Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Much to like here, and you pay for it. Lawford grades B+ overall, better than 66% of UK towns. In the ranking it comes #34 of 81 in Essex. The local economy does well: households earn a mean £54,926 a year, and 1.9% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Buying in is costly (D−): the median home sold for £381,000, 8.5 years of area income. Its remaining grades are unremarkable: B for safety, B for health, B for walkability and B for hazard risk.
Figures: income and life expectancy, ONS · claimants, DWP · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · commuting, Census 2021 · flood risk, Environment Agency.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Lawford is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things Lawford does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 5 buildings inside Lawford’s built-up area.
4% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 1 old photo or postcard going back to 1930.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Lawford.
Social housing holds nearly one in ten households, below Essex’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. 16% of households are private tenants. Private rents average £1,053 a month across the Tendring council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £462,500 | 135 |
| Semi-detached | £335,000 | 126 |
| Terraced | £274,000 | 31 |
| Flat or maisonette | £232,500 | 8 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
GCSE results at the one secondary school within 3 km: 53% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 49.2. All three of the town’s schools appear below. 73% of pupils at the town’s 2 primary schools met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lawford Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 349 | B |
| Manningtree High SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 908 | B+ |
| Highfields Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 320 | A |
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 4% of the total, below Essex’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (16%) alike. Of Lawford’s land, 7% lies in conservation areas, about level with England’s towns (7%) and above Essex’s towns (3%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 33% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Just over four in five commuters took the car to work at the census. Of the commuters living in Lawford, 9% work in the town itself. This Essex town counts 0.5 jobs per working resident.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The nearest A&E to Lawford is Colchester General Hospital, 6.8 miles away. One GP practice serves the town; 91% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. At the census, 4.2% of people here described their health as bad or very bad.
| Census 2021 | Lawford | Essex | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 84% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.2% | 4.8% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 17% | 17% | 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.
Homes saw 8.4 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year, below Essex’s towns (10.6) and England’s towns (9.4) alike. The 12 months to August 2026 brought 205 recorded crimes inside Lawford’s built-up area, and 21 reports of anti-social behaviour. 48% 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.
People 65 and over make up 21% of the town, higher than both Essex’s towns (20%) and England’s towns (18%). Half of Lawford is older than 43.6, half younger. Degrees are held by 29% of adults.
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Lawford | Essex | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.3% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 26% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 21% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 16% | 19% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.7% | 5.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 19% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 29% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Essex and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Lawford. Best known first.
MuseumThe Munnings Art Museum2.6 km outside town, to the westRuinsRuins · English HeritageMistley Towers1.1 km outside town, to the eastAttractionAttraction · National TrustFlatford Mill1.7 km outside town, to the northwestAbbey or prioryAbbey or prioryDodnash Priory3.3 km outside town, to the northMuseumMuseumManningtree Museum100 m outside town, to the northeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Town in Essex, England
Lawford is a built-up area of 4,488 people, in the Tendring 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lawford | 4,488 | — | B+ | D− | B | B |
| Manningtree | 1,676 | 0.6 | — | D− | C | B− |
| Mistley | 1,827 | 1.6 | — | D− | C | B |
| Brantham | 2,081 | 1.7 | — | B+ | A− | A |
| Bradfield | 1,254 | 2.5 | — | D− | A+ | B |
| East Bergholt | 2,211 | 2.9 | — | B− | B+ | A |
| Ardleigh | 1,042 | 3 | — | D− | C+ | B |
| Capel St Mary | 2,992 | 4.3 | A | B+ | A | A+ |
Manningtree, Mistley, Brantham, Bradfield, East Bergholt and Ardleigh have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Secondary results beat 73%. Lawford has 3 state schools; places are handled by Essex council.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £381,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £232,500, terraced houses £274,000, semi-detached houses £335,000 and detached houses £462,500.
Band D council tax in Lawford is £2,309 for 2026–27, less than in 74% 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.
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.