Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The village has 1,965 residents and lies in Cumbria, North West. Over-65s are 35% of the population.
Health is a strength too: men here can expect to live to 82.9, women to 87.4. Its weakest subject is cost of living: the median home sold for £341,666, 7.5 years of area income. Its other grades sit near the middle: B− for jobs & income and B− for hazard risk.
Figures: life expectancy and income, ONS · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · claimants, DWP · flood risk, Environment Agency. Kirkby Lonsdale is graded on each subject, but towns under 2,500 get no overall grade.
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 Kirkby Lonsdale is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Kirkby Lonsdale is graded on each subject, but towns under 2,500 get no overall grade.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things Kirkby Lonsdale does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 131 buildings inside Kirkby Lonsdale’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
36% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 2 old photos and postcards going back to 1908.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Kirkby Lonsdale.
Degrees are held by 43% of adults. 14% are under 15, below both Cumbria’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (18%). The 15-to-24 age group makes up 9% of residents. Ages in Kirkby Lonsdale split evenly at 54.8: half are older, half younger.
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
| Kirkby Lonsdale | Cumbria | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 14% | 15% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9% | 9.9% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 15% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 28% | 25% |
| 65+ | 35% | 23% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 16% | 19% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6% | 8% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 14% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 43% | 28% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Cumbria and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
GCSE results at the one secondary school within 3 km: 70% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 58.4. Between them, one primary and one secondary teach 1,375 pupils in Kirkby Lonsdale. Key Stage 2 results at the one primary school within 3 km: 73% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Mary's CofE Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 220 | A− |
| Queen Elizabeth SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,155 | A |
Just over one in ten households live in social housing. 94 standard sales inside Kirkby Lonsdale’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put the median at £341,666. Owners make up 64% of households, lower than Cumbria’s towns (68%) yet higher than England’s towns (61%).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £670,000 | 17 |
| Semi-detached | £379,000 | 26 |
| Terraced | £337,500 | 28 |
| Flat or maisonette | £190,000 | 23 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Homes from before 1919 make up 36% of the total, higher than both Cumbria’s towns (28%) and England’s towns (16%). Kirkby Lonsdale’s listed buildings include the Church of St Mary, Grade I. It counts 131 listed buildings on the national list (Historic England): 1 Grade I, 1 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The nearest A&E to Kirkby Lonsdale is Royal Lancaster Infirmary, 14.7 miles away. At the census, 3.7% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, lower than both Cumbria’s towns (6.1%) and England’s towns (5.2%). 84% of people in Kirkby Lonsdale rate their own health good or very good. 2 GP practices serve the town; 95% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Kirkby Lonsdale | Cumbria | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 84% | 79% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.7% | 6.1% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 18% | 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 Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 32% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Kirkby Lonsdale counts 1.8 jobs per working resident. Unemployment benefit claims came to 1.5% of 16 to 64s in 2026, lower than both Cumbria’s towns (1.7%) and England’s towns (2.3%). Average household income comes to £45K a year before tax. About 28% of its commuters stay in Kirkby Lonsdale for work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Violence accounts for 18.8 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Police recorded 87 crimes inside Kirkby Lonsdale’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 5 reports of anti-social behaviour. Also worth knowing: 57% of the crimes fell under 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.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Kirkby Lonsdale. Best known first.
CastleThurland Castle5 km outside town, to the south
Historic houseHipping Hall3.8 km outside town, to the southeastAttractionAttractionDevil's Bridge200 m outside town, to the southeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
8 notable people were born in Kirkby Lonsdale.
Fiona Crackles: Natasha Iles, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Henry Bickersteth, 1st Baron Langdale: George Richmond / John Henry Robinson, Public domain
Village in Cumbria, England
Kirkby Lonsdale is a built-up area of 1,965 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
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kirkby Lonsdale | 1,965 | — | — | D− | B+ | A |
| Burton-in-Kendal | 1,341 | 5.1 | — | D− | A+ | A+ |
| Holme | 1,477 | 5.3 | — | C− | A− | A− |
| Ingleton | 1,751 | 6.5 | — | B− | A− | B+ |
| High Bentham | 1,701 | 6.9 | — | B | A | B+ |
| Milnthorpe | 1,871 | 7.1 | — | C− | B− | B |
| Warton (Lancaster) | 1,801 | 7.8 | — | D | A | B− |
| Sedbergh | 1,449 | 8.6 | — | D | C+ | A |
Burton-in-Kendal, Holme, Ingleton, High Bentham, Milnthorpe, Warton (Lancaster) and Sedbergh have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Among the strongest in England: GCSE results beat 97% of towns in England, and primary results beat 94% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). Kirkby Lonsdale has 3 state schools; places are handled by Cumbria council.
That is 27.4 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of St Mary.
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.