Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Mortgage-free owners make up 49% of households. With 1,486 residents, it is a village in Cumbria, North West.
Houghton’s strongest subject is safety (A): police record 13.9 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, and 4.7 home and vehicle crimes. Households here earn well: mean household income £47,067; 0.8% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Where it falls short is cost of living: homes sell for a median £220,000, about 5.4 times local household income. Schools lag: primary results beat 30% of towns in England; secondary results beat 13% of towns in England.
Figures: crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · income, ONS · claimants, DWP · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years. An overall grade needs 2,500 residents, so Houghton is graded subject by subject only.
ONS publishes one rent for all of Cumberland, so this town's Cost Grade uses house prices and council tax only.
The 3 things Houghton 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 Houghton is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists them inside Houghton’s built-up area, along with 2 scheduled monuments.
8% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Houghton. Best known first.
CathedralCarlisle Cathedral2.3 km outside town, to the south
Castle · English HeritageCarlisle Castle2.1 km outside town, to the southwest
CastleScaleby Castle4.8 km outside town, to the northeast
MuseumTullie House2.3 km outside town, to the southMuseumMuseumA World In Miniature300 m outside town, to the northMuseumMuseumCumbria's Museum of Military Life2.1 km outside town, to the southwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Houghton.
11% rent privately, below both Cumbria’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (21%). Council and housing-body homes hold 3% of households. Private rents average £681 a month across the Cumberland council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £295,000 | 15 |
| Semi-detached | £210,000 | 45 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The one school in town appears below. Secondary results at the 2 secondary schools within 3 km: an Attainment 8 score of 40.5, with 32% at grade 5 or above in English and maths. Its one primary school teaches 179 pupils.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Houghton CofE SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 179 | B |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 23% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
The car carried nearly nine in ten commuters at the census. Short trips to work, under 5 km: 66%, higher than both Cumbria’s towns (53%) and England’s towns (45%). Of the commuters living in Houghton, 2% work in the town itself. Jobs per working resident: 0.4.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Houghton logged 52 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 2 complaints of anti-social conduct. Among the 1,541 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, Houghton has less crime per resident than nearly three quarters of them. Also worth knowing: of all the crimes, 54% were 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.
At the census, 4% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, below both Cumbria’s towns (6.1%) and England’s towns (5.2%). Asked at the census, 83% of residents of Houghton said they were in good or very good health. There is no GP practice locally: the nearest is 2 miles off. Women here live to 84.7 on average and men to 81.7 (2019–23).
| Census 2021 | Houghton | Cumbria | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 83% | 79% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4% | 6.1% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 15% | 20% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · A young population flatters these answers, which are not age-adjusted; the Health Grade instead uses measures that allow for age, such as 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.
Homes built before 1919 account for 8% of the housing. Houghton has 2 scheduled monuments. Conservation areas cover 5% of the town’s land, lower than both Cumbria’s towns (8%) and England’s towns (7%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
People 65 and over make up just over a quarter of the town, above both Cumbria’s towns (23%) and England’s towns (18%). Half the people of Houghton are older than 47. Among adults, 37% have a degree.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Houghton | Cumbria | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 15% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 6.1% | 9.9% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 24% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 28% | 25% |
| 65+ | 26% | 23% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 15% | 19% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.4% | 8% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 37% | 28% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Cumbria and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houghton | 1,486 | — | — | D | A | B+ |
| Carlisle | 77,729 | 2.4 | D | C+ | D | D |
| Scotby | 1,830 | 2.9 | — | D− | A+ | A− |
| Warwick Bridge | 1,232 | 4.3 | — | D | B+ | A− |
| Wetheral | 1,129 | 4.4 | — | D− | A | A+ |
| Dalston | 1,541 | 6 | — | D− | B | B |
| Longtown | 2,176 | 6.2 | — | C+ | D | C |
| Gretna | 3,435 | 7.5 | — | A+ | — | C+ |
Scotby, Warwick Bridge, Wetheral, Dalston and Longtown have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
GCSE results trail 88% of towns in England, and primary results trail 70% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). One state school is inside the town; places are handled by Cumbria council.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £220,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: semi-detached houses £210,000 and detached houses £295,000. Household incomes are lower than in 73% of UK towns, so cost of living grades D.
Village in Cumbria, England
Houghton is a built-up area of 1,486 people, in the Carlisle 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.