Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Population 1,156: a village in Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and The Humber. Private rents average £653 a month.
Housing is within reach: the median home sold for £215,000, 4.8 years of area income. Crime is low: police record 18.5 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, and 8.4 home and vehicle crimes. School results trail most towns: primary results beat 5% of towns in England. It also trails on jobs & income — households earn a mean £49,601 a year, and 2.6% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · income, ONS · claimants, DWP. An overall grade needs 2,500 residents, so Owston Ferry is graded subject by subject only.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Owston Ferry is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
An overall grade needs 2,500 residents, so Owston Ferry is graded subject by subject only.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things Owston Ferry does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists them inside Owston Ferry’s built-up area, along with 1 scheduled monument.
28% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Owston Ferry.
Its one school is below. 48% of pupils at the one primary school within 3 km met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Martin's Cofe Primary AcademyLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 96 | C− |
12% of households live in social housing. Private renters make up 14% of households, below Lincolnshire’s towns (20%) and England’s towns (21%) alike. Also worth knowing: the median sale, £215,000, comes from 30 standard sales inside Owston Ferry’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £325,000 | 15 |
| Semi-detached | £181,250 | 10 |
| Terraced | £105,000 | 5 |
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.
Owston Ferry’s listed buildings include the Church of St Martin, Grade I. Relative to its size, Owston Ferry keeps 112 listed buildings per 10,000 residents, above both Lincolnshire’s towns (42) and England’s towns (39). It counts 13 listed buildings on the national list (Historic England): 1 Grade I.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 25% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
There are 0.2 jobs in Owston Ferry for each resident in work. At the census, 11% went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport, lower than both Lincolnshire’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (27%). About 8% of its commuters stay in Owston Ferry for work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Violence and sexual offences accounted for 38% of recorded crime. Owston Ferry logged 40 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 2 complaints of anti-social conduct. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 2.3 reports per 1,000, below both Lincolnshire’s towns (9.7) 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.
Owston Ferry has no GP practice of its own; the nearest is 2.9 miles away. The nearest A&E to Owston Ferry is Scunthorpe General Hospital, 8.1 miles away. A disability affects 18% of people in the town.
| Census 2021 | Owston Ferry | Lincolnshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 80% | 79% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.5% | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 18% | 20% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · These shares come straight from the census, without allowing for age, and young towns benefit; the Health Grade instead weighs age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
28% of adults hold a degree, above Lincolnshire’s towns (25%) but below England’s towns (34%). Those 65 and older account for nearly a quarter of residents. Owston Ferry has a median age of 49.9 years. Young adults of 15 to 24 account for 10% of the town.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Owston Ferry | Lincolnshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 14% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 19% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 32% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 24% | 22% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 17% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.5% | 6.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 19% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 28% | 25% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Lincolnshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Village in Lincolnshire, England
Owston Ferry is a built-up area of 1,156 people, in the North Lincolnshire 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Owston Ferry | 1,156 | — | — | A− | B+ | B− |
| Haxey | 2,047 | 2.3 | — | B | B+ | B− |
| Epworth | 4,361 | 3.1 | A− | B | B | B+ |
| Westwoodside | 2,033 | 3.6 | — | B− | A− | B− |
| Misterton | 2,191 | 4.5 | — | B− | C+ | B− |
| Scotter | 2,946 | 4.6 | B+ | A | A− | B− |
| Belton | 2,303 | 4.8 | — | B | C+ | B |
| Messingham | 3,375 | 5.9 | A− | B+ | A− | B+ |
Haxey, Westwoodside, Misterton and Belton have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Primary results trail 95% of towns in England (Department for Education, Key Stage 2). One state school is inside the town; places are handled by North Lincolnshire council.
That is 4.6 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of St Martin. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £215,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: terraced houses £105,000, semi-detached houses £181,250 and detached houses £325,000.
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.