Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
45,347 people call this large town in Lincolnshire, East Midlands home.
Boston grades low on several counts. Its weakest is safety — 50.7 violent and sexual offences and 17.6 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Set beside UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, its crime per resident is higher than in 86%. At D overall, Boston ranks #49 of 61 in Lincolnshire. On that grade it does better than a tenth of UK towns. Incomes are on the low side (D): the mean household earns £40,931 a year. Buying the median home, at £185,000, takes 4.4 years of household income in the Boston council area. Getting around on foot or by bus is easy: nearly a fifth of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · income, ONS · claimants, DWP · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
The 3 things Boston 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 Boston is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 277 buildings inside Boston’s built-up area, 6 of them Grade I, and 2 scheduled monuments.
20% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 3 old photos and postcards going back to 1900 and a map from c. 1742.
Boston, Massachusetts, is named after Boston.
USUS editionBoston, Massachusetts, settled in 1630, takes its name from this large town.
Named after: each U.S. town’s Wikipedia article. Grades compare each town with towns in its own country, so they aren’t a head-to-head.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Boston.
Typical age in Boston: 39.6, the median. Those 65 and older account for 18% of residents. 18% of residents are children under 15.
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Boston | Lincolnshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 28% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 25% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 18% | 22% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 29% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.3% | 6.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 13% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 19% | 25% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Lincolnshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Boston’s 11 primaries and three secondaries have 6,942 pupils between them. Of its 16 schools, three are shown below, each with the reason. Secondary results at the town’s 3 secondary schools: an Attainment 8 score of 44.1, with 42% at grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tower Road AcademyLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 559 | B− |
| Haven High AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,229 | D− |
| Boston High SchoolTop results in townSecondary | Secondary | 837 | A |
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Of all the crimes, 44% were violence and sexual offences. Reported offences in Boston came to 4,808 over twelve months to August 2026; nuisance and anti-social incidents added 1,333. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 27.7 reports per 1,000, above both Lincolnshire’s towns (9.5) and 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.
At the census, 16% of people here had a disability, lower than both Lincolnshire’s towns (20%) and England’s towns (17%). 4 GP practices serve the town; 71% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. Just over four fifths of people in Boston rate their own health good or very good.
| Census 2021 | Boston | Lincolnshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 81% | 79% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.5% | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 16% | 20% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · These shares come straight from the census, without allowing for age, and young towns benefit; the Health Grade instead weighs age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Boston’s listed buildings include the Church of St Leodegar, Grade I. Homes from before 1919 make up 20% of the total, above both Lincolnshire’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (16%). 2 scheduled monuments lie 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 7% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
7% of workers worked mainly from home, below Lincolnshire’s towns (20%) and England’s towns (31%) alike. Jobs per working resident: 0.8. For 52% of commuters, work was under 5 km away.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
21% live in social housing, above both Lincolnshire’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (18%). Renting privately is how a quarter of households live. Private rents average £806 a month across the Boston council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £246,997 | 718 |
| Semi-detached | £162,771 | 450 |
| Terraced | £125,000 | 286 |
| Flat or maisonette | £86,250 | 69 |
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 Boston. Best known first.
MuseumBoston Guildhallin town
Abbey or priorySwinshead Abbey4.7 km outside town, to the westHistoric siteHistoric siteHussey Towerin townCastleCastleRoos Hall1.8 km outside town, to the eastAttractionAttractionSibsey Trader Mill4.2 km outside town, to the northMuseumMuseumWe'll Meet Again4.1 km outside town, to the eastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
277 listed buildings in Boston, 6 of them Grade I.
Parish Church of St Botolph: Photo: BardofL · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Maud Foster Windmill and Granary: Photo: Richard Croft · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Guildhall and attached gate: Photo: Christine Hasman · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The White Hart Hotel: Photo: David Hallam-Jones · CC BY-SA 2.0
85 notable people were born in Boston.
John Foxe: Unidentified painter, Public domain · Hannah Macleod: fourthandfifteen, CC BY 2.0 · Crista Cullen: fourthandfifteen, CC BY 2.0 · Robert Webb: Irving Liaw from London, United Kingdom, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Jean Ingelow: Elliott & Fry, Public domain · John Oster: ChristalPalace at English Wikipedia, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston | 45,347 | — | D | C+ | D | C− |
| Fishtoft | 1,077 | 2.5 | — | D | A | C+ |
| Kirton | 5,576 | 3.3 | D− | C− | C | C− |
| Butterwick | 1,363 | 3.9 | — | C | B | C |
| Sibsey | 1,520 | 4.7 | — | C− | A | C+ |
| Sutterton | 1,068 | 5.7 | — | D | C | C− |
| Swineshead | 2,653 | 5.9 | C− | C− | B+ | C+ |
| Old Leake | 1,173 | 6.4 | — | C | C | C− |
Fishtoft, Butterwick, Sibsey, Sutterton and Old Leake have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 2.5 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include Guildhall and attached gate. It also has 2 scheduled monuments.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £185,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £86,250, terraced houses £125,000, semi-detached houses £162,771 and detached houses £246,997.
Large town in Lincolnshire, England
Boston is a built-up area of 45,347 people, in the Boston 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.