Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
13,628 residents make their home in this town in Leicestershire, East Midlands.
The picture is mixed. With a B− overall, Syston is better than 55% of UK towns and ranks #34 of 50 in Leicestershire. Its strongest subject is cost of living (A−) — homes sell for a median £260,000, about 4.7 times local household income. Hazard risk is its weak spot: 13.8% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. Elsewhere it is close to typical: C+ for schools, C+ for health, B for jobs & income and B for walkability.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · flood risk, Environment Agency · life expectancy and income, ONS · claimants, DWP · commuting, Census 2021.
The 2 things Syston 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 Syston is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 34 buildings inside Syston’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
10% 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 Syston.
10% live in social housing, below both Leicestershire’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (18%). Private renters make up 16% of households. Half of the 514 standard sales inside Syston’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £260,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £368,000 | 119 |
| Semi-detached | £266,000 | 209 |
| Terraced | £213,000 | 135 |
| Flat or maisonette | £137,750 | 51 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Attainment 8 at the 3 secondary schools within 3 km averages 42.9, and 37% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths. At the town’s 2 primary schools, 63% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Syston’s two primaries and one secondary have 1,954 pupils between them.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Merton Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 413 | B |
| Wreake Valley AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,148 | D |
795 crimes and 143 reports of anti-social behaviour: that is what police recorded inside Syston’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026. Violence came to 27.4 per 1,000 residents a year, above both Leicestershire’s towns (21.5) and England’s towns (22). Of all the crimes, 48% were 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.
The nearest A&E to Syston is Leicester Royal Infirmary, 5.4 miles away. 2 GP practices serve the town; 84% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. Men in Syston can expect to live to 80, women to 82.8 (2019–23).
| Census 2021 | Syston | Leicestershire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 83% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.7% | 4.7% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 17% | 16% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · No age adjustment applies to these census answers, which flatter younger towns; the Health Grade’s measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them, do allow for age.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
10% of its homes were built before 1919, below Leicestershire’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (16%) alike. Syston’s listed buildings include the Church of Saints Peter and Paul, Grade I. Scaled to its population, that is 25 listed buildings for every 10,000 people in the town.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 26% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
15% of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train at the census, below both Leicestershire’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (27%). For just over a third of commuters, work was under 5 km away. A household here earns £51K a year before tax, on average.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
People 65 and over make up just over a fifth of the town, higher than both Leicestershire’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (18%). Typical age in Syston: 43.4, the median. Graduates make up 28% of adults.
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Syston | Leicestershire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.5% | 14% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 25% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 21% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 20% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.2% | 5.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 28% | 30% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Leicestershire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Syston. Best known first.
MuseumNational Space Centre4.6 km outside town, to the southwest
Abbey or prioryAbbey Pumping Station4.5 km outside town, to the southwest
MuseumBelgrave Hall Museum3.8 km outside town, to the southwest
Heritage railwayMountsorrel Railway4.9 km outside town, to the northwestMuseumMuseumRetro Computer Museum2.6 km outside town, to the southAttractionAttractionThe Humber Stone3.3 km outside town, to the southPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
34 listed buildings in Syston, 1 of them Grade I.
The Fox and Hounds Public House: Photo: Alan Murray-Rust · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Syston War Memorial Clock Tower: Photo: Kate Jewell · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Thatched Cottage: Photo: Alan Murray-Rust · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph · 19, Chapel Street: Photo: Alan Murray-Rust · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph
3 notable people were born in Syston.
Luke Thomas: Антон Зайцев, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Terri Dwyer: Raintheone, CC0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Syston | 13,628 | — | B− | A− | C | C+ |
| Queniborough | 3,087 | 1.1 | A | B | A− | A |
| Thurmaston | 9,509 | 1.6 | B− | A− | C− | C |
| East Goscote | 2,893 | 1.6 | A | A− | A− | A− |
| Rearsby | 1,181 | 2.4 | — | C+ | A | A |
| Birstall | 14,317 | 2.5 | A | B+ | B− | B+ |
| Sileby | 8,954 | 2.9 | B− | A | C | C+ |
| Mountsorrel | 12,879 | 3.2 | A− | A− | C | B+ |
Rearsby has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
About the middle for its size: 42% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people report less crime per resident. Against all UK towns, most of them smaller, it grades C.
Band D council tax in Syston is £2,493 for 2026–27, more than in 63% 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.
Town in Leicestershire, England
Syston is a built-up area of 13,628 people, in the Charnwood 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.