Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
3,446 people live in this town in Lincolnshire, East Midlands.
Homes are affordable here, though not without reasons. Buying a home costs less than in most towns: homes sell for a median £240,000, about 4.8 times local household income. At B+ overall, Cherry Willingham ranks #16 of 61 in Lincolnshire. Set against the rest, it does better than 73% of UK towns. Crime is low: 15.3 violent or sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, plus 5 home and vehicle crimes. The trade-off is walkability — 8% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. It also trails on schools: primary results beat 42% of towns in England; secondary results beat 15% of towns in England. Its other grades sit near the middle: B− for health and B− for jobs & income.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · commuting, Census 2021 · life expectancy and income, ONS · claimants, DWP.
The 3 things Cherry Willingham 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 Cherry Willingham is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 3 buildings inside Cherry Willingham’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
4% 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 Cherry Willingham. Best known first.
CathedralLincoln Cathedral4.5 km outside town, to the west
CastleLincoln Castle4.8 km outside town, to the west
MuseumLincoln Museum4.6 km outside town, to the west
Historic house · English HeritageMedieval Bishop's Palace4.6 km outside town, to the west
MuseumUsher Gallery4.6 km outside town, to the west
MuseumInternational Bomber Command Centre4.9 km outside town, to the southwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Cherry Willingham.
Typical age in Cherry Willingham: 51.6, the median. 7.7% of the population is aged 15 to 24, below both Lincolnshire’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (12%). Graduates make up 27% of adults.
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.
| Cherry Willingham | Lincolnshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 7.7% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 20% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 25% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 33% | 22% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 18% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 8.5% | 6.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 19% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 27% | 25% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Lincolnshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Between them, one primary and one secondary teach 802 pupils in Cherry Willingham. Both of its schools are shown below. Key Stage 2 results at the 7 primary schools within 3 km: three in five pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cherry Willingham Primary AcademyLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 212 | C+ |
| The Priory Pembroke AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 590 | C− |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Cherry Willingham’s listed buildings include the Church of St Peter and St Paul, Grade I. Scaled to its population, Cherry Willingham has 9 listed buildings per 10,000 people, lower than both Lincolnshire’s towns (42) and England’s towns (39). The pre-1919 share of homes is 4%.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
6% live in social housing, lower than both Lincolnshire’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (18%). Renting privately is how 13% of households live. 128 standard sales inside Cherry Willingham’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put the median at £240,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £260,000 | 97 |
| Semi-detached | £197,500 | 30 |
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 28% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
2% of 16 to 64s claimed unemployment benefits in 2026, below Lincolnshire’s towns (2.4%) and England’s towns (2.3%) alike. For 39% of commuters, work was under 5 km away. Income per household averages £49K a year, before tax.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
A year of reports to August 2026 adds up to 115 offences in Cherry Willingham and 38 cases of nuisance behaviour. Of all the crimes, 53% were violence and sexual offences. There were 11.7 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), above Lincolnshire’s towns (9.5) 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.
Cherry Willingham has no GP practice of its own; the nearest is 1.5 miles away. Asked at the census, 79% of residents of Cherry Willingham said they were in good or very good health. At the census, 5.4% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, about level with England’s towns (5.2%) and below Lincolnshire’s towns (5.9%).
| Census 2021 | Cherry Willingham | Lincolnshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 79% | 79% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.4% | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 22% | 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 nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cherry Willingham | 3,446 | — | B+ | A | A− | B− |
| Fiskerton | 1,202 | 1.2 | — | A | A− | C+ |
| Washingborough and Heighington | 6,386 | 1.7 | A | A | A | B+ |
| Sudbrooke | 1,737 | 2 | — | B | A+ | A |
| Nettleham | 3,418 | 2.2 | A− | B+ | A− | A |
| Branston | 4,285 | 3.2 | B+ | A | B | B− |
| Dunholme | 1,869 | 4 | — | A− | B+ | A− |
| Lincoln | 104,553 | 4.1 | D− | C+ | D | D |
Fiskerton, Sudbrooke and Dunholme have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
GCSE results trail 85% of towns in England, and primary results trail 58% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). Cherry Willingham has 2 state schools; places are handled by Lincolnshire council.
Town in Lincolnshire, England
Cherry Willingham is a built-up area of 3,446 people, in the West 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.