Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
In Norfolk, East of England, this town has 5,077 residents. It has 131 listed buildings, 0 of them Grade I.
What it saves you on housing, it gives back elsewhere. Buying a home costs less than in most towns: a typical home costs £255,000 and rent runs £981 a month. Walkability is a strength too (B+): 17% of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. Its lowest grade is for jobs & income (D) — mean household income £46,405; 3.3% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. All told, that adds up to a B− overall and a rank of #17 of 51 in Norfolk. Set against the rest, it does better than 53% of UK towns. The rest of its grades are middling: B for safety, B− for health and B− for hazard risk.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · commuting, Census 2021 · income and life expectancy, ONS · claimants, DWP · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · flood risk, Environment Agency.
The 3 things Harleston 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 Harleston is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 131 buildings inside Harleston’s built-up area, 4 of them Grade II*.
15% 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 Harleston.
One measure of family life: 16% of residents are under 15. The 15-to-24 age group: 8%, below Norfolk’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (12%) alike. Typical age in Harleston: 47.6, the median. Graduates make up 22% of adults.
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Harleston | Norfolk | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 23% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 24% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 29% | 24% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 22% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 8% | 6.4% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 22% | 26% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Norfolk and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Below is its only school. Secondary results at the one secondary school within 3 km: an Attainment 8 score of 45.9, with 40% at grade 5 or above in English and maths. Key Stage 2 results at the 2 primary schools within 3 km: half of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Harleston Sancroft Academy (a 3-16 Church of England School)Largest secondary schoolAll-through | All-through | 824 | C+ |
Owners make up 65% of households, close to Norfolk’s towns (64%) and above England’s towns (61%). Behind the median of £255,000: 244 standard sales inside Harleston’s built-up area, September 2023 to August 2026. It is the 29th most expensive of 52 towns of 2,500+ in Norfolk.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £304,000 | 100 |
| Semi-detached | £240,000 | 63 |
| Terraced | £197,500 | 53 |
| Flat or maisonette | £218,000 | 28 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Historic England’s list names 131 listed buildings in Harleston: 4 Grade II*. Conservation areas cover a tenth of the town’s land, above both Norfolk’s towns (5%) and England’s towns (7%). Also worth knowing: homes built before 1919 account for 15% of the housing.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 20% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
The car took 82% of commuters, above both Norfolk’s towns (77%) and England’s towns (70%). Home was the main workplace for 20% of workers at the census. Work in town: just over a fifth of resident commuters. For every resident in work, Harleston has 0.8 jobs.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The 12 months to August 2026 brought 220 recorded crimes inside Harleston’s built-up area, and 46 reports of anti-social behaviour. 58% of the crimes fell under violence and sexual offences. Violent crime comes to 23.7 per 1,000 residents a year.
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.
The nearest A&E to Harleston is Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, 15.3 miles away. One GP practice serves the town; 78% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. At the census, 19% of people here had a disability, near Norfolk’s towns (20%) and higher than England’s towns (17%).
| Census 2021 | Harleston | Norfolk | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 80% | 79% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.4% | 5.6% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 19% | 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.
131 listed buildings in Harleston.
Corn Exchange: Photo: Stuart Shepherd · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Church of St John the Baptist: Photo: John Salmon · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Harleston War Memorial: Photo: Adrian S Pye · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Cardinal's Hat Inn: Photo: Adrian S Pye · CC BY-SA 2.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harleston | 5,077 | — | B− | A− | B | B− |
| Dickleburgh | 1,166 | 4.8 | — | A | A | B |
| Stradbroke | 1,190 | 5.9 | — | A− | A+ | A− |
| Scole | 1,037 | 6.5 | — | A | A | B |
| Long Stratton | 5,218 | 6.7 | A− | A | B | B+ |
| Bungay | 5,012 | 7 | C+ | A | C+ | B− |
| Laxfield | 1,004 | 7.4 | — | B | A+ | A− |
| Ditchingham | 1,997 | 7.8 | — | A | A | B |
Dickleburgh, Stradbroke, Scole, Laxfield and Ditchingham have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 10.6 times the typical UK town for its size.
GCSE results trail 60% of towns in England, and primary results trail 92% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). One state school is inside the town; places are handled by Norfolk council.
Town in Norfolk, England
Harleston is a built-up area of 5,077 people, in the South 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
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.