Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Population 17,415: a town in Lincolnshire, East Midlands.
Where it falls short is jobs & income — mean household income £44,044; 4% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Overall, Louth earns a D, better than just over a tenth of UK towns. The ranking puts it #48 of 61 in Lincolnshire. Buying the median home, at £216,595, takes 5.4 years of household income in the East Lindsey council area. Its strongest is walkability: nearly a quarter of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · income, ONS · claimants, DWP · 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 Louth is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things Louth does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 197 buildings inside Louth’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
23% 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 →197 listed buildings in Louth, 1 of them Grade I.
Parish Church of St James: Photo: Michael Garlick · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Reading Room and Library: Photo: Jo Turner · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Cromwells House Cromwell's House: Photo: Richard Croft · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Baines Flour Mill: Photo: Chris · CC BY-SA 2.0
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Louth.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Listed buildings per head: 113 for every 10,000 residents of Louth. The town’s listed buildings include the Parish Church of St James, Grade I. The pre-1919 share of homes is 23%. Grade II* covers 10 of them, Grade I 1.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Some 2,090 pupils attend Louth’s four primaries and one secondary. Two of its 6 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. Attainment 8 at the 2 secondary schools within 3 km averages 51.6, and half of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kidgate AcademyLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 397 | C− |
| Louth AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 891 | C |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 18% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Jobs per working resident: 1. The car took 74% of commuters, between Lincolnshire’s towns (79%) and England’s towns (70%). Home was the main workplace for 18% of workers at the census. Work in town: 53% of resident commuters.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Burglary and damage came to 14.7 per 1,000 residents a year, higher than both Lincolnshire’s towns (7.8) and England’s towns (9.4). Louth logged 1,420 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 602 complaints of anti-social conduct. Among the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, Louth has more crime per resident than 72% of them. Violence and sexual offences made up just over half of the total.
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.
People aged 15 to 24 make up nearly a tenth of the town, below Lincolnshire’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (12%) alike. Louth has a median age of 46 years.
52% women, 48% men
About 92 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.
| Louth | Lincolnshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.5% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 22% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 25% | 22% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 21% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.8% | 6.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 26% | 25% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Lincolnshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
The nearest A&E to Louth is Diana Princess of Wales Hospital, 12.9 miles away. Asked at the census, 77% of residents of Louth said they were in good or very good health. 6.8% of residents described their health as bad or very bad, higher than both Lincolnshire’s towns (5.9%) and England’s towns (5.2%). 2 GP practices serve the town; 69% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Louth | Lincolnshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 77% | 79% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.8% | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 23% | 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.
Half of the 909 standard sales inside Louth’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £216,595. Owners make up 59% of households, lower than Lincolnshire’s towns (65%) and near England’s towns (61%). Private rents average £704 a month across the East Lindsey council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £299,975 | 332 |
| Semi-detached | £203,000 | 311 |
| Terraced | £155,000 | 247 |
| Flat or maisonette | £108,000 | 19 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Louth. Best known first.
MuseumLouth Museumin town
Abbey or prioryThe Prioryin townTheme parkTheme parkPlay Factory Louthin townZooZooRushmoor Country Park1.9 km outside town, to the northeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
29 notable people were born in Louth.
Michael Foale: NASA, Public domain · James Allison: Original: chdphd / Derivative work: Danyele, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Graham Higman: Konrad Jacobs, Erlangen, Copyright is MFO, CC BY-SA 2.0 de · Leanda Cave: Chris Smith from Hayfield, United Kingdom, CC BY 2.0 · Eustace White: Lesly Holliday, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Philip Norton, Baron Norton of Louth: ©House of Lords / photography by Roger Harris, CC BY 3.0
Town in Lincolnshire, England
Louth is a built-up area of 17,415 people, in the East 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Louth | 17,415 | — | D | C+ | C− | C− |
| Manby | 1,906 | 3.6 | — | C+ | B | C+ |
| North Thoresby | 1,090 | 7.3 | — | D | A− | B+ |
| North Somercotes | 1,487 | 7.9 | — | C− | A− | C+ |
| Tetney | 1,536 | 8.6 | — | D | B+ | B+ |
| Holton le Clay | 3,823 | 9.9 | B+ | C+ | B+ | B+ |
| Alford | 3,831 | 10 | C | B− | C | C− |
| Mablethorpe | 7,633 | 11 | D− | B− | D | D− |
Manby, North Thoresby, North Somercotes and Tetney have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 4.6 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Parish Church of St James.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £216,595, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £108,000, terraced houses £155,000, semi-detached houses £203,000 and detached houses £299,975.
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.