The data are hard on it. Its weakest subject is safety — 105 violent and sexual offences and 32.9 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Against UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, it has more crime per resident than 100%. Great Yarmouth’s overall grade, D−, puts it better than 2% of UK towns. It also trails on health — life expectancy 74.3 for men, 80 for women. Homes sell for a median £145,000, about 3.4 years of what households in the Great Yarmouth council area earn. Fewer journeys need a car (A+): just over a third of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. School results trail most towns: primary results beat 6% of towns in England; secondary results beat 22% of towns in England.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · life expectancy and incomes, ONS · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Great Yarmouth is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Named after: each U.S. town’s Wikipedia article. Grades compare each town with towns in its own country, so they aren’t a head-to-head.
The data
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Great Yarmouth.
Who lives here
Degrees are less common in Great Yarmouth than in Norfolk’s towns or across England’s towns: 15% of adults
38median age
Line up the people of Great Yarmouth by age and the one in the middle is 38. 19% are under 15, above Norfolk’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. People 65 and over make up 16% of the town.
Great YarmouthNorfolkEngland
Ages · share of residents
12%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications32%
Apprenticeship6%
A levels or similar13%
Degree level15%
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
WomenEnglandMen
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
ONS Census 2021 · Norfolk and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
SchoolsD
Great Yarmouth’s schools fall behind 91% of towns in England on results
DSchool Grade
Key Stage 2 results at the town’s 8 primary schools: 48% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Of its 10 schools, two are shown below, each with the reason. Attainment 8 at the 5 secondary schools within 3 km averages 42.3, and 36% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths.
Department for Education · GIAS, Key Stage 2 and GCSE resultsSee all 10 schools →
Safety
Great Yarmouth records more crime per resident than 100% of UK towns
105violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a yearD−Safety Grade
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
The 12 months to August 2026 brought 5,785 recorded crimes inside Great Yarmouth’s built-up area, and 965 reports of anti-social behaviour. There were 33.6 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), above both Norfolk’s towns (5) and England’s towns (7.8). Violence and sexual offences made up nearly half of the total.
Compared with UK towns its sizeLess crime per resident than 0% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people: more crime than most for its size. Context only, not part of the grade.
More crimeLess crime
Reports by type · Sep 2025 to Aug 2026
Violence & sexual2,845
Damage & arson657
Public order492
Other theft441
Shoplifting434
Drugs188
Other crime153
Weapons139
Anti-social965
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.
105
violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
32.9
burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
33.6
anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 (not graded)
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.
Health
Disability is more common in Great Yarmouth than in Norfolk’s towns or across England’s towns: 24% of residents
74%good or very good healthD−Health Grade
At the census, nearly one in ten residents said their health was bad or very bad, above Norfolk’s towns (5.6%) and England’s towns (5.2%) alike. Nearly three quarters of people in Great Yarmouth rate their own health good or very good. 3 GP practices serve the town; 86% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Self-reported health favours young towns, since these answers ignore age; the Health Grade leans on age-adjusted measures such as life expectancy and early deaths.
Work & commuteJobs & income grade D
Benefit claims run higher in Great Yarmouth, 8.3% of 16 to 64s, than in Norfolk’s towns or across England’s towns
34%walk, cycle or ride
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 11% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
52% of commuters travelled under 5 km, higher than both Norfolk’s towns (42%) and England’s towns (45%). About 40% of its commuters stay in Great Yarmouth for work. There are 1.5 jobs in Great Yarmouth for each resident in work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
History
Great Yarmouth’s heritage list runs to 225 buildings, 7 of them Grade I
225listed buildingsA+History Grade
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Listed buildings per head: 78 for every 10,000 residents of Great Yarmouth. The town’s listed buildings include Fishermens Hospital Including Gate Piers and Railings, Grade I. Also worth knowing: homes from before 1919 make up 51% of the total, above both Norfolk’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (16%). At the top of the list, 7 are Grade I and 13 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
HousingCost of living grade B−
Private renting is more common in Great Yarmouth than in Norfolk’s towns or England’s towns: 37% of households
£145Kmedian sale
Great Yarmouth is the cheapest of the 52 towns in Norfolk: its median sale is £145,000. Social housing holds 25% of households, above Norfolk’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. Private rents average £841 a month across the Great Yarmouth council area.
Median sale price · Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
Great Yarmouth£145K
Typical UK town£277K
By type
Median
Sales
Detached
£275,750
42
Semi-detached
£231,750
120
Terraced
£140,000
672
Flat or maisonette
£95,000
77
37%
of households own their home · England 61%
37%
rent privately · England 21%
£841
average private rent a month, Great Yarmouth council area
Matthew Macfadyen: Tomaholic, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Jack Cardiff: Not known. Cardiff family have given permission for it be used on Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 3.0 · Hannah Spearritt: Roger Murmann, CC BY 2.0 · James Paget: G. Jerrard, CC BY 4.0
About Great Yarmouth
Large town in Norfolk, England
Great Yarmouth is a built-up area of 28,979 people, in the Great Yarmouth 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.
Corton has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Questions about Great Yarmouth
Who lives in Great Yarmouth?
At the 2021 Census, 12% of Great Yarmouth’s 28,979 residents were 15 to 24 and 16% were 65 or over, against 12% and 18% across England’s towns.
How many listed buildings are there in Great Yarmouth?
That is 3.2 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include Fishermens Hospital Including Gate Piers and Railings. It also has 6 scheduled monuments.
Are schools in Great Yarmouth good?
GCSE results trail 78% of towns in England, and primary results trail 94% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
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.
