Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town in Lincolnshire, East Midlands, home to 3,192 people. Walking, cycling and public transport carry 12% of commuters.
Donington grades low on several counts. With a D overall, Donington sits #51 of 61 in Lincolnshire. Set against the rest, it does better than 8% of UK towns. Jobs & income is its weak spot: households earn a mean £46,078 a year, and 2.9% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. At a median £243,500, a home costs 5.6 times the yearly income of households in the South Holland council area. Hazard risk is weaker too — 22.3% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea.
Figures: income, ONS · claimants, DWP · flood risk, Environment Agency · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Donington is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things Donington does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 22 buildings inside Donington’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
13% 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 1900.
Explore the history →22 listed buildings in Donington, 1 of them Grade I.
Church of St Mary and the Holy Rood: Photo: Guy Erwood · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Peacock Guest House: Photo: Donnylad · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Red Cow Hotel: Photo: Bob Harvey · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Town Farm House: Photo: Bob Harvey · CC BY-SA 2.0
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Donington.
Children under 15 make up 18%, about level with England’s towns (18%) and above Lincolnshire’s towns (16%). Retirement age and beyond: nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or older. The middle age in Donington is 45.1. Young adults of 15 to 24 are 10% of the population.
52% women, 48% men
About 94 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.
| Donington | Lincolnshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 22% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 24% | 22% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 25% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.3% | 6.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 19% | 25% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Lincolnshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Some 880 pupils attend Donington’s one primary and one secondary. Its two schools are listed below. GCSE results at the one secondary school within 3 km: 31% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 44.3.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Donington Cowley Endowed Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 259 | D |
| Cowley AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 621 | C |
Seeing a GP means leaving Donington: the nearest practice is 3.1 miles away. The nearest A&E to Donington is Pilgrim Hospital, 10.1 miles away. A disability affects 19% of people in the town.
| Census 2021 | Donington | Lincolnshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 79% | 79% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.3% | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 19% | 20% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Self-reported health favours young towns, since these answers ignore age; the Health Grade leans on age-adjusted measures such as life expectancy and early deaths.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 17% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
87% of commuters drove to work at the census. Work in town: 15% of resident commuters. The census counted 17% of workers working mainly from home.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The owner-occupied share of households is 71%. From September 2023 to August 2026, 186 homes sold inside Donington’s built-up area at standard prices; the middle one went for £243,500. Private rents average £775 a month across the South Holland council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £275,500 | 118 |
| Semi-detached | £181,500 | 54 |
| Terraced | £158,500 | 13 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Violence came to 26.7 per 1,000 residents a year, above both Lincolnshire’s towns (21.1) and England’s towns (22). Over the year to August 2026, 157 offences were reported in Donington, along with 66 incidents of anti-social behaviour. For its size, Donington records more crime per resident than just over three fifths of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
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 heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Conservation areas cover 14% of Donington’s land, above both Lincolnshire’s towns (2%) and England’s towns (7%). The town’s listed buildings include the Church of St Mary and the Holy Rood, Grade I. Relative to its size, Donington keeps 69 listed buildings per 10,000 residents.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
5 notable people were born in Donington.
Matthew Flinders: Antoine Toussaint de Chazal, Public domain · William Stainton Moses: William Stainton Moses, Public domain
Town in Lincolnshire, England
Donington is a built-up area of 3,192 people, in the South Holland 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
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Donington | 3,192 | — | D | C+ | C+ | C+ |
| Gosberton | 1,455 | 3.2 | — | C+ | B− | C |
| Swineshead | 2,653 | 3.5 | C− | C− | B+ | C+ |
| Sutterton | 1,068 | 5 | — | D | C | C− |
| Surfleet | 1,042 | 5.4 | — | C+ | B− | C+ |
| Billingborough | 1,390 | 5.8 | — | A+ | B+ | B− |
| Kirton | 5,576 | 6.4 | D− | C− | C | C− |
| Pinchbeck | 4,275 | 6.5 | C+ | C | C+ | B |
Gosberton, Sutterton, Surfleet and Billingborough have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
That is 2.8 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of St Mary and the Holy Rood.
GCSE results trail 81% of towns in England, and primary results trail 76% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). Donington has 2 state schools; places are handled by Lincolnshire council.
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.