Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Some 21,899 people live in this large town, in Lincolnshire, East Midlands.
Where it falls short is safety (D−): 66.4 violent or sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, plus 32 home and vehicle crimes. Among UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, it has less crime per resident than 1%. Gainsborough’s overall grade is C−, better than just over a fifth of UK towns. In the ranking it comes #45 of 61 in Lincolnshire. It also trails on jobs & income — households earn a mean £41,040 a year, and 6.5% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Prices are modest for what you get: homes sell for a median £147,000, about 3 times local household income. Health is weaker too (D) — life expectancy is 74.8 for men and 80.3 for women. Hazard risk is higher than most (D−): 12.1% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · income and life expectancy, ONS · claimants, DWP · flood risk, Environment Agency.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Gainsborough is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things Gainsborough does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 94 buildings inside Gainsborough’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 1915.
Explore the history →94 listed buildings in Gainsborough, 2 of them Grade I.
The Old Hall: Photo: John Spooner · CC BY 2.0 · Parish Church of All Saints: Photo: Richard Croft · CC BY-SA 2.0 · County Court Buildings: Photo: Richard Croft · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Water Tower: Photo: Turboyogi · CC BY-SA 3.0
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Gainsborough.
People 65 and over make up 18% of the town, about level with England’s towns (18%) and below Lincolnshire’s towns (22%). Ages in Gainsborough split evenly at 39.6: half are older, half younger. Young adults of 15 to 24 are 11% of the population.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Gainsborough | Lincolnshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 26% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 18% | 22% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 23% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.4% | 6.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 19% | 25% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Lincolnshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Key Stage 2 results at the town’s 8 primary schools: 47% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). The Queen Elizabeth's High School, Gainsborough’s results beat 93% of schools in England like it. GCSE results at the town’s 2 secondary schools: just over half of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 49.3. Two of its 14 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Castle Wood AcademyLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 272 | D |
| The Queen Elizabeth's High School, GainsboroughLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,139 | 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, 47% were violence and sexual offences. Police figures for Gainsborough’s built-up area: 3,124 crimes and 860 anti-social behaviour reports in the 12 months to August 2026. There were 38.4 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), higher than 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.
Gainsborough is the second cheapest of the 64 towns in Lincolnshire, at £147,000. 26% rent privately, higher than both Lincolnshire’s towns (20%) and England’s towns (21%). Private rents average £741 a month across the West Lindsey council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £230,000 | 255 |
| Semi-detached | £155,000 | 324 |
| Terraced | £103,000 | 384 |
| Flat or maisonette | £77,975 | 42 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
24% of residents in Gainsborough live with a disability, and at the census, 7.3% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, above both Lincolnshire’s towns (5.9%) and England’s towns (5.2%). Asked at the census, just over three quarters of residents of Gainsborough said they were in good or very good health. The nearest A&E to Gainsborough is Scunthorpe General Hospital, 13.5 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Gainsborough | Lincolnshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 76% | 79% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 7.3% | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 24% | 20% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Census health answers are raw, so younger towns score better on them; for the Health Grade we use age-adjusted figures like life expectancy and early deaths.
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.
Working mainly from home: 15% of workers, below both Lincolnshire’s towns (20%) and England’s towns (31%). The census found 24% of commuters going to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. About just over half of its commuters stay in Gainsborough for work. The car carried nearly three quarters of commuters at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Gainsborough’s listed buildings include the Parish Church of All Saints, Grade I. It counts 94 listed buildings on the national list (Historic England): 2 Grade I, 5 Grade II*. Conservation areas cover 3% of the town’s land, between Lincolnshire’s towns (2%) and England’s towns (7%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
40 notable people were born in Gainsborough.
John Saville: General Tulstein W D Twigg, CC BY-SA 3.0 · John Alderton: Eva Rinaldi, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Martin Hawke, 7th Baron Hawke: Leslie Ward, Public domain
Large town in Lincolnshire, England
Gainsborough is a built-up area of 21,899 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
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gainsborough | 21,899 | — | C− | A+ | D− | D |
| Lea | 1,006 | 2.1 | — | A | A− | C+ |
| Beckingham | 1,207 | 2.2 | — | C+ | B+ | B− |
| Misterton | 2,191 | 4 | — | B− | C+ | B− |
| North Leverton with Habblesthorpe | 1,079 | 5.4 | — | B | B | B− |
| Owston Ferry | 1,156 | 6.3 | — | A− | B+ | B− |
| Haxey | 2,047 | 6.6 | — | B | B+ | B− |
| Clarborough | 1,220 | 6.8 | — | B | B | B− |
Lea, Beckingham, Misterton, North Leverton with Habblesthorpe, Owston Ferry, Haxey and Clarborough 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.
At the 2021 Census, 11% of Gainsborough’s 21,899 residents were 15 to 24 and 18% were 65 or over, against 12% and 18% across England’s towns.
That is 1.8 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include Parish Church of All Saints.
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.