Windermere grades C overall against UK towns: better than 28% of UK towns, and #7 of 23 in Cumbria. Its strongest subject is walkability (A+): 29% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is cost of living (D−): median sale £330,000, 7.3 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 Windermere is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Who lives here
Children make up only 12% of Windermere, fewer than in Cumbria’s towns and England’s towns
On this, Windermere is below both Cumbria’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (18%). Over-65s are 26% of the population. Half the people of Windermere are older than 51.
51median age
WindermereCumbriaEngland
Ages · share of residents
26%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications15%
Apprenticeship8%
A levels or similar17%
Degree level34%
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
WomenEnglandMen
About 93 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.
ONS Census 2021 · Cumbria and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Health
Windermere is 20.6 miles from the nearest A&E
One GP practice serves the town; 90% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. 4.5% of residents described their health as bad or very bad, below both Cumbria’s towns (6.1%) and England’s towns (5.2%). Women here live to 87.3 on average and men to 80.9 (2019–23).
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
History
Windermere keeps more of its old housing than Cumbria or England’s towns: 31% built before 1919
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
In the comparison, Windermere comes above both Cumbria’s towns (28%) and England’s towns (16%). Windermere has 24 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 0 Grade I, 1 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Safety
Violent crime runs high in Windermere: 32.1 per 1,000 residents a year, above Cumbria’s towns and England’s towns
For Windermere, that is above both Cumbria’s towns (27) and England’s towns (22). Police recorded 318 crimes inside Windermere’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 19 reports of anti-social behaviour. Homes see 11.6 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year.
32.1violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a yearCSafety Grade
Compared with UK towns its sizeLess crime per resident than 26% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people: more crime than most for its size. Context only, not part of the grade.
More crimeLess crime
Reports by type · Sep 2025 to Aug 2026
Violence & sexual155
Damage & arson51
Public order28
Other theft26
Shoplifting21
Drugs18
Burglary6
Weapons4
Anti-social19
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.
32.1
violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
11.6
burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
4
anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 (not graded)
G. M. B. Dobson: Elliott & Fry, Public domain · Edward Allington: Edward Allington Estate, CC BY-SA 4.0 · David Snow: Dr. A. E. ("Ted") Hill, CC BY-SA 3.0
Bowness-on-Windermere, Staveley, Levens and Milnthorpe have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Questions about Windermere
How many listed buildings are there in Windermere?
That is 2 times the typical UK town for its size.
Who lives in Windermere?
An older town. At the 2021 Census, 26% of residents were 65 or over and 31% were 45 to 64, against 18% and 25% across England’s towns; 12% were under 15.
Does Windermere flood?
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Are schools in Windermere good?
GCSE results trail 78% of towns in England, and primary results trail 84% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). Windermere has 3 state schools; places are handled by Cumbria council.
About Windermere
Town in Cumbria, England
Windermere is a built-up area of 4,819 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
4,819 (Census 2021)
Council
South Lakeland
County
Cumbria
Region
North West
Area
1 sq mi (2.5 km²)
ONS code
E63000386
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.
