A town of contrasts. With a C+ overall, Northampton is better than 44% of UK towns. The ranking puts it #17 of 31 in Northamptonshire. Safety is its weak spot (D): 46.1 violent and sexual offences and 19.7 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Only just over a third of UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more have more crime per resident. Fewer journeys need a car (A−): on the way to work, 22% walk, cycle or take a bus or train. Cost of living is a strength too — a typical home costs £260,000 and rent runs £1,084 a month. Its remaining grades are unremarkable: B for schools and B− for hazard risk.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · flood risk, Environment Agency.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Northampton is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Northampton.
Safety
Per resident, Northampton sees more crime than nine in ten UK towns
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 23.9 reports per 1,000, above both Northamptonshire’s towns (9.5) and England’s towns (7.8). The 12 months to August 2026 brought 23,624 recorded crimes inside the town’s built-up area, and 6,879 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences were just over two fifths of the crimes.
46.1violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a yearDSafety Grade
Compared with UK towns its sizeLess crime per resident than 34% of the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more: about the middle for its size. Context only, not part of the grade.
More crimeLess crime
Reports by type · Sep 2025 to Aug 2026
Violence & sexual9,930
Shoplifting2,871
Public order1,770
Other theft1,734
Damage & arson1,723
Vehicle crime1,716
Burglary1,125
Drugs900
Anti-social6,879
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.
46.1
violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
19.7
burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
23.9
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.
SchoolsB
Results at Northampton’s schools beat 64% of towns in England
Between them, 57 primaries and 12 secondaries teach 39,308 pupils in Northampton. Of its 83 schools, three are shown below, each with the reason. GCSE results at the town’s 12 secondary schools: 50% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 48.6.
Department for Education · GIAS, Key Stage 2 and GCSE resultsSee all 83 schools →
Work & commuteJobs & income grade C+
4.3% of 16 to 64s in Northampton claim unemployment benefits, more than in both Northamptonshire’s towns and England’s towns
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.
Three quarters of commuters drove, between Northamptonshire’s towns (81%) and England’s towns (70%). Of the commuters living here, 69% work in the town itself. Jobs per working resident: 1.1.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Health
Life expectancy in Northampton is shorter than in 80% of UK towns
25 GP practices serve the town; 70% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. At the census, 15% of people here had a disability, below both Northamptonshire’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (17%). The nearest A&E to Northampton is Northampton General Hospital, 0.7 miles away.
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · A young population flatters these answers, which are not age-adjusted; the Health Grade instead uses measures that allow for age, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
HousingCost of living grade B+
Private renting is more common in Northampton than in Northamptonshire’s towns or England’s towns: 24% of households
Nearly three in five households own their home. 8,399 standard sales inside Northampton’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put the median at £260,000. Social housing holds 16% of households, higher than Northamptonshire’s towns (15%) yet lower than England’s towns (18%).
£260Kmedian sale
Median sale price · Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
Northampton£260K
Typical UK town£277K
By type
Median
Sales
Detached
£378,475
2,112
Semi-detached
£265,000
2,622
Terraced
£225,000
2,698
Flat or maisonette
£150,000
967
59%
of households own their home · England 61%
24%
rent privately · England 21%
£1,084
average private rent a month, West Northamptonshire council area
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
History
Northampton has 413 listed buildings, 15 of them Grade I
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Scaled to its population, that is 17 listed buildings for every 10,000 people in Northampton. The town’s listed buildings include Abington Abbey (Museum), Grade I. At the top of the list, 15 are Grade I and 24 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Who lives here
Few people in Northampton are 65 or over: 14%, below Northamptonshire’s towns and England’s towns
The 15-to-24 age group: 12%, higher than Northamptonshire’s towns (11%) and near England’s towns (12%). 19% of residents are children under 15. The age that splits Northampton in two is 37.
37median age
NorthamptonNorthamptonshireEngland
Ages · share of residents
12%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications20%
Apprenticeship6%
A levels or similar16%
Degree level30%
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
WomenEnglandMen
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Sophie Turner: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Alan Moore: Fimb, CC BY 2.0 · Alan Walker: Maximilian Wild, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Matt Smith: JaceMerlyn, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ivan Toney: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester: Venterq, CC0
Collingtree and Milton Malsor, Cogenhoe, Kislingbury, Harpole, Sywell and Overstone and Blisworth have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Questions about Northampton
Is Northampton safe?
About the middle for its size: 66% of the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more report less crime per resident. Against all UK towns, most of them far smaller, it grades D.
How many listed buildings are there in Northampton?
Its Grade I buildings include Abington Abbey (Museum). It also has 5 scheduled monuments.
Are schools in Northampton good?
GCSE results beat 67% of towns in England, and primary results beat 55% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
About Northampton
City in Northamptonshire, England
Northampton is a built-up area of 243,527 people, in the West 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
Population
243,527 (Census 2021)
Council
West Northamptonshire
County
Northamptonshire
Region
East Midlands
Area
23.5 sq mi (60.8 km²)
ONS code
E63003390
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.
