Portinscale’s story
1 listed building
Historic England lists them inside Portinscale’s built-up area.
36% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →
PortinscaleCumbria
A village of 498 in Cumbria, North West.
3 places within 12 milesMap →
Photo: Trevor Harris · CC BY-SA 2.0
Population
498
Census 2021 · Allerdale council
Median home
£520K
29 sales in 3 years
Median age
58.7
37% are 65+ · Cumbria 23%
Degree level
48%
of residents 16+ · England 34%
Walk, cycle, bus
19%
of commuters · England 27%
Is Portinscale a good place to live?
Portinscale has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures on this page are still real.
What makes Portinscale stand out
The 3 things Portinscale does most differently from other towns.
Homes built before 1919
History
Against 15% in the typical UK town
Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period.
Residents 65 and over
Who lives here
37% are 65 or over
Against 18% across England’s towns
Own outright
Housing
65% own outright
of households own their home with no mortgage (England’s towns 32%)
Nearby attractions
All attractions →Derwent Pencil Museum and 14 more in and around Portinscale
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Portinscale. Best known first.
MuseumDerwent Pencil Museum900 m outside town, to the east
Historic house · National TrustDerwent Island and House700 m outside town, to the southeast
MuseumKeswick Museum & Art Gallery1.4 km outside town, to the east
Historic houseUnderscar2.5 km outside town, to the northeast
Historic houseMirehouse4.8 km outside town, to the northHistoric siteHistoric site · English HeritageCastlerigg Stone Circle3.6 km outside town, to the eastPlaces: © OpenStreetMap contributors · Wikidata
Photos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Photo credits (5)
- Derwent Pencil Museum: Stinglehammer, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Derwent Island and House: ThereWereNoWMDs, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Keswick Museum & Art Gallery: Stephen Craven, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Underscar: Ian Cunliffe, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Mirehouse: Ian Cunliffe, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
The data
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Portinscale.
Who lives here
Portinscale skews older, with 37% of residents 65 or over, more than Cumbria’s towns or England’s towns
In the comparison, Portinscale comes above both Cumbria’s towns (23%) and England’s towns (18%). Children are 8.8% of the town. The median resident of Portinscale is 58.7 years old.
58.7median age
PortinscaleCumbriaEngland
Ages · share of residents
37%
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications9%
Apprenticeship6%
A levels or similar16%
Degree level48%
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Portinscale | Cumbria | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 8.8% | 15% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 7.4% | 9.9% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 13% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 34% | 28% | 25% |
| 65+ | 37% | 23% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 9.4% | 19% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.6% | 8% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 48% | 28% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Cumbria and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Work & commute
Fewer people aged 16 to 64 in Portinscale claim unemployment benefits than in Cumbria’s towns or England’s towns: 0.5%
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 39% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
For Portinscale, that is below both Cumbria’s towns (1.6%) and England’s towns (2.3%). The average household earns £39K a year before tax.
19%walk, cycle or ride
How commuters got to work · March 2021
Driving80%
On foot16%
Bicycle3%
39%
of commuters travel under 5 km · England 45%
39%
worked mainly from home in March 2021
£39K
mean household income, before tax
0.5%
of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits (2026)
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Housing
Buying in Portinscale costs more than in Cumbria’s towns or across England’s towns: the median sale is £520K
Portinscale sits above both Cumbria’s towns (£219K) and England’s towns (£308K) on this measure. Owners make up 90% of households.
£520Kmedian sale
Median sale price · Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
Portinscale£520K
Typical UK town£277K
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £685,000 | 16 |
| Semi-detached | £490,000 | 6 |
90%
of households own their home · England 61%
8%
rent privately · England 21%
£681
average private rent a month, Cumberland council area
£2,470
council tax, Band D, 2026–27
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Safety
Violent crime runs low in Portinscale: 16.1 per 1,000 residents a year, under Cumbria’s towns and England’s towns
That puts Portinscale below both Cumbria’s towns (27.1) and England’s towns (22). Police recorded 8 crimes inside Portinscale’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 1 reports of anti-social behaviour. Burglary and damage come to 6 per 1,000 residents a year.
16.1violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year
Reports by type · Sep 2025 to Aug 2026
Violence & sexual3
Other theft3
Shoplifting1
Drugs1
Damage & arson0
Public order0
Burglary0
Vehicle crime0
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.
16.1
violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
6
burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
0.7
anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 (not graded)
8
crimes recorded in the 12 months to August 2026
data.police.uk street-level crime · points inside the ONS built-up-area boundary · OGL
Health
Bad health is less common in Portinscale than in Cumbria’s towns or across England’s towns: 2.8% of residents
On this, Portinscale is below both Cumbria’s towns (6.1%) and England’s towns (5.2%). Portinscale has no GP practice of its own; the nearest is 1.3 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.
86%good or very good health
General health, self-reported
Good or very good 86%Fair 11%Bad or very bad 3%
| Census 2021 | Portinscale | Cumbria | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 86% | 79% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 2.8% | 6.1% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 17% | 20% | 17% |
82.2
life expectancy at birth, men (2019–23)
85.4
life expectancy at birth, women
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
History
Old homes shape Portinscale: 36% were built before 1919, more than in Cumbria’s towns or England’s towns
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Portinscale has 1 listed building on Historic England’s list: 0 Grade I, 0 Grade II*.
1listed buildings
Listed buildings by grade · Historic England
Grade I0
Grade II*0
Grade II1
0
scheduled monuments
0
registered parks and gardens
36%
of homes built before 1919 · typical UK town 15%
20
listed buildings per 10,000 residents · typical UK town 24
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Keep exploring
Everything we know about Portinscale
13pages on Portinscale
The big questions
Safety16.1 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026Cost of livingMedian home £520K · rent £681 a monthHousing5 sold in 12 monthsSchoolsHealthLife expectancy 82.2 (men), 85.4 (women)Work & commute55% of working residents work in the townFlood & hazards7.7% of homes at high or medium flood risk
Portinscale’s neighbours
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
KeswickCockermouthGreat Broughton and Little BroughtonPortinscale
How the neighbours grade
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portinscale | 498 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Keswick | 4,465 | 1.4 | C+ | D− | C | A− |
| Cockermouth | 8,859 | 8.9 | C+ | D− | B | B+ |
| Great Broughton and Little Broughton | 1,763 | 12 | — | C− | A | B |
Great Broughton and Little Broughton has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Questions about Portinscale
How many listed buildings are there in Portinscale?
1 on Historic England’s list.
Is Portinscale expensive to live in?
By type: semi-detached houses £490,000 and detached houses £685,000. Private rents in the Cumberland council area averaged £681 a month in August 2026.
About Portinscale
Village in Cumbria, England
Portinscale is a built-up area of 498 people, in the Allerdale 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
- 498 (Census 2021)
- Council
- Allerdale
- County
- Cumbria
- Region
- North West
- Area
- 0.2 sq mi (0.4 km²)
- ONS code
- E63000294
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.