Ambleside grades B− overall against UK towns: better than 47% of UK towns, and #2 of 23 in Cumbria. Its strongest subject is walkability (A+): 46% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is cost of living (D−): median sale £397,500, 8.7 years of area income; rent £816 a month.
ONS publishes one rent for all of Westmorland and Furness, so this town's Cost Grade uses house prices and council tax only.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Ambleside is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Ambleside.
HousingCost of living grade D−
Fewer households own their home in Ambleside than in Cumbria’s towns or across England’s towns: 54%
Ambleside sits below both Cumbria’s towns (68%) and England’s towns (61%) on this measure. Social housing holds 24% of households. No town in Cumbria costs more to buy into than Ambleside, at £397,500, the highest of 23.
£398Kmedian sale
Median sale price · Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
Ambleside£398K
Typical UK town£277K
By type
Median
Sales
Detached
£640,000
31
Semi-detached
£431,000
12
Terraced
£372,500
34
Flat or maisonette
£320,000
25
54%
of households own their home · England 61%
22%
rent privately · England 21%
£816
average private rent a month, Westmorland and Furness council area
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
History
Ambleside keeps more of its old housing than Cumbria or England’s towns: 39% built before 1919
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
On this, Ambleside is above both Cumbria’s towns (28%) and England’s towns (16%). Ambleside has 168 listed buildings for every 10,000 residents. Ambleside’s listed buildings include Bridge House, Grade I.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Health
Bad health is less common in Ambleside than in Cumbria’s towns or across England’s towns: 3.4% of residents
In the comparison, Ambleside comes below both Cumbria’s towns (6.1%) and England’s towns (5.2%). The nearest A&E to Ambleside is Furness General Hospital, 22.6 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.
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
Safety
Ambleside has more crime per resident than 64% of UK towns
Police recorded 198 crimes inside Ambleside’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 1 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences were 45% of the crimes; the police category includes harassment and stalking, so it runs higher than U.S. “violent crime”.
30.4violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a yearC+Safety Grade
Compared with UK towns its sizeLess crime per resident than 36% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people: about the middle for its size. Context only, not part of the grade.
More crimeLess crime
Reports by type · Sep 2025 to Aug 2026
Violence & sexual90
Shoplifting24
Other theft19
Public order16
Damage & arson14
Drugs13
Burglary8
Other crime6
Anti-social1
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.
30.4
violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
9
burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
3.6
anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 (not graded)
data.police.uk street-level crime · points inside the ONS built-up-area boundary · OGL
Who lives here
Children make up only 9.1% of Ambleside, fewer than in Cumbria’s towns and England’s towns
For Ambleside, that is below both Cumbria’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (18%). People aged 15 to 24 make up 15% of the town. The median resident of Ambleside is 48.5 years old.
48.5median age
AmblesideCumbriaEngland
Ages · share of residents
25%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications12%
Apprenticeship7%
A levels or similar22%
Degree level37%
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
WomenEnglandMen
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Bowness-on-Windermere and Staveley have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Questions about Ambleside
Does Ambleside flood?
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
How many listed buildings are there in Ambleside?
That is 6.9 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Bridge House. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
Is Ambleside expensive to live in?
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £397,500, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £320,000, terraced houses £372,500, semi-detached houses £431,000 and detached houses £640,000.
Is Ambleside safe?
Against all UK towns, it grades C+.
About Ambleside
Town in Cumbria, England
Ambleside is a built-up area of 2,624 people, in the South Lakeland 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
Population
2,624 (Census 2021)
Council
South Lakeland
County
Cumbria
Region
North West
Area
0.5 sq mi (1.3 km²)
ONS code
E63000375
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.
