Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
It is a town of 8,757 residents in Lincolnshire, East Midlands.
Holbeach grades low on several counts. The local economy is weaker than most: households earn a mean £39,587 a year, and 3.6% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Homes sell for a median £221,250, about 5.1 years of what households in the South Holland council area earn. Put together, the subjects come to a D overall, ranking #52 of 61 in Lincolnshire. On that grade it does better than 8% of UK towns.
Figures: income, ONS · claimants, DWP · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
The 3 things Holbeach 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 Holbeach is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 31 buildings inside Holbeach’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
12% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 2 old photos and postcards going back to 1900.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Holbeach.
The 15-to-24 age group: 9.4%, below Lincolnshire’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (12%) alike. Over-65s are just over a quarter of the population. Half the people of Holbeach are older than 46.8. Children are 16% of the town.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Holbeach | Lincolnshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.4% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 22% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 26% | 22% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 26% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.7% | 6.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 17% | 25% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Lincolnshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Its three schools are listed below. The Holbeach William Stukeley Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School’s results beat three quarters of schools in England like it. Key Stage 2 results at the town’s 2 primary schools: 64% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Holbeach Primary AcademyLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 309 | C |
| University Academy HolbeachLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,378 | D |
| The Holbeach William Stukeley Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 309 | A− |
There were 16.3 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), higher than both Lincolnshire’s towns (9.5) and England’s towns (7.8). The 12 months to August 2026 brought 613 recorded crimes inside Holbeach’s built-up area, and 166 reports of anti-social behaviour. Burglary and damage come to 10.7 per 1,000 residents a year. Among the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Holbeach has more crime per resident than 80% of them.
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 nearest A&E to Holbeach is Pilgrim Hospital, 13 miles away. At the census, 6.8% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, above Lincolnshire’s towns (5.9%) and England’s towns (5.2%) alike. Just over a fifth of residents in Holbeach live with a disability. 2 GP practices serve the town; 78% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Holbeach | Lincolnshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 76% | 79% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.8% | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 21% | 20% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · The census answers take no account of age, so a young town looks healthier; the Health Grade relies on age-adjusted measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 13% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
A quarter of commuters travelled under 5 km to work. The car took 87% of commuters, above Lincolnshire’s towns (79%) and England’s towns (70%) alike. At the census, 13% of workers worked mainly from home.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
12% live in social housing, below both Lincolnshire’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (18%). Owners make up two thirds of households. From September 2023 to August 2026, 512 homes sold inside Holbeach’s built-up area at standard prices; the middle one went for £221,250.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £255,000 | 294 |
| Semi-detached | £188,000 | 171 |
| Terraced | £155,000 | 41 |
| Flat or maisonette | £91,250 | 6 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Homes from before 1919 make up 12% of the total, below Lincolnshire’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (16%) alike. Holbeach’s listed buildings include the Church of All Saints, Grade I.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
31 listed buildings in Holbeach, 1 of them Grade I.
Church of All Saints: Photo: Paul Stainthorp · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Baptist Chapel: Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0
14 notable people were born in Holbeach.
Norman Angell: George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress), Public domain · William Stukeley: English school, Public domain · Geoff Capes: Artur Andrzej, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holbeach | 8,757 | — | D | C+ | C− | C− |
| Whaplode | 1,106 | 2 | — | C− | C− | B− |
| Fleet Hargate | 1,270 | 2 | — | C | C+ | C |
| Moulton | 1,605 | 3.4 | — | C | A | B |
| Long Sutton | 5,377 | 4.6 | D− | C+ | C | C− |
| Sutton St James | 1,027 | 4.6 | — | C | A+ | C |
| Moulton Chapel | 1,120 | 5.7 | — | C− | A+ | B− |
| Surfleet | 1,042 | 6.5 | — | C+ | B− | C+ |
Whaplode, Fleet Hargate, Moulton, Sutton St James, Moulton Chapel and Surfleet have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Police recorded 613 crimes inside Holbeach’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 55% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
Holbeach has 3 state schools; places are handled by Lincolnshire council.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Town in Lincolnshire, England
Holbeach is a built-up area of 8,757 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
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.
