Guest, Sign inJoin
St Mary's church and the A149, Brancaster
UK›Norfolk›East of England

BrancasterNorfolk

A village of 377 in Norfolk, East of England.

5 places within 12 milesMap →
Photo: Bikeboy · CC BY-SA 2.0
St Mary's church and the A149, Brancaster

Brancaster, Norfolk · Photo: Bikeboy · CC BY-SA 2.0

Is Brancaster a good place to live?

Brancaster has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures on this page are still real.

What makes Brancaster stand out

The 3 things Brancaster does most differently from other towns.

Picked automatically from the data
Brancaster’s outline. No photo of its heritage is in our collection yet.
Brancaster’s story

5 listed buildings, 1 of them Grade I

Historic England lists them inside Brancaster’s built-up area, along with 1 scheduled monument.

31% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.

Explore the history →

The data

Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Brancaster.

Who lives here

An older town: 44% of people in Brancaster are 65 or over, more than in Norfolk’s towns or England’s towns

In the comparison, Brancaster comes above both Norfolk’s towns (24%) and England’s towns (18%). Children under 15 make up 6.8% of residents. Half the people of Brancaster are older than 61.4.

61.4median age
BrancasterNorfolkEngland

Ages · share of residents

Qualifications · residents 16 and older

No qualifications17%
Apprenticeship6%
A levels or similar16%
Degree level33%

Women and men · all residents

52% women, 48% men

About 92 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.

Ages and qualifications in Brancaster
BrancasterNorfolkEngland
Under 156.8%16%18%
15–244.5%11%12%
25–4415%24%27%
45–6430%26%25%
65+44%24%18%
No qualifications17%21%18%
Apprenticeship6.1%6.4%5.3%
A levels or similar16%18%17%
Degree level33%26%34%

ONS Census 2021 · Norfolk and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL

Work & commute

Fewer commuters in Brancaster work nearby than in Norfolk’s towns or England’s towns: 17% travel under 5 km

The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 33% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.

For Brancaster, that is below both Norfolk’s towns (42%) and England’s towns (45%). 18% of commuters went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport at the census.

18%walk, cycle or ride

How commuters got to work · March 2021

Driving80%
On foot13%
Bicycle4%
Train1%
17%
of commuters travel under 5 km · England 45%
33%
worked mainly from home in March 2021
£48K
mean household income, before tax
2.7%
of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits (2026)

ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL

Housing

Buying in Brancaster costs more than in Norfolk’s towns or across England’s towns: the median sale is £620K

Brancaster sits above both Norfolk’s towns (£280K) and England’s towns (£308K) on this measure. Private renters make up 16% of households.

£620Kmedian sale

Median sale price · Sep 2023 to Aug 2026

Brancaster£620K
Typical UK town£277K
By typeMedianSales
Detached£630,00019
Terraced£545,0005
61%
of households own their home · England 61%
16%
rent privately · England 21%
£941
average private rent a month, King's Lynn and West Norfolk council area
£2,389
council tax, Band D, 2026–27

HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL

Safety

Violent crime in Brancaster runs at 25.6 per 1,000 a year, against 18.9 in Norfolk’s towns and 22 in England’s towns

Police recorded 19 crimes inside Brancaster’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 4 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences were 47% of the crimes; the police category includes harassment and stalking.

25.6violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year

Reports by type · Sep 2025 to Aug 2026

Violence & sexual9
Damage & arson3
Other crime3
Other theft2
Public order1
Vehicle crime1
Shoplifting0
Burglary0
Anti-social4

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.

25.6
violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
7.1
burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
8.8
anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 (not graded)
19
crimes recorded in the 12 months to August 2026

data.police.uk street-level crime · points inside the ONS built-up-area boundary · OGL

Health

More people in Brancaster say their health is bad than in Norfolk’s towns or across England’s towns: 7.2%

That puts Brancaster above both Norfolk’s towns (5.6%) and England’s towns (5.2%). Brancaster has no GP practice of its own; the nearest is 4 miles away. 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.

80%good or very good health
General health, self-reported
Good or very good 80%Fair 13%Bad or very bad 7%
Census 2021BrancasterNorfolkEngland
Good or very good health80%79%82%
Bad or very bad health7.2%5.6%5.2%
Disabled (Equality Act)21%20%17%
83
life expectancy at birth, men (2019–23)
83.3
life expectancy at birth, women

ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL

History

Much of Brancaster is a conservation area: 53% of its land, more than Norfolk’s towns or England’s towns

The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.

On this, Brancaster is above both Norfolk’s towns (6%) and England’s towns (7%). Homes from before 1919 make up 31% of the total. Brancaster’s listed buildings include Church of St Mary, Grade I.

5listed buildings

Listed buildings by grade · Historic England

Grade I1
Grade II*0
Grade II4

Among them · Grade I

1
scheduled monument
0
registered parks and gardens
31%
of homes built before 1919 · typical UK town 15%
133
listed buildings per 10,000 residents · typical UK town 24

Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL

Keep exploring

Everything we know about Brancaster

13pages on Brancaster

Brancaster’s neighbours

The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →

All towns in Norfolk →
HunstantonHeachamSnettishamWells-next-the-SeaDersinghamHunstantonHeachamSnettishamWells-next-the-SeaDersinghamBrancaster
How the neighbours grade
TownPeopleMilesOverallCostSafetyHealth
Brancaster377—————
Hunstanton4,2306.5DC−CC−
Heacham3,9787.4CC−B+C
Snettisham2,7098.4B−DAC
Wells-next-the-Sea2,1518.8—D−C+A−
Dersingham4,7539.8BC−AB−

Wells-next-the-Sea has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.

Questions about Brancaster

Is Brancaster expensive to live in?

Private rents in the King's Lynn and West Norfolk council area averaged £941 a month in August 2026.

How many listed buildings are there in Brancaster?

That is 5.4 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of St Mary. It also has 1 scheduled monument.

About Brancaster

Village in Norfolk, England

Brancaster is a built-up area of 377 people, in the King's Lynn and West Norfolk 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

Population
377 (Census 2021)
Council
King's Lynn and West Norfolk
County
Norfolk
Region
East of England
Area
0.2 sq mi (0.5 km²)
ONS code
E63001945

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.