Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The large town, home to 30,552 people, lies in Lincolnshire, East Midlands.
Spalding’s overall C+ puts it #37 of 61 in Lincolnshire. Set against the rest, it does better than 36% of UK towns. Hazard risk is its weak spot: 84.2% of homes face a high or medium risk of river or sea flooding. It lags on safety as well — police record 39.7 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, and 13.4 home and vehicle crimes. Against UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, it has more crime per resident than 68%. The median home sold for £205,000, 4.7 times what households in the South Holland council area earn in a year. Its strongest is walkability — 21% of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · flood risk, Environment Agency · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · incomes, ONS.
The 3 things Spalding 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 Spalding is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 133 buildings inside Spalding’s built-up area, 4 of them Grade I.
12% 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 Spalding.
10% of residents are 15 to 24, lower than both Lincolnshire’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (12%). At 40.7, the median resident of Spalding sits in the middle of the age range. Those 65 and older account for nearly a fifth of residents.
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Spalding | Lincolnshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 28% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 25% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 19% | 22% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 25% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.3% | 6.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 14% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 21% | 25% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Lincolnshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Three of its 12 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. Attainment 8 at the town’s 3 secondary schools averages 53.4, and 56% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths. Some 5,969 pupils attend Spalding’s seven primaries and three secondaries.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spalding Parish Church of England Day SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 537 | C |
| Spalding AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,486 | C− |
| Spalding High SchoolTop results in townSecondary | Secondary | 970 | A+ |
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 21.7 reports per 1,000, above both Lincolnshire’s towns (9.5) and England’s towns (7.8). Police recorded 2,331 crimes inside Spalding’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 755 reports of anti-social behaviour. Just over half of the crimes fell under violence and sexual offences.
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.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 12% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
77% of commuters drove, close to Lincolnshire’s towns (79%) and above England’s towns (70%). Home was the main workplace for just over one in ten workers at the census. In 2026, 3.5% of 16 to 64s were claiming unemployment benefits.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The nearest A&E to Spalding is Peterborough City Hospital, 14.9 miles away. 4.8% of residents described their health as bad or very bad, below Lincolnshire’s towns (5.9%) and England’s towns (5.2%) alike. Life expectancy here is 82.6 for women and 78.1 for men (2019–23). 2 GP practices serve the town; 73% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Spalding | Lincolnshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 82% | 79% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.8% | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 16% | 20% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Young towns look healthier on these answers, which aren’t adjusted for age; the Health Grade uses measures that are, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Spalding’s listed buildings include Ayscoughfee Hall, Grade I. At the top of the list, 4 are Grade I and 22 Grade II*. It has one registered historic park or garden.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
13% live in social housing, below both Lincolnshire’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (18%). Private rents average £775 a month across the South Holland council area. Half of the 1,156 standard sales inside Spalding’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £205,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £272,500 | 521 |
| Semi-detached | £180,000 | 324 |
| Terraced | £162,500 | 253 |
| Flat or maisonette | £81,000 | 58 |
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 Spalding. Best known first.
MuseumAyscoughfee Hall Museumin town
MuseumChain Bridge Forge Museumin townMuseumMuseumSpalding Gentlemans Societyin townAttractionAttractionMoulton Windmill3.9 km outside town, to the eastMuseumMuseumThe Pinchbeck Engine Museum of Land Drainage900 m outside town, to the northeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
133 listed buildings in Spalding, 4 of them Grade I.
Church of St Paul Including Attached Former Sunday Schoolroom: Photo: Geoff Pick · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Spalding War Memorial: Photo: Richard Croft · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Isobel's Pantry Ye Olde White Horse Public House: Photo: Mat Fascione · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Sunday School to Congregational Church: Photo: Dave Bevis · CC BY-SA 2.0
24 notable people were born in Spalding.
Johnathan Hoggard: Lukas Raich, CC BY-SA 4.0 · John William Fordham Johnson: Government of British Columbia, Public domain · Peter Bush: Institut Ramon Llull, CC BY 2.0 · Arthur Ward: Photographer unknown, CC BY 3.0 nz · Will Wand: TheRugbyBoy, CC0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spalding | 30,552 | — | C+ | B | C− | C |
| Pinchbeck | 4,275 | 2 | C+ | C | C+ | B |
| Cowbit | 1,366 | 3.2 | — | C | B+ | B− |
| Moulton | 1,605 | 3.9 | — | C | A | B |
| Surfleet | 1,042 | 4.1 | — | C+ | B− | C+ |
| Moulton Chapel | 1,120 | 4.1 | — | C− | A+ | B− |
| Deeping St Nicholas | 1,300 | 4.8 | — | C | B+ | B |
| Whaplode | 1,106 | 5.3 | — | C− | C− | B− |
Cowbit, Moulton, Surfleet, Moulton Chapel, Deeping St Nicholas and Whaplode 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.
That is 1.8 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include Ayscoughfee Hall.
Large town in Lincolnshire, England
Spalding is a built-up area of 30,552 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.