Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 3,663 in Cornwall, South West.
St Columb Major grades D overall against UK towns: better than 13% of UK towns, and #17 of 35 in Cornwall. Its strongest subject is schools (B): primary results beat 59% of towns in England. Its weakest is jobs & income (D): mean household income £44,478; 3.3% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. The median home sold for £250,000 in the last three years, 5.4 times what households in the Cornwall council area earn in a year.
Devon And Cornwall Police published 33 of the 36 months; rates are per year over the months published.
The 3 things St Columb Major 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 St Columb Major is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 82 buildings inside St Columb Major’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I, and 3 scheduled monuments.
22% 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 St Columb Major.
The £250,000 median rests on 144 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026). Private rents average £1,000 a month across the Cornwall council area. Social housing holds 17% of households, about level with England’s towns (18%) and above Cornwall’s towns (15%).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £390,000 | 57 |
| Semi-detached | £240,000 | 39 |
| Terraced | £190,000 | 43 |
| Flat or maisonette | £113,000 | 5 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Its one school is below. At the one primary school within 3 km, 63% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). 300 pupils attend St Columb Major’s one primary school.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Columb Major AcademyLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 300 | B− |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
St Columb Major’s listed buildings include the Church of St Columba, Grade I. It has 82 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 1 Grade I, 8 Grade II*. Also worth knowing: 22% of its homes were built before 1919, between Cornwall’s towns (24%) and England’s towns (16%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Among the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, St Columb Major has more crime per resident than 79% of them. Burglary and damage add up to 11.7 per 1,000 residents each year. Reported offences here came to 254 over twelve months to August 2026; nuisance and anti-social incidents added 25. Violence and sexual offences made up 54% of the total.
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.
18% are under 15, about level with England’s towns (18%) and above Cornwall’s towns (16%). St Columb Major has a median age of 43.2 years. People 65 and over make up 22% of the town.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| St Columb Major | Cornwall | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 24% | 22% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 22% | 24% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 17% | 17% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.1% | 6.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 27% | 30% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Cornwall and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
At the census, 6.8% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, above Cornwall’s towns (6.4%) and England’s towns (5.2%) alike. 78% of people in St Columb Major rate their own health good or very good. The nearest A&E to St Columb Major is Royal Cornwall Hospital, 13 miles away. One GP practice serves the town; 59% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | St Columb Major | Cornwall | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 78% | 79% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.8% | 6.4% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 23% | 22% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Self-reported health favours young towns, since these answers ignore age; the Health Grade leans on age-adjusted measures such as life expectancy and early deaths.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 20% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
15% of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train at the census, lower than both Cornwall’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (27%). The car carried 83% of commuters at the census. At the census, a fifth of workers worked mainly from home.
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 St Columb Major. Best known first.
82 listed buildings in St Columb Major, 1 of them Grade I.
The Glebe House: Photo: Ron Strutt · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Town Mills: Photo: Martin Bodman · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Red Lion Hotel: Photo: Wilson44691 · Public domain · The Post Office: Photo: Tony Atkin · CC BY-SA 2.0
6 notable people were born in St Columb Major.
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Columb Major | 3,663 | — | D | D | C− | C+ |
| Indian Queens, Fraddon and St Columb Road | 3,888 | 2.8 | D | D | B | C+ |
| Quintrell Downs | 1,358 | 4.1 | — | D | C+ | B− |
| St Dennis | 2,363 | 4.3 | — | C− | C− | C− |
| Roche | 2,311 | 5.1 | — | C− | B− | C− |
| Nanpean | 1,077 | 5.4 | — | C− | B− | C− |
| Newquay | 24,543 | 5.6 | D | D− | D | C+ |
| Foxhole | 1,526 | 6.1 | — | C− | C | C− |
Quintrell Downs, St Dennis, Roche, Nanpean and Foxhole have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 9.2 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of St Columba. It also has 3 scheduled monuments.
An older town. At the 2021 Census, 22% of residents were 65 or over and 26% were 45 to 64, against 18% and 25% across England’s towns; 18% were under 15.
Town in Cornwall, England
St Columb Major is a built-up area of 3,663 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.