Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The village, home to 1,027 people, lies in Lincolnshire, East Midlands.
Sutton St James’s best grade is for safety (A+): 7.1 violent or sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, plus 6.5 home and vehicle crimes. The weak point is walkability (D−) — 6% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. At a median £266,500, a home costs 6.1 times the yearly income of households in the South Holland council area. Jobs & income is weaker too (D) — mean household income £42,710; 2.5% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits.
Figures: crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · commuting, Census 2021 · income, ONS · claimants, DWP · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years. With fewer than 2,500 residents, Sutton St James has subject grades but no overall one.
The 3 things Sutton St James 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 Sutton St James is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists them inside Sutton St James’ built-up area, along with 1 scheduled monument.
15% 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 Sutton St James.
People 65 and over make up nearly a quarter of the town, about level with Lincolnshire’s towns (22%) and above England’s towns (18%). The median resident of Sutton St James is 47.7 years old. The share aged 15 to 24 is 9.6%.
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Sutton St James | Lincolnshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.6% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 21% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 30% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 23% | 22% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 25% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 8.1% | 6.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 17% | 25% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Lincolnshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Sutton St James Community Primary School’s results beat 75% of schools in England like it. There is one school here; it is shown below. 71% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sutton St James Community Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 140 | A− |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 22% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
The car took 92% of commuters, above Lincolnshire’s towns (79%) and England’s towns (70%) alike. Of the commuters living in Sutton St James, 10% work in the town itself. There are 0.3 jobs in Sutton St James for each resident in work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
For its size, Sutton St James records less crime per resident than 91% of the 1,541 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people. In the 12 months to August 2026, police logged 31 crimes and 8 reports of anti-social behaviour inside the town’s built-up area. Violence and sexual offences made up nearly two fifths 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.
The nearest A&E to Sutton St James is The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, 16 miles away. Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 6.4% of the town. The town has no GP practice of its own; the nearest is 3.6 miles away. Also worth knowing: life expectancy here is 81.7 for women and 78.7 for men (2019–23).
| Census 2021 | Sutton St James | Lincolnshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 77% | 79% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.4% | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 20% | 20% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Because the census answers ignore age, a younger population lifts them; that is why the Health Grade is built on age-adjusted measures like life expectancy and early deaths.
Social housing holds 10% of households, lower than both Lincolnshire’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (18%). 12% of households are private tenants. The £266,500 median rests on 52 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £300,000 | 39 |
| Semi-detached | £220,000 | 12 |
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.
The national list protects one ancient monument here. Sutton St James has 3 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 1 Grade II*. Scaled to its population, Sutton St James has 29 listed buildings per 10,000 people, below both Lincolnshire’s towns (42) and England’s towns (39).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sutton St James | 1,027 | — | — | C | A+ | C |
| Long Sutton | 5,377 | 3.7 | D− | C+ | C | C− |
| Fleet Hargate | 1,270 | 4 | — | C | C+ | C |
| Gorefield | 1,070 | 4.2 | — | C+ | C+ | C |
| Holbeach | 8,757 | 4.6 | D | C+ | C− | C− |
| Leverington | 1,694 | 5 | — | C+ | C | C |
| Sutton Bridge | 3,912 | 5.3 | D | B | C− | D |
| Whaplode | 1,106 | 5.6 | — | C− | C− | B− |
Fleet Hargate, Gorefield, Leverington and Whaplode have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Primary results beat 90% of towns in England (Department for Education, Key Stage 2). One state school is inside the town; places are handled by Lincolnshire council.
Village in Lincolnshire, England
Sutton St James is a built-up area of 1,027 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.