Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 8,434 in Norfolk, East of England.
Swaffham grades D overall against UK towns: better than 10% of UK towns, and #43 of 51 in Norfolk. Its strongest subject is hazard risk (A): 0% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. Its weakest is jobs & income (D): mean household income £45,890; 3.5% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. The median home sold for £259,000 in the last three years, 5.2 times what households in the Breckland council area earn in a year.
The 3 things Swaffham 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 Swaffham is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 102 buildings inside Swaffham’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade I.
10% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds a map from 1946.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Swaffham.
On this, Swaffham is above both Norfolk’s towns (24%) and England’s towns (18%). People aged 15 to 24 make up 8.1% of the town. The median resident of Swaffham is 51.9 years old.
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.
| Swaffham | Norfolk | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 14% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.1% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 20% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 25% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 33% | 24% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 25% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.7% | 6.4% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 15% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 22% | 26% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Norfolk and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Two of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heartwood CofE VC Primary & Nursery SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 241 | D− |
| The Nicholas Hamond AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 710 | C |
In the comparison, Swaffham comes below both Norfolk’s towns (79%) and England’s towns (82%). Women here live to 81.3 on average and men to 79.1 (2019–23). 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.
| Census 2021 | Swaffham | Norfolk | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 75% | 79% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.8% | 5.6% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 23% | 20% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
For Swaffham, that is above both Norfolk’s towns (18.9) and England’s towns (22). Burglary and damage come to 11 per 1,000 residents a year. Police recorded 545 crimes inside Swaffham’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 115 reports of anti-social behaviour.
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 heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Swaffham sits above both Norfolk’s towns (42) and England’s towns (39) on this measure. Swaffham’s listed buildings include Church of St Peter and St Paul, Grade I. Swaffham has 102 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 2 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 18% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
That puts Swaffham below both Norfolk’s towns (42%) and England’s towns (45%). 17% of commuters went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Half the homes sold went for more than £259K, close to Norfolk’s towns (£280K) and below England’s towns (£308K).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £325,000 | 288 |
| Semi-detached | £230,000 | 173 |
| Terraced | £180,000 | 98 |
| Flat or maisonette | £115,000 | 17 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
102 listed buildings in Swaffham, 2 of them Grade I.
Church of St Peter and St Paul: Photo: John Salmon · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Oakleigh House: Photo: Keith Evans · CC BY-SA 2.0 · George Hotel: Photo: Stavros1 · CC BY 3.0 · Swaffham Methodist Church: Photo: David Dixon · CC BY-SA 2.0
8 notable people were born in Swaffham.
Robert Robinson: AnonymousUnknown author, Public domain · Edward Rose: E. Wilson, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swaffham | 8,434 | — | D | C+ | C | C− |
| Necton | 1,742 | 3.6 | — | C+ | A | B− |
| Ashill | 1,252 | 4.7 | — | C+ | B | B− |
| Narborough | 1,362 | 5.2 | — | B− | B− | C+ |
| Saham Toney | 1,287 | 6.3 | — | C | A | B− |
| Marham | 2,608 | 6.4 | A− | B− | A+ | B |
| Watton | 11,549 | 7.9 | C+ | B− | C+ | C |
| Shipdham | 2,459 | 8.8 | — | C+ | A− | B− |
Necton, Ashill, Narborough, Saham Toney and Shipdham have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 5 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include Church of St Peter and St Paul.
It has more crime per resident than most places its size: 76% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people report less. Police recorded 545 crimes inside Swaffham’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 48% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking. Burglary was rare, with 11 reports in the year.
Town in Norfolk, England
Swaffham is a built-up area of 8,434 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.