England · County

Find your town in Cumbria

Cumbria has 23 towns of 2,500 or more and 94 villages and smaller places. Towns are graded against towns across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on cost of living, safety, schools, health and more.

23graded towns

0grade A− or better

94villages and smaller places

Carlislelargest · 77,729

How Cumbria compares: its report card →

#1 in CumbriaGrange-over-SandsB⁻

#2 in CumbriaAmblesideB⁻

Looking east along Main Street, Cockermouth

#3 in CumbriaCockermouthC⁺

#4 in CumbriaKendalC⁺

Cumbria at a glance

What Cumbria is like

The typical Cumbria town grades highest on walkability and outdoors against towns across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and lowest on schools. Choose a subject to find the towns that do best on it.

The typical town, subject by subjectThe median Cumbria town against UK towns · the line marks the typical UK town

How Cumbria’s towns grade overall23 graded towns

B2C10D11

0 of 23 (0%) grade A− or better, against 25% of UK towns.

Every town ranked by scoreThe full Cumbria list, with what drives each grade Compare two townsSide by side, subject by subject

The finder

Find a town that’s…

23 towns · ordered by Cumbria rank

B⁻

Grange-over-Sands

Town · 4,047 people · #996 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestA⁻SafetyB⁺WalkabilityLowestD⁻Cost of living

B⁻

Ambleside

Town · 2,624 people · #1,125 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestA⁺WalkabilityB⁺HealthLowestD⁻Cost of living

C⁺

Cockermouth

Town · 8,859 people · #1,194 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestA⁻WalkabilityB⁺HealthLowestD⁻Cost of living

C⁺

Kendal

Large town · 28,939 people · #1,244 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestAWalkabilityB⁺SchoolsLowestDCost of living

C⁺

Dalton-in-Furness

Town · 7,551 people · #1,372 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestB⁺WalkabilityB⁻Jobs & incomeLowestDHazard risk

C⁺

Keswick

Town · 4,465 people · #1,376 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestA⁺WalkabilityA⁻HealthLowestD⁻Cost of living

Windermere

Town · 4,819 people · #1,529 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestA⁺WalkabilityA⁻HealthLowestD⁻Cost of living

Millom

Town · 5,690 people · #1,538 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestAWalkabilityB⁺Hazard riskLowestD⁻Jobs & income

C⁻

Ulverston

Town · 11,219 people · #1,709 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestAWalkabilityB⁻Jobs & incomeLowestDCost of living

C⁻

Penrith

Town · 16,705 people · #1,730 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestA⁺WalkabilityC⁺HealthLowestDSafety

C⁻

Seaton

Town · 5,051 people · #1,732 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestA⁻SafetyB⁻Hazard riskLowestD⁻Schools

C⁻

Brampton

Town · 4,187 people · #1,796 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestA⁻WalkabilityBSchoolsLowestDSafety

Appleby-in-Westmorland

Town · 3,233 people · #1,871 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestB⁺WalkabilityB⁺HealthLowestDHazard risk

Askam in Furness

Town · 3,172 people · #1,939 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestB⁺SafetyC⁺Jobs & incomeLowestD⁻Cost of living

Whitehaven

Large town · 22,952 people · #1,948 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestB⁺WalkabilityB⁻Cost of livingLowestDHealth

Cleator Moor

Town · 6,671 people · #1,956 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestBCost of livingBWalkabilityLowestDJobs & income

Egremont

Town · 5,791 people · #1,963 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestB⁺WalkabilityBCost of livingLowestDJobs & income

Carlisle

Large town · 77,729 people · #2,028 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestAWalkabilityC⁺Cost of livingLowestDSafety

D⁻

Silloth

Town · 2,542 people · #2,039 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestAWalkabilityBHazard riskLowestD⁻Schools

D⁻

Barrow-in-Furness

Large town · 55,260 people · #2,048 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestAWalkabilityC⁺Cost of livingLowestDSafety

D⁻

Wigton

Town · 5,396 people · #2,085 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestAWalkabilityC⁻HealthLowestDHazard risk

D⁻

Maryport

Town · 8,526 people · #2,105 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestA⁻WalkabilityB⁻Cost of livingLowestD⁻Jobs & income

D⁻

Workington

Large town · 21,276 people · #2,112 of 2,138 nationally

StrongestA⁻WalkabilityB⁻Cost of livingLowestD⁻Safety

Go deeper

Cumbria lists

Every list ranks the same 2,500+ towns, so a town’s rank means the same thing on each.

All Cumbria rankings →

Best places to live23 towns · #1 Grange-over-Sands Best small towns16 towns · #1 Grange-over-Sands Most affordable towns23 towns · #1 Cleator Moor Safest towns23 towns · #1 Seaton Towns with the best schools23 towns · #1 Kendal Healthiest towns23 towns · #1 Keswick Best towns for jobs & income23 towns · #1 Windermere Most walkable towns23 towns · #1 Ambleside Towns with the lowest flood risk23 towns · #1 Millom Best towns for the outdoors23 towns · #1 Keswick Most historic towns23 towns · #1 Appleby-in-Westmorland Towns with the most civic life23 towns · #1 Grange-over-Sands Towns with the highest household incomes23 towns · #1 CockermouthDescribed, no letters Towns with the lowest council tax23 towns · #1 CarlisleDescribed, no letters Towns with the mildest winters23 towns · #1 WorkingtonDescribed, no letters Towns with the warmest summers23 towns · #1 CarlisleDescribed, no letters Towns with the coolest summers23 towns · #1 Cleator MoorDescribed, no letters Towns with the fewest frosts23 towns · #1 Barrow-in-FurnessDescribed, no letters Driest towns23 towns · #1 CarlisleDescribed, no letters Wettest towns23 towns · #1 AmblesideDescribed, no letters

Villages and small towns

94 smaller places in Cumbria

Places of 1,000 to 2,500 people have subject grades on their pages, but no overall grade or rank. The search at the top finds these too.

63 places under 1,000 people

Photos: 0: Brian Clift · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 1: Lewis Clarke · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 2: Graham Robson · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 3: Chris Heaton · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 4: David Dixon · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 5: Richard Humphrey · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 7: John H Darch · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 8: Rich Tea · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 9: Colin Kinnear · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 10: Alexander P Kapp · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 11: Jo and Steve Turner · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 12: Philip Halling · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 13: James Cocker · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 14: habiloid · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 15: David Medcalf · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 16: Humphrey Bolton · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 17: Bill Harrison · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 18: Rod Grealish · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 19: JThomas · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 20: Stephen McKay · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 21: Peter Wood · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 22: Mikeca142007 · Public domain

Sources: TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only · ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area. 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.