The data are hard on it. Police record more crime here than in most towns: 56.1 violent and sexual offences and 18.9 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Set beside UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, its crime per resident is higher than in 81%. Overall, Lincoln earns a D−, which places it #56 of 61 in Lincolnshire. On that grade it does better than 4% of UK towns. It is easy to get around without a car (A): 29% of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. A median £187,975 buys a home here, 4.2 times what households in the Lincoln council area earn in a year. Health is weaker too — life expectancy 75.9 for men, 80.8 for women.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · incomes and life expectancy, ONS.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Lincoln is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Lincoln.
Who lives here
Lincoln skews young, with 22% of residents aged 15 to 24, more than in both Lincolnshire’s towns and England’s towns
33.7median age
14% of residents are 65 or over, below Lincolnshire’s towns (22%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. Line up the people of Lincoln by age and the one in the middle is 33.7. Graduates make up just over a quarter of adults.
LincolnLincolnshireEngland
Ages · share of residents
22%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications17%
Apprenticeship6%
A levels or similar26%
Degree level26%
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
WomenEnglandMen
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
ONS Census 2021 · Lincolnshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
SchoolsD
On exam results, Lincoln’s schools trail 85% of towns in England
DSchool Grade
Lincoln’s 23 primaries and six secondaries have 13,195 pupils between them. Of its 38 schools, three are shown below, each with the reason. Attainment 8 at the town’s 6 secondary schools averages 42.1, and 37% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths. The St Faith and St Martin Church of England Junior School, the town’s results beat 75% of schools in England like it.
Department for Education · GIAS, Key Stage 2 and GCSE resultsSee all 38 schools →
Safety
Per resident, Lincoln sees more crime than 95% of UK towns
56.1violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a yearDSafety Grade
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
12,907 crimes and 3,781 reports of anti-social behaviour: that is what police recorded inside Lincoln’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026. There were 34.1 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), above Lincolnshire’s towns (9.5) and England’s towns (7.8) alike. Violence and sexual offences accounted for 42% of recorded crime.
Compared with UK towns its sizeLess crime per resident than 19% of the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more: more crime than most for its size. Context only, not part of the grade.
More crimeLess crime
Reports by type · Sep 2025 to Aug 2026
Violence & sexual5,460
Shoplifting2,379
Public order1,223
Damage & arson1,092
Other theft695
Vehicle crime428
Burglary390
Drugs285
Anti-social3,781
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.
56.1
violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
18.9
burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
34.1
anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 (not graded)
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.
Work & commuteJobs & income grade C−
More people aged 16 to 64 in Lincoln claim unemployment benefits than in Lincolnshire’s towns or England’s towns: 3.9%
29%walk, cycle or ride
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 20% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Households had £45K a year before tax, below both Lincolnshire’s towns (£48K) and England’s towns (£55K). 56% of commuters who live in Lincoln also work there. For every resident in work, Lincoln has 1.3 jobs.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Health
Lifespans in Lincoln run shorter than in 92% of UK towns
81%good or very good healthDHealth Grade
11 GP practices serve the town; 75% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. 20% of residents have a disability, close to Lincolnshire’s towns (20%) and above England’s towns (17%). The nearest A&E to Lincoln is Lincoln County Hospital, 1.4 miles away.
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.
History
414 listed buildings, 43 of them Grade I
414listed buildingsA−History Grade
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Grade II* covers 40 of them, Grade I 43. Lincoln’s listed buildings include Atherstone Place, Grade I. Nearly a quarter of its homes were built before 1919, above Lincolnshire’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (16%) alike.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
HousingCost of living grade C+
Private renting is more common in Lincoln than in Lincolnshire’s towns or England’s towns: 27% of households
£188Kmedian sale
Just over a fifth of households rent from a council or housing body. Owners make up just over half of households, below Lincolnshire’s towns (65%) and England’s towns (61%) alike. Half of the 3,524 standard sales inside the town’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £187,975.
Median sale price · Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
Lincoln£188K
Typical UK town£277K
By type
Median
Sales
Detached
£285,000
814
Semi-detached
£199,500
1,118
Terraced
£155,000
1,293
Flat or maisonette
£117,150
299
51%
of households own their home · England 61%
27%
rent privately · England 21%
£940
average private rent a month, Lincoln council area
George Boole: Samuel Prout Newcombe (c1824-1912), Public domain · Neville Marriner: Araceli Merino, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Anna Soubry: Chris McAndrew, CC BY 3.0 · Charlotte Scott: No photographer credited, Public domain · Georgie Twigg: fourthandfifteen, CC BY 2.0 · Sam Clucas: https://www.flickr.com/photos/domfell/, CC BY 2.0
About Lincoln
City in Lincolnshire, England
Lincoln is a built-up area of 104,553 people, in the Lincoln 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.
That is 1.6 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include Atherstone Place. It also has 26 scheduled monuments.
Does Lincoln flood?
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
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.
