Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
With 13,833 residents, it is a town in Cambridgeshire, East of England. On the way to work, 14% walk, cycle or take a bus or train.
Whittlesey grades low on several counts. School results trail most towns (D): primary results beat 17% of towns in England; secondary results beat 10% of towns in England. Homes sell for a median £251,132, about 5.4 years of what households in the Fenland council area earn. Safety is weaker too: police record 33 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, and 11.6 home and vehicle crimes. Set beside UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, its crime per resident is higher than in 50%. The overall grade comes out at D, better than 7% of UK towns. Its place in the ranking is #46 of 50 in Cambridgeshire.
Figures: crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · incomes, ONS.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Whittlesey is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things Whittlesey does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 76 buildings inside Whittlesey’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I, and 1 scheduled monument.
10% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →76 listed buildings in Whittlesey, 1 of them Grade I.
Market Cross: Photo: Michael Trolove · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Grove House: Photo: Richard Humphrey · CC BY-SA 2.0 · George Hotel: Photo: J. Harris · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Chapel and Mortuary: Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Whittlesey.
Children under 15 make up 16%, lower than both Cambridgeshire’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (18%). 24% of residents have reached 65. Residents of Whittlesey have a median age of 45. Aged 15 to 24: 9.7% of residents.
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
| Whittlesey | Cambridgeshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.7% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 24% | 28% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 24% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 24% | 17% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.6% | 5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 20% | 37% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Cambridgeshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
At the town’s 3 primary schools, 54% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Two of its 4 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. Attainment 8 at the one secondary school within 3 km averages 38.6, and 32% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alderman Jacobs SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 671 | C+ |
| Sir Harry Smith Community CollegeLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,084 | C− |
Reported offences in Whittlesey came to 807 over twelve months to August 2026; nuisance and anti-social incidents added 218. There were 13.2 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), above Cambridgeshire’s towns (8.7) and England’s towns (7.8) alike. 54% of the crimes fell under violence and sexual offences.
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 social rented sector houses just over one in ten households. Private renters make up 18% of households, below Cambridgeshire’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (21%) alike. The median sale, £251,132, comes from 899 standard sales inside Whittlesey’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £310,000 | 437 |
| Semi-detached | £234,750 | 328 |
| Terraced | £189,000 | 122 |
| Flat or maisonette | £126,500 | 12 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The nearest A&E to Whittlesey is Peterborough City Hospital, 6.7 miles away. One GP practice serves the town; 53% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Whittlesey | Cambridgeshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 80% | 84% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.4% | 4.4% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 19% | 16% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · These shares come straight from the census, without allowing for age, and young towns benefit; the Health Grade instead weighs age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Whittlesey’s listed buildings include the Church of St Mary, Grade I. It has one scheduled monument. For its size, Whittlesey has 55 listed buildings per 10,000 residents, lower than Cambridgeshire’s towns (82) yet higher than England’s towns (39).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 24% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
About 15% of its commuters stay in Whittlesey for work. By car: that was how 83% of commuters travelled at the census. Working mainly from home: 24% of workers, below both Cambridgeshire’s towns (34%) and England’s towns (31%). Also worth knowing: 3% of people aged 16 to 64 were on unemployment benefits in 2026.
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 Whittlesey. Best known first.
MuseumWhittlesey Museumin town
MuseumFlag Fen2.7 km outside town, to the westWater parkWater parkFenland Aqua Park100 m outside town, to the southeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
8 notable people were born in Whittlesey.
L. P. Hartley: Lady Ottoline Morrell, Public domain
Town in Cambridgeshire, England
Whittlesey is a built-up area of 13,833 people, in the Fenland 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whittlesey | 13,833 | — | D | C | C | C |
| Coates and Eastrea | 2,313 | 2 | — | C− | A | C |
| Eye | 5,419 | 4.4 | C− | B+ | C+ | C |
| Thorney | 1,655 | 4.4 | — | B+ | C | C |
| Farcet | 1,596 | 4.5 | — | A+ | C− | C+ |
| Peterborough | 190,592 | 5.7 | C | A− | D | C− |
| Benwick | 1,145 | 6.1 | — | C+ | B+ | C |
| Yaxley | 9,403 | 6.2 | B+ | A+ | B− | B− |
Coates and Eastrea, Thorney, Farcet and Benwick have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 2.3 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of St Mary. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
GCSE results trail 90% of towns in England, and primary results trail 83% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
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.