Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
With 737 residents, it is a village in Devon, South West. 16% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport.
Towns under 1,000 residents aren’t graded, so Lifton has no grades; its figures are still real. It has 16 listed buildings, 1 of them Grade I. 27% of residents are 65 or over.
The 3 things Lifton does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 16 buildings inside Lifton’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
45% 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 Lifton.
People 65 and over make up 27% of the town, above both Devon’s towns (24%) and England’s towns (18%). Ages in Lifton split evenly at 49.2: half are older, half younger.
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Lifton | Devon | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 15% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.9% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 20% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 27% | 24% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 21% | 17% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.8% | 6.6% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 27% | 30% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Devon and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Key Stage 2 results at the one primary school within 3 km: 53% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Its one school is below. The town’s primary school has 131 pupils.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lifton Community AcademyLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 131 | C− |
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.
Work in town: 8% of resident commuters. Just over four in five commuters drove to work at the census. For every resident in work, Lifton has 0.7 jobs.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The owner-occupied share of households is 67%. Private rents average £846 a month across the West Devon council area. Social housing holds 13% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £397,500 | 9 |
| Semi-detached | £252,500 | 10 |
| Terraced | £259,975 | 6 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Lifton logged 23 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 3 complaints of anti-social conduct. Violence and sexual offences were just over a third of the crimes. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 9.4 reports per 1,000, above both Devon’s towns (5.7) and England’s towns (7.8).
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.
Seeing a GP means leaving Lifton: the nearest practice is 3.5 miles away. The nearest A&E to Lifton is Derriford Hospital, 17.3 miles away. A fifth of residents in Lifton live with a disability.
| Census 2021 | Lifton | Devon | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 79% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.2% | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 20% | 21% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · These shares come straight from the census, without allowing for age, and young towns benefit; the Health Grade instead weighs age-adjusted measures, including 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.
Lifton’s listed buildings include the Church of St Mary, Grade I. Scaled to its population, that is 217 listed buildings for every 10,000 people locally. The top grade, Grade I, goes to 1 of them.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lifton | 737 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Withnoe | 1,820 | 2.8 | — | D | B+ | C |
| Launceston | 8,431 | 3.4 | D− | C− | D | C− |
| Kelly Bray | 1,137 | 8.7 | — | D | A | C |
| Gunnislake and St Ann's Chapel | 3,506 | 8.8 | C | D | B | B− |
| Tavistock | 12,676 | 9.2 | C | C | C+ | B |
| Callington | 4,665 | 9.8 | D | D− | C− | C |
| Pensilva | 1,656 | 11 | — | C− | A | C |
Withnoe, Kelly Bray and Pensilva have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 8.9 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of St Mary. 45% of Lifton’s homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Band D council tax in Lifton is £2,628 for 2026–27, more than in 90% 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.
Village in Devon, England
Lifton is a built-up area of 737 people, in the West Devon 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.