Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
3,831 people live in this town in Lincolnshire, East Midlands.
The picture is mixed. Its weakest is jobs & income (D−) — households earn a mean £36,410 a year, and 4% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Alford grades C overall, better than 30% of UK towns, and ranks #41 of 61 in Lincolnshire. It also trails on health: life expectancy 78.3 for men, 80.6 for women. Walkability is its strong suit: nearly a quarter of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Homes sell for a median £170,000, about 4.2 years of what households in the East Lindsey council area earn. Its other grades sit near the middle: B for schools and C+ for hazard risk.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · income and life expectancy, ONS · claimants, DWP · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · flood risk, Environment Agency.
The 3 things Alford 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 Alford is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 48 buildings inside Alford’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade I.
31% 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 1905.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Alford.
9.8% of the population is aged 15 to 24, below both Lincolnshire’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (12%). People 65 and over make up 26% of the town. Half of Alford is older than 46.5, half younger.
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
| Alford | Lincolnshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.8% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 21% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 25% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 26% | 22% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 25% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.1% | 6.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 19% | 25% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Lincolnshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Below are its three schools. Key Stage 2 results at the one primary school within 3 km: 63% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). GCSE results at the town’s 2 secondary schools: 46% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 45.3.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alford Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 304 | B− |
| John Spendluffe Foundation Technology CollegeLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 650 | D− |
| Queen Elizabeth's Grammar Alford - A Selective AcademyTop results in townSecondary | Secondary | 565 | A |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Listed buildings per head: 125 for every 10,000 residents of Alford. Its listed buildings include the Church of St Wilfrid, Grade I. Of the town’s land, 14% lies in conservation areas, above both Lincolnshire’s towns (2%) and England’s towns (7%). It counts 48 listed buildings on the national list (Historic England): 2 Grade I, 2 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 15% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
24% of commuters went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport at the census. About 31% of its commuters stay in Alford for work. The census counted 15% of workers working mainly from home.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Nearly three quarters of Alford’s residents described their health as good or very good at the census, below Lincolnshire’s towns (79%) and England’s towns (82%) alike. Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects nearly a tenth of the town. Men in Alford can expect to live to 78.3, women to 80.6 (2019–23). The nearest A&E to Alford is Pilgrim Hospital, 19.9 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Alford | Lincolnshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 74% | 79% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 8.2% | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 26% | 20% | 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.
Police figures for Alford’s built-up area: 224 crimes and 108 anti-social behaviour reports in the 12 months to August 2026. Homes saw 11.7 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year, above Lincolnshire’s towns (7.8) and England’s towns (9.4) alike. Also worth knowing: for its size, Alford records more crime per resident than 73% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. 58% 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.
58% of households own their home, about level with England’s towns (61%) and below Lincolnshire’s towns (65%). Private tenants account for 23% of households. 119 standard sales inside Alford’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put the median at £170,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £232,500 | 43 |
| Semi-detached | £169,250 | 40 |
| Terraced | £128,000 | 36 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Alford. Best known first.
MuseumAlford Manor Housein townAttractionAttractionAlford Windmillin townZooZooRadcliffe Donkey Sanctuary4.7 km outside town, to the eastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
48 listed buildings in Alford, 2 of them Grade I.
Church of St Wilfrid: Photo: Richard Croft · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Windmill: Photo: Nickfraser · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Hanby Hall: Photo: Richard Croft · CC BY-SA 2.0 · White Horse Hotel: Photo: Jo and Steve Turner · CC BY-SA 2.0
9 notable people were born in Alford.
Anne Hutchinson: Edwin Austin Abbey, Public domain · Robert Parker, Baron Parker of Waddington: William Hartley, Public domain · Susanna Hutchinson: Michael E. Ray, Public domain · Edward Hutchinson: Sarnold17, CC BY-SA 3.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alford | 3,831 | — | C | B− | C | C− |
| Sutton on Sea and Trusthorpe | 5,042 | 5.7 | D− | C− | B− | D |
| Mablethorpe | 7,633 | 6.7 | D− | B− | D | D− |
| Spilsby | 3,671 | 6.8 | D | B− | C− | C− |
| Chapel St Leonards | 3,435 | 6.8 | D− | B− | D− | D− |
| Burgh le Marsh | 2,159 | 7.2 | — | C+ | A− | C− |
| Ingoldmells | 1,928 | 8.1 | — | B− | D− | D− |
| Manby | 1,906 | 8.1 | — | C+ | B | C+ |
Burgh le Marsh, Ingoldmells and Manby have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 5.1 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include Church of St Wilfrid.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £170,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: terraced houses £128,000, semi-detached houses £169,250 and detached houses £232,500.
Town in Lincolnshire, England
Alford is a built-up area of 3,831 people, in the East Lindsey 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.