 4362nd official · 57% in top towns | C− 2474th official · 11% in top towns | C+ 3767th official · 41% in top towns | B 5843rd official · 57% in top towns | C− 2183rd official · 14% in top towns |
| Health | A− 8416th official · 54% in top towns | B− 5432nd official · 21% in top towns | A− 7913th official · 36% in top towns | B− 4737th official · 22% in top towns | B+ 6828th official · 28% in top towns |
| Jobs & income | A 889th official · 44% in top towns | B− 4944th official · 10% in top towns | B− 5423rd official · 7% in top towns | C 3161st official · 7% in top towns | B 6410th official · 30% in top towns |
| Getting about | A 8617th official · 23% in top towns | B+ 6752nd official · 6% in top towns | C 3159th official · 0% in top towns | C 3159th official · 0% in top towns | C+ 4445th official · 0% in top towns |
| Flood risk | D 753rd official · 12% in top towns | B 6432nd official · 32% in top towns | A− 8116th official · 57% in top towns | C 3054th official · 28% in top towns | B+ 719th official · 18% in top towns |
| Growth | A+ 966th official · 65% in top towns | B 6136th official · 13% in top towns | B− 4842nd official · 4% in top towns | B 5943rd official · 16% in top towns | A+ 1001st official · 92% in top towns |
Each cell: the subject’s grade and score, the county’s rank on the official figure (1st = the better end), and the share of its town residents living in a top-quarter town for the UK. Neighbour names open their report cards.
How this report card works
Two measures, side by side. The left card is an official figure for the whole county, its towns, villages and countryside together, built from the small areas and councils that make it up and ranked against the other counties. The right card is built from our town grades: of everyone living in the county’s graded towns of 2,500 or more, the share whose town is in the top quarter for the UK. Quarters are of people, not towns: the top quarter is the best-placed towns that together hold a quarter of everyone living in graded towns, so a county of big cities is not marked down just for being urban. A county can do well on one measure and not the other; that difference is often the story.
Scores and grades. Each subject’s score (0–100) is the area’s standing in one UK league of 98: the ceremonial counties of England (London counts as one), Wales’s eight preserved counties, and Scotland’s 32 and Northern Ireland’s 11 council areas, each called by its own name. The two measures’ percentiles are averaged, then ranked again, the same method as our town grades. Where a nation publishes its own kind of figure, the official figure is ranked within that nation: school results everywhere, health in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and flood risk in Scotland. Each area’s figures are set beside its own nation’s. 100 is the best county, 0 the last. Letters use the town-grade scale (A+ from 95, A from 85, A− from 75 … D below 15). The overall score weighs safety 18, cost of living 18, schools 16, health 14, jobs & income 12, getting about 8, growth 8, flood risk 6 (out of 100), over the subjects a county has. Counties with fewer than 5 graded towns (Rutland, Bristol) are graded on the official figures alone.
What it is not. A county figure averages everyone, so it cannot show whether a county is evenly good or a mix of very good and struggling places. The town measure shows the mix but leaves out villages and towns under 2,500. Neither says anything about any one street.
Gaps. Wales publishes no school results that compare with England’s, so Welsh counties have no Schools grade. Greater Manchester Police publishes no street-level crime, so Greater Manchester has no Safety grade and, as for its towns, no overall grade. Nor does Police Scotland, so Scotland’s council areas have no Safety grade or overall grade yet. Scotland and Northern Ireland have no small-area income figures, so their household income is estimated from ONS household income per head. Flood risk has no county-wide official figure; it is the share of homes in the county’s towns at high or medium risk. Sources are named under each figure. How grades work
Sources: 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.