Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
3,664 people call this town in Norfolk, East of England home.
The data are hard on it. Schools are its weak spot: primary results beat 2% of towns in England. Work and incomes lag: households earn a mean £44,126 a year, and 3.6% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. A median £255,000 buys a home here, 5.4 times what households in the King's Lynn and West Norfolk council area earn in a year. Overall, that makes a D−, behind almost every UK town. Few people walk, cycle or take the bus to work: 7% of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. It also trails on hazard risk: 14.1% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea.
Figures: income, ONS · claimants, DWP · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · commuting, Census 2021 · flood risk, Environment Agency.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Upwell and Outwell is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things Upwell and Outwell does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 47 buildings inside Upwell and Outwell’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade I.
25% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 2 old photos and postcards going back to 1900.
47 listed buildings in Upwell and Outwell, 2 of them Grade I.
Church of St Clement: Photo: John Salmon · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Church of St Peter: Photo: Evelyn Simak · CC BY-SA 2.0
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Upwell and Outwell.
Upwell and Outwell’s two primaries have 325 pupils between them. One of its 2 schools is below, with the reason it’s listed. 42% of pupils at the town’s 2 primary schools met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upwell AcademyLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 180 | D− |
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.
Just over nine in ten commuters drove, higher than both Norfolk’s towns (77%) and England’s towns (70%). About 8% of its commuters stay in Upwell and Outwell for work. This Norfolk town counts 0.4 jobs per working resident.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Listed buildings per head: 128 for every 10,000 residents of Upwell and Outwell. Its listed buildings include the Church of St Clement, Grade I. It counts 47 listed buildings on the national list (Historic England): 2 Grade I, 3 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
At the census, 6.6% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, above both Norfolk’s towns (5.6%) and England’s towns (5.2%). A disability affects 22% of people in Upwell and Outwell. The nearest A&E to Upwell and Outwell is The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, 14 miles away. One GP practice serves the town; 70% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Upwell and Outwell | Norfolk | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 77% | 79% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.6% | 5.6% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 22% | 20% | 17% |
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.
Just over one in ten households live in social housing. Private renters make up 15% of households, below Norfolk’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (21%) alike. The median sale, £255,000, comes from 138 standard sales inside Upwell and Outwell’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £325,000 | 81 |
| Semi-detached | £195,000 | 43 |
| Terraced | £170,750 | 12 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Violent crime ran at 28.4 per 1,000 residents a year, above Norfolk’s towns (18.9) and England’s towns (22) alike. The 12 months to August 2026 brought 220 recorded crimes inside Upwell and Outwell’s built-up area, and 25 reports of anti-social behaviour. Also worth knowing: for its size, Upwell and Outwell records more crime per resident than 70% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. Violence and sexual offences accounted for 57% of recorded crime.
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.
One in ten residents are 15 to 24, lower than both Norfolk’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (12%). Over-65s are nearly a quarter of the population. At 46.3, the median resident of Upwell and Outwell sits in the middle of the age range. Children are 16% of the town.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Upwell and Outwell | Norfolk | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.6% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 23% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 24% | 24% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 25% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.5% | 6.4% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 21% | 26% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Norfolk and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
4 notable people were born in Upwell and Outwell.
Town in Norfolk, England
Upwell and Outwell is a built-up area of 3,664 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
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upwell and Outwell | 3,664 | — | D− | C | C | C |
| Friday Bridge | 1,411 | 2.7 | — | C+ | C+ | C− |
| Elm and Emneth | 4,555 | 3 | D | C | B− | C− |
| Marshland St James | 1,025 | 4.3 | — | D | B+ | C− |
| Wisbech | 26,800 | 5 | D− | B− | D | D |
| Wisbech St Mary | 1,069 | 6.1 | — | C+ | C+ | C− |
| Downham Market | 11,349 | 6.4 | C | C− | B− | C |
| Leverington | 1,694 | 6.6 | — | C+ | C | C |
Friday Bridge, Marshland St James, Wisbech St Mary and Leverington have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Upwell and Outwell has 2 state schools; places are handled by Norfolk council.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
That is 5.3 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include Church of St Clement.
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.
