Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
42% of households own their home with no mortgage. 34,728 people call this large town in Leicestershire, East Midlands home.
Wigston’s weakest is schools: primary results beat nearly two in five towns in England; secondary results beat 7% of towns in England. Crime runs high: police record 30.7 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, and 14 home and vehicle crimes. Only half of UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people have more crime per resident. The median home sold for £255,000, 4.8 times what households in the Oadby and Wigston council area earn in a year. Walkability is its strong suit (B+) — 18% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. All told, that adds up to a C overall and a rank of #47 of 50 in Leicestershire. On that grade it does better than a third of UK towns.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · incomes, ONS.
The 3 things Wigston 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 Wigston is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 20 buildings inside Wigston’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
9% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Wigston. Best known first.
CathedralLeicester Cathedral4.1 km outside town, to the north
CastleLeicester Castle3.9 km outside town, to the north
MuseumLeicester Museum and Art Gallery3.3 km outside town, to the north
GardenUniversity of Leicester Botanic Garden1.4 km outside town, to the northeast
MuseumLeicester Guildhall4.1 km outside town, to the northPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Wigston.
Glenmere Community Primary School’s results beat 83% of schools in England like it. Three of its 14 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. Between them, nine primaries and three secondaries teach 5,055 pupils in Wigston.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parkland Primary School South WigstonLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 549 | C |
| Wigston AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,286 | D |
| Glenmere Community Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 212 | A− |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Nearly a tenth of its homes were built before 1919, below Leicestershire’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (16%) alike. Wigston’s listed buildings include the Church of All Saints, Grade I. Grade II* covers 3 of them, Grade I 1.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
In the 12 months to August 2026, police logged 2,130 crimes and 350 reports of anti-social behaviour inside Wigston’s built-up area. Violence and sexual offences made up 43% of the total. There were 8.6 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), above Leicestershire’s towns (6.7) and England’s towns (7.8) alike.
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.
Graduates make up just over a quarter of adults. The 15-to-24 age group: 10%, lower than both Leicestershire’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (12%). Half of Wigston is older than 43.6, half younger.
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Wigston | Leicestershire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 14% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 24% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 22% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 21% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7% | 5.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 26% | 30% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Leicestershire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 25% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Household income averages £49K a year before tax. Of the commuters living in Wigston, 21% work in the town itself. Jobs per working resident: 0.8. The car took four in five commuters, higher than both Leicestershire’s towns (77%) and England’s towns (70%).
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
3 GP practices serve the town; 86% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. At the census, 80% of people in Wigston called their health good or very good, lower than both Leicestershire’s towns (83%) and England’s towns (82%). The nearest A&E to Wigston is Leicester Royal Infirmary, 3.1 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Wigston | Leicestershire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 80% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.3% | 4.7% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 19% | 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.
9% live in social housing, lower than both Leicestershire’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (18%). The private rented sector houses 16% of households. The £255,000 median rests on 1,255 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £355,750 | 279 |
| Semi-detached | £255,000 | 675 |
| Terraced | £198,250 | 259 |
| Flat or maisonette | £121,250 | 42 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
20 listed buildings in Wigston, 1 of them Grade I.
42 and 44, Bushloe End: Photo: Alex Cameron · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Church of St Thomas: Photo: Mat Fascione · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Avenue House: Photo: TheBertiebee · CC BY-SA 4.0 · South Wigston War Memorial: Photo: Mat Fascione · CC BY-SA 2.0
9 notable people were born in Wigston.
William Ewart Boulter: Gallaher Tobacco Ltd, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wigston | 34,728 | — | C | B | C | C |
| Oadby | 24,039 | 2 | A− | C | B− | A− |
| Countesthorpe | 7,674 | 2.4 | B+ | B | B | A |
| Blaby and Whetstone | 14,072 | 2.6 | B− | B+ | C+ | B |
| Leicester | 406,612 | 3.4 | D | D− | D | C− |
| Great Glen | 4,062 | 3.6 | A+ | A | B+ | A |
| Littlethorpe | 1,918 | 3.8 | — | B+ | B− | A− |
| Cosby | 3,518 | 3.9 | B+ | B+ | B+ | B+ |
Littlethorpe has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Against all UK towns, most of them smaller, it grades C.
Large town in Leicestershire, England
Wigston is a built-up area of 34,728 people, in the Oadby and Wigston 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.