Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 11,236 in Norfolk, East of England.
Attleborough grades C overall against UK towns: better than 35% of UK towns, and #24 of 51 in Norfolk. Its strongest subject is walkability (B): 16% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is schools (D): primary results beat 8% of towns in England; secondary results beat 25% of towns in England. The median home sold for £257,750 in the last three years, 5.2 times what households in the Breckland council area earn in a year.
The 3 things Attleborough 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 Attleborough is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 21 buildings inside Attleborough’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
9% 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 Attleborough.
10% of residents are 15 to 24, about level with Norfolk’s towns (11%) and below England’s towns (12%). Attleborough has a median age of 43.2 years. The share of residents under 15 is 16%.
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Attleborough | Norfolk | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 26% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 25% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 23% | 24% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 21% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.7% | 6.4% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 23% | 26% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Norfolk and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
50% of pupils at the town’s 2 primary schools met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Below are two of its 3 schools, each with why it was picked. Attainment 8 at the 2 secondary schools within 3 km averages 43.8, and just over a third of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rosecroft Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 457 | C− |
| Attleborough AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 976 | C |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Attleborough’s listed buildings include the Church of St Mary, Grade I. Nearly a tenth of its homes were built before 1919, below Norfolk’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (16%) alike. It has 19 listed buildings for every 10,000 residents.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
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.
At the census, 82% of commuters went by car. About 18% of its commuters stay in Attleborough for work. Jobs per working resident: 0.7.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
One GP practice serves the town; 62% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. The nearest A&E to Attleborough is Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, 11.3 miles away. Men in Attleborough can expect to live to 79, women to 83.4 (2019–23).
| Census 2021 | Attleborough | Norfolk | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 81% | 79% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.1% | 5.6% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 18% | 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.
67% of households are owner-occupiers. Social housing holds 12% of households, below Norfolk’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. Also worth knowing: the £257,750 median rests on 586 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £315,500 | 262 |
| Semi-detached | £238,000 | 168 |
| Terraced | £207,000 | 119 |
| Flat or maisonette | £130,000 | 37 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Attleborough logged 490 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 87 complaints of anti-social conduct. Burglary and damage came to 5.8 per 1,000 residents a year, close to Norfolk’s towns (6.1) and below England’s towns (9.4). Violence and sexual offences made up 57% 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.
21 listed buildings in Attleborough, 1 of them Grade I.
The Griffin Hotel: Photo: Evelyn Simak · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Attleborough Railway Station: Photo: Geographer · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attleborough | 11,236 | — | C | C+ | B− | C+ |
| Besthorpe | 1,007 | 1 | — | C+ | A+ | A− |
| Hingham | 2,304 | 4.7 | — | A− | A− | B+ |
| East Harling | 2,490 | 6.3 | — | C− | A | B |
| Wymondham | 16,334 | 6.3 | A | A− | C | B+ |
| Griston | 1,361 | 7 | — | C− | C− | C |
| Watton | 11,549 | 8.5 | C+ | B− | C+ | C |
| Hethersett | 7,018 | 9.2 | A | B+ | B | B+ |
Besthorpe, Hingham, East Harling and Griston have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Attleborough has 3 state schools; places are handled by Norfolk council.
Town in Norfolk, England
Attleborough is a built-up area of 11,236 people, in the Breckland 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.
