Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 11,899 in Northamptonshire, East Midlands.
Desborough’s overall grade is C+, better than 45% of UK towns. That places it #16 of 31 in Northamptonshire. Health is a weak point (C+): life expectancy is 79.9 for men and 83 for women. Most journeys need a car: on the way to work, 12% walk, cycle or take a bus or train. Its best grade is for hazard risk (A). Homes sell for a median £274,000, about 5.4 years of what households in the North Northamptonshire council area earn. The rest of its grades are middling: C+ for safety, C+ for schools and B− for jobs & income.
Figures: flood risk, Environment Agency · life expectancy and incomes, ONS · commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · claimants, DWP.
The thing Desborough 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 Desborough is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 10 buildings inside Desborough’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
13% 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 Desborough.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Desborough’s listed buildings include Anglican and Methodist Church of St Giles, Grade I. Scaled to its population, Desborough has 8 listed buildings per 10,000 people, lower than both Northamptonshire’s towns (84) and England’s towns (39). 13% of homes date from before 1919.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Desborough’s three primaries have 927 pupils between them. Below is one of its 3 schools, and why it was picked. 61% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loatlands Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 446 | C+ |
Desborough has no GP practice of its own; the nearest is 1.3 miles away. Men in Desborough can expect to live to 79.9, women to 83 (2019–23). Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 4.3% of the town.
| Census 2021 | Desborough | Northamptonshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 83% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.3% | 4.5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 18% | 16% | 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 Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 25% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
The car took 86% of commuters, higher than both Northamptonshire’s towns (81%) and England’s towns (70%). Of the commuters living in Desborough, 15% work in the town itself. For every resident in work, Desborough has 0.4 jobs.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 15.7 reports per 1,000, above both Northamptonshire’s towns (9.5) and England’s towns (7.8). Police recorded 622 crimes inside Desborough’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 282 reports of anti-social behaviour. Per 1,000 residents, 11 burglaries and acts of damage are recorded a year. For its size, Desborough records less crime per resident than 70% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
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
15% of households are private tenants. Social housing holds one in ten households, below both Northamptonshire’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (18%). Private rents average £992 a month across the North Northamptonshire council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £330,000 | 319 |
| Semi-detached | £245,000 | 197 |
| Terraced | £195,000 | 111 |
| Flat or maisonette | £125,000 | 19 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
People aged 15 to 24 make up a tenth of the town. A fifth of residents are 65 or over, above both Northamptonshire’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (18%). Residents of Desborough have a median age of 42.3.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Desborough | Northamptonshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 25% | 27% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 20% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 17% | 19% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.5% | 6% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 19% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 27% | 29% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Northamptonshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Desborough. Best known first.
10 listed buildings in Desborough, 1 of them Grade I.
King's Arms Public House: Photo: Geoff Pick · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Desborough War Memorial: Photo: Richard Williams · CC BY-SA 2.0
4 notable people were born in Desborough.
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Desborough | 11,899 | — | C+ | B− | C+ | C+ |
| Rothwell | 8,623 | 1.7 | C− | B− | C− | C+ |
| Mawsley Village | 2,487 | 4.7 | — | C | A | B+ |
| Market Harborough | 24,162 | 4.8 | A | A | C+ | B− |
| Cottingham and Middleton | 1,365 | 4.8 | — | C− | A− | C+ |
| Great Bowden | 1,510 | 4.9 | — | B+ | B+ | A− |
| Broughton | 1,982 | 5.3 | — | B− | B− | B |
| Kettering | 63,149 | 5.4 | C | B− | D | C− |
Mawsley Village, Cottingham and Middleton, Great Bowden and Broughton have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Against all UK towns, most of them smaller, it grades C+. Police recorded 622 crimes inside Desborough’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 47% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Band D council tax in Desborough is £2,362 for 2026–27, less than in 65% of UK towns (council, county, police and fire, plus the parish or town council). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
Town in Northamptonshire, England
Desborough is a built-up area of 11,899 people, in the North Northamptonshire 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.
