Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 5,314 in Cornwall, South West.
Looe grades D− overall against UK towns: better than 4% of UK towns, and #27 of 35 in Cornwall. Its strongest subject is walkability (A): 28% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is cost of living (D): median sale £260,000, 5.7 years of area income; rent £1,000 a month.
Devon And Cornwall Police published 33 of the 36 months; rates are per year over the months published.
The 3 things Looe 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 Looe is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 102 buildings inside Looe’s built-up area, 6 of them Grade II*, and 1 scheduled monument.
27% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 3 old photos and postcards going back to 1900.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Looe.
In the comparison, Looe comes below both Cornwall’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (18%). People 65 and over make up 34% of the town. Looe has a median age of 55.6.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Looe | Cornwall | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 11% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 7.8% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 16% | 22% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 31% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 34% | 24% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 19% | 17% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 8.3% | 6.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 29% | 30% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Cornwall and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Its two schools are below.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Looe Primary AcademyLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 238 | C+ |
| Looe Community AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 513 | D |
For Looe, that is above both Cornwall’s towns (64%) and England’s towns (61%). 17% of households rent privately.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £357,500 | 94 |
| Semi-detached | £260,000 | 55 |
| Terraced | £230,000 | 78 |
| Flat or maisonette | £195,000 | 56 |
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 27% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
The car took 69% of commuters, below Cornwall’s towns (78%) and close to England’s towns (70%). Household income averages £41K a year before tax.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Looe sits above both Cornwall’s towns (0%) and England’s towns (7%) on this measure. For its size, Looe has 192 listed buildings per 10,000 residents. Looe has 102 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 0 Grade I, 6 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
That puts Looe above both Cornwall’s towns (7.6) and England’s towns (9.4). Violence comes to 31.5 per 1,000 residents a year. Police recorded 358 crimes inside Looe’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 51 reports of anti-social behaviour.
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
On this, Looe is below both Cornwall’s towns (79%) and England’s towns (82%). The nearest A&E to Looe is Derriford Hospital, 15.5 miles away. These answers aren’t adjusted for age, so young towns look healthier; the Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
| Census 2021 | Looe | Cornwall | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 76% | 79% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 7.6% | 6.4% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 23% | 22% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Looe. Best known first.
Abbey or priorySclerder Abbey2.7 km outside town, to the west
ZooThe Monkey Sanctuary1.4 km outside town, to the eastMuseumMuseumOld Guild Hallin townMuseumMuseumPolperro Model Village & Land of Legend4.5 km outside town, to the southwestHistoric siteHistoric siteDuloe stone circle4.1 km outside town, to the northwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
102 listed buildings in Looe.
Church of St Nicholas: Photo: Alistair Young · CC BY 2.0 · The Old Guildhall (Now Museum): Photo: Chris Downer · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Golden Guinea Restaurant: Photo: Simon Cobb · CC0 · The Cellar Wine Bar the Loft: Photo: Simon Cobb · CC0
4 notable people were born in Looe.
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Looe | 5,314 | — | D− | D | C | C+ |
| Pelynt | 1,144 | 3.5 | — | D− | B+ | C+ |
| Liskeard | 10,901 | 6.7 | D− | D | D | C− |
| Dobwalls | 1,683 | 7.3 | — | D | B | C |
| Fowey | 2,027 | 8.5 | — | D− | C+ | B− |
| Landrake | 1,104 | 8.5 | — | D | A+ | B+ |
| St Cleer | 1,144 | 9 | — | C− | B− | B |
| Pensilva | 1,656 | 10 | — | C− | A | C |
Pelynt, Dobwalls, Fowey, Landrake, St Cleer and Pensilva have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
An older town. At the 2021 Census, 34% of residents were 65 or over and 31% were 45 to 64, against 18% and 25% across England’s towns; 11% were under 15.
That is 7.9 times the typical UK town for its size. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Looe has 2 state schools; places are handled by Cornwall council.
Town in Cornwall, England
Looe is a built-up area of 5,314 people, in the Cornwall 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.