Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 3,943 in Fife, Scotland.
Police Scotland doesn’t publish street-level crime, so Anstruther has no Safety Grade and, without it, no overall grade. Its other subjects are graded below. Its strongest subject is walkability (A−): 20% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is health (C−): life expectancy 78.1 for men, 80.8 for women. The median home sold for £246,600 in the last three years, 5.6 times what households in the Fife council area earn in a year.
The 3 things Anstruther does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within Scotland), ordered by how far Anstruther is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Police Scotland doesn’t publish street-level crime, so Anstruther has no Safety Grade and, without it, no overall grade. Its other subjects are graded below.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic Environment Scotland lists 214 buildings inside Anstruther’s locality, 5 of them in the top category.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Anstruther. Best known first.
MuseumScottish Fisheries Museumin town
Castle · National Trust for ScotlandKellie Castle4.4 km outside town, to the west
Historic houseBalcaskie House3.5 km outside town, to the west
CastleNewark Castle4.5 km outside town, to the southwest
FortScotland's Secret Bunker4.4 km outside town, to the north
MuseumCrail Museum and Heritage Centre4.5 km outside town, to the northeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Anstruther.
Women here live to 80.8 on average and men to 78.1 (2020–24). 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.
| Census 2022 | Anstruther | Fife | Scotland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 78% | 77% | 78% |
| Bad or very bad health | 7.2% | 7.2% | 7.2% |
| Activities limited (health or disability) | 26% | 26% | 24% |
Scotland’s Census 2022, general health and disability · Public Health Scotland life expectancy by intermediate zone, 2020–24 · OGL
Its two schools are below. The grade uses the secondaries its children go to; Scotland publishes no primary results by school.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anstruther Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 257 | – |
| Waid AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 671 | B− |
Anstruther sits above both Fife’s towns (20%) and Scotland’s towns (19%) on this measure. Young adults of 15 to 24 are 9.1% of the population. Anstruther has a median age of 48.4.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across Scotland, 51% of residents are women.
| Anstruther | Fife | Scotland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 16% | 15% |
| 15–24 | 9.1% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 21% | 24% | 26% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 27% | 27% |
| 65+ | 26% | 20% | 19% |
| No qualifications | 16% | 17% | 17% |
| Apprenticeship | 9.1% | 8.2% | 7.5% |
| Highers or similar | 11% | 12% | 11% |
| Degree level | 33% | 27% | 32% |
Scotland’s Census 2022 · Fife and Scotland: all residents of their towns · OGL
Scotland’s Census was taken on 20 March 2022, a year after England and Wales’s lockdown census; 29% of workers were mainly at home, and shares here are of those who travelled.
That puts Anstruther below both Fife’s towns (3.6%) and Scotland’s towns (2.8%). The car carried 75% of commuters at the census.
Scotland’s Census 2022 (NRS), method of travel and distance to work · DWP claimant count · OGL
Our estimate of the median sale is £247K, above both Fife’s towns (£147K) and Scotland’s towns (£174K). Owners make up 67% of households.
Registers of Scotland data-zone sale prices · Scottish Government council tax · Scotland’s Census 2022 tenure · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Anstruther has 214 listed buildings on Historic Environment Scotland’s list: 5 Category A, 94 Category B. Anstruther has 543 listed buildings for every 10,000 residents, above both Fife’s towns (30) and Scotland’s towns (22). Anstruther’s listed buildings include Anstruther Easter Parish Church (St Adrian's), Category A.
Historic Environment Scotland list, October 2026 · OGL
214 listed buildings in Anstruther, 5 of them in the top category.
Anstruther Wester Parish Church (Now St Adrian's Church Hall): Photo: Derek Harper · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Manse, Backdykes Anstruther Easter (Including Garden Walls): Photo: Margaret Hyland · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Dreel Lodge Castle Street and Wightman's Wynd Anstruther Easter: Photo: Drkirstyross · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Chalmers' Birthplace, Old Post Office Close High Street Anstruther Easter: Photo: Drkirstyross · CC BY-SA 3.0
16 notable people were born in Anstruther.
Thomas Chalmers: Stephencdickson, CC BY-SA 4.0 · R. H. Bruce Lockhart: Negeri Sembilan (photographer in Pantai), Public domain · David Martin: David Martin, Public domain · Edith Bowman: Amy Martin Photography, CC BY 4.0
The nearest towns and villages, from National Records of Scotland’s 2022 localities. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anstruther | 3,943 | — | — | B+ | — | C− |
| St Andrews | 16,465 | 8.7 | — | C | — | C+ |
| North Berwick | 8,314 | 12 | — | C | — | B+ |
No Scottish town has a Safety Grade or an overall grade yet: Police Scotland doesn’t publish street-level crime. People: Census 2022. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 22.3 times the typical town in England and Wales for its size. Its Category A buildings include Anstruther Easter Parish Church (St Adrian's).
Band D council tax in Anstruther is £1,574 for 2026–27, less than in 97% of UK towns (council, county, police and fire). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
Town in Fife, Scotland
Anstruther is a locality of 3,943 people, in the Fife council area. TownRatings uses National Records of Scotland’s 2022 localities as Scotland’s towns: the physical town, as people mean the word, rather than a council area, so its figures cover the town itself. Localities split the big settlements into their towns, as ONS’s 2022 boundaries split conurbations in England and Wales.
Built from NRS geography and Census 2022
Sources: Scotland’s Census 2022 (National Records of Scotland), output areas summed to the NRS 2022 locality · Registers of Scotland house price statistics, medians and quartiles of residential sales by 2022 data zone, 2004 to 2025 (the 2023 to 2025 headline brought to early-2025 prices with each council’s medians) · Scottish Government, Council Tax by band 2026-27; Scottish Water charges 2026-27 · Scottish Government, Recorded Crime in Scotland (crimes, offences and clear-up rates by council area, 2016-17 to 2025-26); Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2020v2 crime domain and SIMD crime indicators (2014/15, 2017/18), 2011 data zones with Census 2022 residents · ONS gross disposable household income by council (2022), scaled to household income on England and Wales’s councils, with Scotland’s Census 2022 households · DWP / ONS Claimant Count via Nomis (2022 data zones, January to August 2026), over residents aged 16 to 64 at Scotland’s Census 2022; council series since 2015 · Scottish Government school contact list (31 July 2026) and school summary statistics (pupil census, September 2025); School Information Dashboard leavers’ attainment by school, 2022-23 to 2024-25 (data.gov.scot) · 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.