Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
With 1,025 residents, it is a village in Norfolk, East of England.
Cost of living is its strong suit: a typical home costs £265,000 and rent runs £938 a month. It is a safe place by the numbers (B+): police record 21.1 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, and 3.6 home and vehicle crimes. Its lowest grade is for schools (D−) — primary results beat 1% of towns in England. Getting around depends on the car: 8% of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. The rest of its grades are middling: B for health and C+ for hazard risk.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · commuting, Census 2021 · life expectancy, ONS · flood risk, Environment Agency. Foulsham is graded on each subject, but towns under 2,500 get no overall grade.
The 3 things Foulsham 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 Foulsham is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Foulsham is graded on each subject, but towns under 2,500 get no overall grade.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists them inside Foulsham’s built-up area.
37% 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 Foulsham.
Nearly two in five pupils at the one primary school within 3 km met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). The town has one school, shown below. 61 pupils attend Foulsham’s one primary school.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foulsham Primary School AcademyLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 61 | D |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Per 10,000 residents, Foulsham counts 273 listed buildings. The town’s listed buildings include the Church of Holy Innocents, Grade I. Conservation areas cover just over a third of the town’s land, above both Norfolk’s towns (5%) and England’s towns (7%). Historic England’s list names 28 listed buildings in the town: 1 Grade I, 2 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 28% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
The car took nine in ten commuters, higher than both Norfolk’s towns (77%) and England’s towns (70%). Unemployment benefit claims reached 2.1% of 16 to 64s in 2026. 6% of commuters who live in Foulsham also work there. There are 0.3 jobs in Foulsham for each resident in work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
16% of households rent privately. Owners make up nearly two thirds of households, close to Norfolk’s towns (64%) and above England’s towns (61%). Behind the median of £265,000: 29 standard sales inside Foulsham’s built-up area, September 2023 to August 2026.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £325,000 | 11 |
| Semi-detached | £237,500 | 15 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Foulsham logged 24 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 4 complaints of anti-social conduct. 54% of the crimes fell under violence and sexual offences. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 6.5 reports per 1,000, higher than Norfolk’s towns (5) yet lower than England’s towns (7.8).
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.
At the census, 21% of people here had a disability, about level with Norfolk’s towns (20%) and above England’s towns (17%). Seeing a GP means leaving Foulsham: the nearest practice is 3.4 miles away. The nearest A&E to Foulsham is Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, 14.4 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Foulsham | Norfolk | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 79% | 79% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.6% | 5.6% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 21% | 20% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · The census answers take no account of age, so a young town looks healthier; the Health Grade relies on age-adjusted measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them.
The share aged 15 to 24 is 9.4%. Nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or over, below Norfolk’s towns (24%) but above England’s towns (18%). Ages in Foulsham split evenly at 48.5: half are older, half younger. Among adults, 28% have a degree.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Foulsham | Norfolk | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.4% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 22% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 32% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 23% | 24% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 18% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.4% | 6.4% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 20% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 28% | 26% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Norfolk and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Foulsham. Best known first.
Castle · English HeritageNorth Elmham Chapel4.5 km outside town, to the southwest
Historic houseSennowe Hall4.4 km outside town, to the westAttractionAttractionMayfields Farm2.1 km outside town, to the eastAttractionAttractionHindolveston Disused Railway Station4.7 km outside town, to the northPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foulsham | 1,025 | — | — | A | B+ | B |
| North Elmham | 1,172 | 3.6 | — | C | A | B |
| Reepham | 2,317 | 4.5 | — | B+ | B+ | B+ |
| Swanton Morley | 2,175 | 4.7 | — | C+ | A− | B |
| Briston | 1,983 | 5.3 | — | D | A− | B |
| Melton Constable | 1,176 | 5.3 | — | C+ | A− | B |
| Cawston | 1,114 | 6.6 | — | A− | A− | B |
| Fakenham | 8,390 | 7.4 | D | D | B− | C |
North Elmham, Reepham, Swanton Morley, Briston, Melton Constable and Cawston have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
One state school is inside the town; places are handled by Norfolk council.
That is 11.2 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of Holy Innocents.
About the middle for its size: 49% of the 1,541 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people report less crime per resident. Against all UK towns, it grades B+.
Village in Norfolk, England
Foulsham is a built-up area of 1,025 people, in the Broadland 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.