Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
With 17,495 residents, it is a town in Lincolnshire, East Midlands. It skews older: 22% of residents are 65 or over.
Overall, Bourne earns an A: better than 90% of UK towns, and #4 of 61 in Lincolnshire. It is strong on cost of living as well — the median home sold for £249,950, 4.8 years of area income. Hazards are a real consideration (C+): 0.7% of homes face a high or medium risk of river or sea flooding. The rest of its grades are middling: B− for safety, B− for health and C+ for jobs & income.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · flood risk, Environment Agency · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · life expectancy and income, ONS · claimants, DWP.
The 3 things Bourne 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 Bourne is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 62 buildings inside Bourne’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I, and 1 scheduled monument.
8% 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 Bourne.
Bourne Grammar School’s results beat 96% of schools in England like it. Three of its 6 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. At the town’s 3 primary schools, 71% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bourne Abbey Church of England Primary AcademyLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 686 | A− |
| Bourne Grammar SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,718 | A+ |
| Bourne Elsea Park Church of England Primary AcademyTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 273 | A |
Social housing holds one in ten households, below both Lincolnshire’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (18%). Private rents average £845 a month across the South Kesteven council area. The median sale, £249,950, comes from 1,165 standard sales inside Bourne’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £320,000 | 507 |
| Semi-detached | £226,250 | 381 |
| Terraced | £200,000 | 224 |
| Flat or maisonette | £125,000 | 53 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · 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.
Driving is how 77% of commuters got to work at the census. At the census, 22% went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport, between Lincolnshire’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (27%). Unemployment benefit claims reached 2.8% of 16 to 64s in 2026. Of the commuters living in Bourne, 35% work in the town itself.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
People 65 and over make up 22% of the town, close to Lincolnshire’s towns (22%) and above England’s towns (18%). Aged 15 to 24: 9.6% of residents. Bourne has a median age of 42.4 years. Graduates make up 28% of adults.
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Bourne | Lincolnshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.6% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 25% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 25% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 22% | 22% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 16% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.8% | 6.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 20% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 28% | 25% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Lincolnshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
At the census, 83% of people in Bourne called their health good or very good, above Lincolnshire’s towns (79%) and close to England’s towns (82%). The nearest A&E to Bourne is Peterborough City Hospital, 13.4 miles away. 2 GP practices serve the town; 86% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Bourne | Lincolnshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 83% | 79% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.4% | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 17% | 20% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · 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.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Bourne’s listed buildings include the Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul, Grade I. 8% of homes date from before 1919. The national list protects one ancient monument locally.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
For its size, Bourne records less crime per resident than 78% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. Police figures for the town’s built-up area: 940 crimes and 266 anti-social behaviour reports in the 12 months to August 2026. Violent crime ran at 25.6 per 1,000 residents a year, higher than both Lincolnshire’s towns (21.1) and England’s towns (22). Of all the crimes, 49% 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.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Bourne. Best known first.
CastleBourne Castlein town
Abbey or prioryBourne Abbeyin town
CastleGrimsthorpe Castle4.6 km outside town, to the northwestHistoric houseHistoric houseRed Hallin townMuseumMuseumBaldocks Millin townMuseumMuseumDelaine Bus Museumin townPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
62 listed buildings in Bourne, 1 of them Grade I.
Red Hall: Photo: Richard Croft · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Bourne Castle: Photo: Bob Harvey · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Baldock's Mill: Photo: Bob Harvey · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Anchor Inn: Photo: Rex Needle · CC BY-SA 2.0
10 notable people were born in Bourne.
William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley: Unidentified painter, Public domain · Charles Frederick Worth: Nadar, Public domain · William Dodd: John Russell (died 1806), Public domain · Alistair Slater: Cs-wolves, CC BY-SA 4.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bourne | 17,495 | — | A | A | B− | B− |
| Thurlby | 2,139 | 2 | — | B+ | A | A |
| Morton | 2,180 | 2.4 | — | A | B+ | B− |
| Baston | 1,576 | 3.9 | — | B | A+ | A |
| Langtoft | 2,010 | 5.1 | — | B | A+ | A |
| Market Deeping | 6,533 | 6.5 | B | A− | B− | B− |
| Corby Glen | 1,006 | 6.5 | — | B+ | C+ | A− |
| Ryhall | 1,444 | 7 | — | A | A | A |
Thurlby, Morton, Baston, Langtoft, Corby Glen and Ryhall have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Among the strongest in England: GCSE results beat 95% of towns in England, and primary results beat 90% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Against all UK towns, most of them smaller, it grades B−.
Town in Lincolnshire, England
Bourne is a built-up area of 17,495 people, in the South Kesteven 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.