Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A village in Cumbria, North West, home to 765 people.
There are no grades for Kirkby Thore: with fewer than 1,000 residents, they wouldn’t be fair. The figures on this page are still real. On the way to work, 10% walk, cycle or take a bus or train. 10 listed buildings, 0 of them Grade I.
The 3 things Kirkby Thore does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists them inside Kirkby Thore’s built-up area, along with 1 scheduled monument.
37% 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 Kirkby Thore.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 18% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
18% of workers worked mainly from home at the census. Unemployment benefit claims came to 1.2% of 16 to 64s in 2026, below Cumbria’s towns (1.6%) and England’s towns (2.3%) alike. Households take home £43K a year before tax, on average.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The one school in town appears below. Nearly three in five pupils at the 3 primary schools within 3 km met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). The town’s primary school has 33 pupils.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kirkby Thore SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 33 | – |
The median sale price was £230K, near Cumbria’s towns (£219K) and lower than England’s towns (£308K). The owner-occupied share of households is 65%. 20% of households rent from a council or housing body.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £260,000 | 11 |
| Semi-detached | £185,000 | 7 |
| Terraced | £170,000 | 7 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 1.3 reports per 1,000, lower than both Cumbria’s towns (3.3) and England’s towns (7.8). Police recorded 33 crimes inside Kirkby Thore’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026. Violence and sexual offences accounted for 67% of recorded crime.
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.
There is no GP practice in Kirkby Thore: the nearest is 2 miles off. 16% of residents in Kirkby Thore live with a disability. Self-reported good health: just over four fifths of the town’s residents.
| Census 2021 | Kirkby Thore | Cumbria | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 82% | 79% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.8% | 6.1% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 16% | 20% | 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 heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Grade II* covers 1 of them. Scaled to its population, Kirkby Thore has 131 listed buildings per 10,000 people, above both Cumbria’s towns (46) and England’s towns (39). The town has one scheduled monument.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Children under 15 count for 18% of the people here. 17% of residents are 65 or over, below Cumbria’s towns (23%) and close to England’s towns (18%). Ages in Kirkby Thore split evenly at 42.7: half are older, half younger.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Kirkby Thore | Cumbria | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 15% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 12% | 9.9% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 23% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 30% | 28% | 25% |
| 65+ | 17% | 23% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 17% | 19% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.2% | 8% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 28% | 28% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Cumbria and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Kirkby Thore. Best known first.
CastleHowgill Castle4 km outside town, to the northeastMuseumMuseum · National TrustAcorn Bank2.7 km outside town, to the northwestCastleCastleBewley Castle4 km outside town, to the southAttractionAttractionAcorn Bank Mill3 km outside town, to the northwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kirkby Thore | 765 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Appleby-in-Westmorland | 3,233 | 4.3 | D | C− | C− | B+ |
| Penrith | 16,705 | 8.1 | C− | D | D | C+ |
People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 5.4 times the typical UK town for its size. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
Band D council tax in Kirkby Thore is £2,519 for 2026–27, more than in 69% of UK towns (council, county, police and fire, plus the parish or town council). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
By type: terraced houses £170,000, semi-detached houses £185,000 and detached houses £260,000. Private rents in the Westmorland and Furness council area averaged £816 a month in August 2026.
Village in Cumbria, England
Kirkby Thore is a built-up area of 765 people, in the Eden 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.