Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
14% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. The town has 11,333 residents and lies in Northamptonshire, East Midlands.
Schools are its strong suit — primary results beat 84% of towns in England; secondary results beat 80% of towns in England. Add jobs & income to its strengths: the mean household earns £62,238 a year. Homes are dear: the median home sold for £326,000, 5.8 years of area income. Overall, that makes an A−, better than 80% of UK towns. That places it #6 of 31 in Northamptonshire. Elsewhere it is close to typical: B− for safety and B− for walkability.
Figures: income, ONS · claimants, DWP · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · commuting, Census 2021.
The 3 things Towcester 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 Towcester is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 90 buildings inside Towcester’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade I, and 2 scheduled monuments.
7% 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 Towcester.
Of its 4 schools, two are shown below, each with the reason. Nicholas Hawksmoor Primary School’s results beat 83% of schools in England like it. GCSE results at the one secondary school within 3 km: 55% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 51.4.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicholas Hawksmoor Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 429 | A− |
| Sponne SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,410 | B+ |
The nearest A&E to Towcester is Northampton General Hospital, 8.7 miles away. 86% of the town’s residents described their health as good or very good at the census, higher than both Northamptonshire’s towns (83%) and England’s towns (82%). Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 3.6% of the town. 2 GP practices serve the town; just over four in five patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Towcester | Northamptonshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 86% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.6% | 4.5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 14% | 16% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · These shares come straight from the census, without allowing for age, and young towns benefit; the Health Grade instead weighs age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
The owner-occupied share of households is 70%. Social housing holds 13% of households, below both Northamptonshire’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (18%). Half of the 915 standard sales inside Towcester’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £326,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £464,995 | 319 |
| Semi-detached | £308,500 | 275 |
| Terraced | £303,000 | 237 |
| Flat or maisonette | £185,000 | 84 |
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.
Towcester’s listed buildings include the Church of St Lawrence, Grade I. Homes from before 1919 make up 7% of the total, below Northamptonshire’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (16%) alike. The register of parks and gardens lists one here.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 35% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
For every resident in work, Towcester has 0.6 jobs. 84% of commuters drove, above both Northamptonshire’s towns (81%) and England’s towns (70%). Home was the main workplace for just over a third of workers at the census.
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 13.8 reports per 1,000, above Northamptonshire’s towns (9.5) and England’s towns (7.8) alike. Reported offences in Towcester came to 501 over twelve months to August 2026; nuisance and anti-social incidents added 178. Violence and sexual offences were 50% of the crimes.
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.
Degrees are held by just over a third of adults. The middle age in Towcester is 40.5. 17% of residents are 65 or over, near Northamptonshire’s towns (17%) and lower than England’s towns (18%).
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Towcester | Northamptonshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 28% | 27% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 17% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 13% | 19% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.2% | 6% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 19% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 35% | 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 Towcester. Best known first.
CastleBury Mountin town
Historic houseEaston Neston600 m outside town, to the northeast
MuseumThe Canal Museum3.8 km outside town, to the eastMuseumMuseumTowcester Museumin townMuseumMuseumSilverstone Museum4.9 km outside town, to the southPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
90 listed buildings in Towcester, 2 of them Grade I.
Easton Neston: Photo: Cj1340 · CC0 · Bury Mount motte castle: Photo: Cj1340 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Towcester Mill: Photo: Mike Faherty · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Saracens Head Hotel: Photo: Jo Turner · CC BY-SA 2.0
7 notable people were born in Towcester.
Flux Pavilion: (capsulated), CC BY 2.0 · Elliot Parish: Jonesy702, CC BY-SA 3.0 · William L. Abingdon: Alfred Ellis, Public domain · Edward Grubb of Birmingham: Edward Grubb of Birmingham, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Towcester | 11,333 | — | A− | C+ | B− | B+ |
| Greens Norton | 1,525 | 1.7 | — | C− | A | A |
| Silverstone | 2,542 | 3.1 | B+ | C | C+ | A+ |
| Blisworth | 1,603 | 3.8 | — | C+ | B+ | B |
| Pattishall and Astcote | 1,081 | 3.9 | — | B | A− | A |
| Roade | 3,571 | 4.5 | A | B− | B+ | B |
| Yardley Gobion | 1,283 | 4.9 | — | C | A+ | B |
| Potterspury | 1,637 | 5.2 | — | C+ | B− | B+ |
Greens Norton, Blisworth, Pattishall and Astcote, Yardley Gobion and Potterspury have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 3.3 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include Church of St Lawrence. It also has 2 scheduled monuments.
GCSE results beat 80% of towns in England, and primary results beat 84% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Town in Northamptonshire, England
Towcester is a built-up area of 11,333 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
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.