Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A borough of 317,108 people, one of London’s 32 boroughs.
Lambeth grades C+ overall against UK towns: better than 42% of UK towns, and #28 of 33 in London. Its strongest subject is walkability (A+): 76% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is safety (D): 40.1 violent and sexual offences and 21.2 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026. Among UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, it has less crime per resident than 46%. The median home sold for £545,000 in the last three years, 7.4 times what households in the Lambeth council area earn in a year.
The 3 things Lambeth 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 Lambeth is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 917 buildings inside Lambeth’s built-up area, 6 of them Grade I.
40% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 3 old photos and postcards going back to 1827 and a map from 1827.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Lambeth. Best known first.
AttractionLondon Eyein town
GardenVauxhall Gardensin town
MuseumThe London Dungeonin town
AquariumSEA LIFE Aquarium Londonin town
Art galleryHayward Galleryin town
MuseumThe Florence Nightingale Museumin townPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Lambeth.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 50% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Lambeth sits above both London’s towns (5.2%) and England’s towns (2.3%) on this measure. The car carried 20% of commuters at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Iqra Primary School’s results beat nearly every one of schools in England like it. Three of its 89 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Julian's SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 908 | B |
| Dunraven SchoolLargest secondary schoolAll-through | All-through | 1,744 | B |
| Iqra Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 235 | A+ |
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Homes saw 21.2 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year, close to London’s towns (21.1) and above England’s towns (9.4). Police recorded 36,936 crimes inside Lambeth’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 10,006 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences were 30% of the crimes; the police category includes harassment and stalking.
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 heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Lambeth has 917 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 6 Grade I, 53 Grade II*. Lambeth’s listed buildings include Christ Church, Grade I. Homes from before 1919 make up 40% of the total, above both London’s towns (27%) and England’s towns (16%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
That puts Lambeth above both London’s towns (23%) and England’s towns (18%). Owners make up 33% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £1,425,000 | 91 |
| Semi-detached | £1,063,750 | 536 |
| Terraced | £882,500 | 1,969 |
| Flat or maisonette | £475,000 | 7,544 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
On this, Lambeth is above both London’s towns (85%) and England’s towns (82%). Women here live to 83.1 on average and men to 78.2 (2019–23). These answers aren’t adjusted for age, so young towns look healthier; the Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
| Census 2021 | Lambeth | London | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 87% | 85% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4% | 4.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 13% | 13% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
In the comparison, Lambeth comes above both London’s towns (47%) and England’s towns (34%). 14% of residents are children under 15. The median resident of Lambeth is 33.6 years old.
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Lambeth | London | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 14% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 13% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 41% | 34% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 23% | 24% | 25% |
| 65+ | 8.6% | 12% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 13% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 2.6% | 3.2% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 12% | 13% | 17% |
| Degree level | 56% | 47% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · London and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
917 listed buildings in Lambeth, 6 of them Grade I.
Lambeth Palace: Photo: Unknown photographer · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Royal Festival Hall: Photo: Andreas Praefcke, edited by MenkinAlRire · CC BY 3.0 · Westminster Bridge: Photo: Berit from Redhill/Surrey, UK · CC BY 2.0 · No 1 gasholder, Kennington Lane Gasholder Station: Photo: John Sutton · CC BY-SA 2.0
784 notable people were born in Lambeth.
David Bowie: Adam Bielawski, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Roger Moore: Allan warren, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Bernard Montgomery: Possibly Edward George William Malindine, Public domain · Tony Abbott: MystifyMe Concert Photography (Troy), CC BY 2.0 · Naomi Campbell: Georges Biard, CC BY-SA 4.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lambeth | 317,108 | — | C+ | C− | D | C |
| Southwark | 307,076 | 2.4 | B− | C | D | C |
| Wandsworth | 326,725 | 2.7 | B+ | C− | C | B− |
| Lewisham | 300,764 | 4 | C+ | C+ | D | C |
| City of London | 7,820 | 4.5 | A− | C− | D− | A+ |
| Merton | 214,931 | 4.5 | B+ | C+ | C+ | B− |
| Kensington and Chelsea | 143,348 | 4.6 | B+ | C− | D | B+ |
| Westminster | 203,571 | 4.7 | B− | C− | D− | B− |
People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Its Grade I buildings include Christ Church. 40% of Lambeth’s homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £545,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £475,000, terraced houses £882,500, semi-detached houses £1,063,750 and detached houses £1,425,000.
About the middle for its size: 54% of the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more report less crime per resident. Against all UK towns, most of them far smaller, it grades D.
London borough in London
Lambeth is a built-up area of 317,108 people, in the Lambeth 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.