Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Its listed buildings number 26, with 0 at Grade I. The village, home to 1,590 people, lies in Essex, East of England.
Thorpe-le-Soken’s strongest subject is hazard risk (A). Buying in is costly: homes sell for a median £450,000, about 10.1 times local household income. It lags on schools as well — primary results beat 3% of towns in England. Safety is weaker too: 32.3 violent or sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, plus 10.1 home and vehicle crimes. Only 15% of UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people have more crime per resident.
Figures: flood risk, Environment Agency · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026. Thorpe-le-Soken is graded on each subject, but towns under 2,500 get no overall grade.
The 3 things Thorpe-le-Soken does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Thorpe-le-Soken is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Thorpe-le-Soken is graded on each subject, but towns under 2,500 get no overall grade.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists them inside Thorpe-le-Soken’s built-up area.
18% 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 Thorpe-le-Soken.
Social housing holds 8% of households, below both Essex’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (18%). Renting privately is how one in ten households live. The median sale, £450,000, comes from 108 standard sales inside Thorpe-le-Soken’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £495,000 | 85 |
| Semi-detached | £321,250 | 18 |
| Terraced | £295,000 | 5 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The town has one school, shown below. Key Stage 2 results at the 4 primary schools within 3 km: 45% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rolph Church of England Primary School and NurseryLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 231 | D |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
18% of its homes were built before 1919, above both Essex’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (16%). Thorpe-le-Soken has 26 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 4 Grade II*. The register of parks and gardens lists one in the town.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
54% of the crimes fell under violence and sexual offences. A year of reports to August 2026 adds up to 111 offences in Thorpe-le-Soken and 17 cases of nuisance behaviour. There were 5.9 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), above Essex’s towns (4.6) but below 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.
One GP practice serves the town; 76% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. The nearest A&E to Thorpe-le-Soken is Colchester General Hospital, 12.1 miles away. At the census, 4.6% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, near Essex’s towns (4.8%) and lower than England’s towns (5.2%).
| Census 2021 | Thorpe-le-Soken | Essex | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 82% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.6% | 4.8% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 17% | 17% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Because the census answers ignore age, a younger population lifts them; that is why the Health Grade is built on age-adjusted measures like life expectancy and early deaths.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 31% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Income per household averages £45K a year, before tax. 86% of commuters drove, above Essex’s towns (74%) and England’s towns (70%) alike. About 9% of its commuters stay in Thorpe-le-Soken for work. The town counts 0.9 jobs per working resident.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or over, above Essex’s towns (20%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. The median resident of Thorpe-le-Soken is 46.8 years old. Graduates make up 27% of adults.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Thorpe-le-Soken | Essex | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 22% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 24% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 18% | 19% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.7% | 5.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 27% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Essex and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thorpe-le-Soken | 1,590 | — | — | D− | C | C+ |
| Weeley | 1,285 | 2.2 | — | D− | C+ | C |
| Little Clacton | 2,458 | 2.3 | — | D− | B | C+ |
| Kirby-le-Soken | 1,207 | 2.6 | — | D− | C | C+ |
| Kirby Cross | 6,036 | 2.9 | C | D− | A− | C+ |
| Frinton-on-Sea | 4,865 | 3.7 | D | D− | B | C |
| Clacton-on-Sea | 53,190 | 4 | D− | D | D− | D |
| Walton-on-the-Naze | 6,980 | 4.1 | D− | D | C− | C− |
Weeley, Little Clacton and Kirby-le-Soken have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
One state school is inside the town; places are handled by Essex council.
That is 6.7 times the typical UK town for its size.
Burglary was rare, with 2 reports in the year.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £450,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: terraced houses £295,000, semi-detached houses £321,250 and detached houses £495,000.
Village in Essex, England
Thorpe-le-Soken is a built-up area of 1,590 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
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.