Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Some 3,671 people live in this town, in Lincolnshire, East Midlands.
Spilsby grades low on several counts. The weak point is schools — primary results beat nearly one in ten towns in England; secondary results beat 4% of towns in England. Incomes are on the low side: households earn a mean £40,326 a year, and 3.9% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. On walkability it is strong: 21% of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. A median £172,450 buys a home here, 4.3 times what households in the East Lindsey council area earn in a year. All told, that adds up to a D overall, better than nearly a tenth of UK towns. In the ranking it comes #50 of 61 in Lincolnshire.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · income, ONS · claimants, DWP · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
The 3 things Spilsby 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 Spilsby is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 36 buildings inside Spilsby’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I, and 1 scheduled monument.
27% 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 Spilsby.
Just over a fifth of adults hold a degree, below Lincolnshire’s towns (25%) and England’s towns (34%) alike. Young adults of 15 to 24 are nearly a tenth of the population. Residents of Spilsby have a median age of 44.8.
54% women, 46% men
About 87 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.
| Spilsby | Lincolnshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.4% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 23% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 24% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 26% | 22% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 24% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.7% | 6.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 21% | 25% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Lincolnshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Below are two of its 4 schools, each with why it was picked. Attainment 8 at the one secondary school within 3 km averages 38.4, and 23% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths. Some 532 pupils attend Spilsby’s one primary and one secondary.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spilsby Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 175 | C− |
| King Edward VI AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 357 | D |
Burglary and damage came to 13.5 per 1,000 residents a year, higher than both Lincolnshire’s towns (7.8) and England’s towns (9.4). The 12 months to August 2026 brought 269 recorded crimes inside Spilsby’s built-up area, and 92 reports of anti-social behaviour. Among the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Spilsby has more crime per resident than 86% of them. Violence and sexual offences accounted for 55% of recorded crime.
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 heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Of Spilsby’s land, 16% lies in conservation areas, above both Lincolnshire’s towns (2%) and England’s towns (7%). Its listed buildings include the Church of St James, Grade I. Relative to its size, Spilsby keeps 98 listed buildings per 10,000 residents. The top grade, Grade I, goes to 1 of them.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 14% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Working mainly from home: 14% of workers, lower than both Lincolnshire’s towns (20%) and England’s towns (31%). The car carried 77% of commuters at the census. Of the commuters living in Spilsby, 25% work in the town itself. For every resident in work, Spilsby has 1 jobs.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
One GP practice serves the town; 70% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. At the census, 77% of people in Spilsby called their health good or very good, lower than both Lincolnshire’s towns (79%) and England’s towns (82%). The nearest A&E to Spilsby is Pilgrim Hospital, 13.2 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Spilsby | Lincolnshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 77% | 79% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.3% | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 23% | 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.
Owners make up 57% of households, below both Lincolnshire’s towns (65%) and England’s towns (61%). The median sale, £172,450, comes from 169 standard sales inside Spilsby’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Private rents average £704 a month across the East Lindsey council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £250,000 | 67 |
| Semi-detached | £155,000 | 44 |
| Terraced | £139,675 | 48 |
| Flat or maisonette | £99,750 | 10 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
36 listed buildings in Spilsby, 1 of them Grade I.
Spilsby Theatre: Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The White Hart Hotel: Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Spilsby Methodist Church: Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Former Market Hall: Photo: Norman Caesar · CC BY-SA 2.0
7 notable people were born in Spilsby.
David Blackbourn: ChristopherMapes, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Joel Pott: Tom Green, CC BY-SA 3.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spilsby | 3,671 | — | D | B− | C− | C− |
| Burgh le Marsh | 2,159 | 6.4 | — | C+ | A− | C− |
| Stickney | 1,108 | 6.7 | — | C− | C+ | C+ |
| Alford | 3,831 | 6.8 | C | B− | C | C− |
| Wainfleet All Saints | 1,802 | 7.4 | — | B− | C | D |
| Wainfleet St Mary | 1,045 | 7.6 | — | B− | A− | D |
| Horncastle | 7,293 | 8.8 | C | C+ | C | C |
| Old Leake | 1,173 | 9.6 | — | C | C | C− |
Burgh le Marsh, Stickney, Wainfleet All Saints, Wainfleet St Mary and Old Leake 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 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of St James. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
Burglary was rare, with 4 reports in the year.
Town in Lincolnshire, England
Spilsby is a built-up area of 3,671 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
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.