Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 5,870 people, this town lies in Cambridgeshire, East of England.
Sawtry’s overall grade of A− puts it better than 78% of UK towns, #25 of 50 in Cambridgeshire. Homes are affordable: the median home sold for £299,625, 4.8 years of area income. It is strong on health as well (B+): life expectancy 82 for men, 85.9 for women. Schools lag: primary results beat just over a fifth of towns in England; secondary results beat 58% of towns in England. Getting around depends on the car: 12% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. The rest of its grades are middling: B− for safety, B for jobs & income and B− for hazard risk.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · life expectancy and income, ONS · commuting, Census 2021 · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · claimants, DWP · flood risk, Environment Agency.
The thing Sawtry 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 Sawtry is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 13 buildings inside Sawtry’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade II*, and 1 scheduled monument.
7% 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 Sawtry.
11% live in social housing, below both Cambridgeshire’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (18%). Private renters make up 14% of households. The £299,625 median rests on 312 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £355,000 | 179 |
| Semi-detached | £258,000 | 94 |
| Terraced | £193,500 | 36 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Key Stage 2 results at the one primary school within 3 km: 55% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Attainment 8 at the one secondary school within 3 km averages 47.9, and 46% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths. Some 1,586 pupils attend Sawtry’s two primaries and one secondary.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sawtry Junior AcademyLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 274 | C |
| Sawtry Village AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,101 | B |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
For its size, Sawtry has 22 listed buildings per 10,000 residents, below both Cambridgeshire’s towns (82) and England’s towns (39). Homes built before 1919 account for 7% of the housing. Grade II* covers 1 of them.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
One GP practice serves the town; 73% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. The nearest A&E to Sawtry is Hinchingbrooke Hospital, 8 miles away. Also worth knowing: 4.1% of residents described their health as bad or very bad, lower than both Cambridgeshire’s towns (4.4%) and England’s towns (5.2%).
| Census 2021 | Sawtry | Cambridgeshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 84% | 84% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.1% | 4.4% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 16% | 16% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Young towns look healthier on these answers, which aren’t adjusted for age; the Health Grade uses measures that are, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 34% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
About 13% of its commuters stay in Sawtry for work. The car took 86% of commuters, above Cambridgeshire’s towns (72%) and England’s towns (70%) alike. Jobs per working resident: 0.6.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Police figures for Sawtry’s built-up area: 280 crimes and 59 anti-social behaviour reports in the 12 months to August 2026. Violence and sexual offences accounted for 48% of recorded crime. The violent crime rate is 24.1 per 1,000 residents a year.
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.
A fifth of residents are 65 or over, higher than both Cambridgeshire’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (18%). Typical age in Sawtry: 43.6, the median. Children under 15 make up 17% of residents.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Sawtry | Cambridgeshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 24% | 28% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 20% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 15% | 17% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.3% | 5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 20% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 29% | 37% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Cambridgeshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
13 listed buildings in Sawtry.
Church of All Saints: Photo: Michael Trolove · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Greystones: Photo: Michael Trolove · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sawtry | 5,870 | — | A− | A | B− | B+ |
| Stilton | 2,365 | 3.7 | — | A | A− | A− |
| Alconbury | 1,464 | 4.9 | — | A | B+ | B+ |
| Alconbury Weald | 1,222 | 5.1 | — | A− | D | A− |
| Yaxley | 9,403 | 5.7 | B+ | A+ | B− | B− |
| Bury | 1,750 | 7.2 | — | A | B+ | B+ |
| Warmington | 1,045 | 7.2 | — | D | A | A |
| Farcet | 1,596 | 7.4 | — | A+ | C− | C+ |
Stilton, Alconbury, Alconbury Weald, Bury, Warmington and Farcet have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
GCSE results beat 58% of towns in England, and primary results trail 79% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). Sawtry has 3 state schools; places are handled by Cambridgeshire council.
Band D council tax in Sawtry is £2,486 for 2026–27, more than in 61% 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.
About the middle for its size: 44% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people report less crime per resident. Against all UK towns, it grades B−.
Town in Cambridgeshire, England
Sawtry is a built-up area of 5,870 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
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.
