Safety lags (D): police record 42.4 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, and 15.7 home and vehicle crimes. Against UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, it has more crime per resident than 90%. Jobs & income is weaker too — households earn a mean £45,323 a year, and 3.2% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Getting around on foot or by bus is easy: 29% of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. At a median £240,995, a home costs 5.2 times the yearly income of households in the Northumberland council area. The overall grade comes out at C+, #11 of 20 in Northumberland. Set against the rest, it does better than 37% of UK towns.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · income, ONS · claimants, DWP · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
Northumbria Police published 34 of the 36 months; rates are per year over the months published.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Alnwick is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Alnwick.
Work & commuteJobs & income grade C−
Alnwick is more walkable than 95% of UK towns
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 21% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
For half of commuters, work was under 5 km away. 69% of commuters drove, lower than Northumberland’s towns (79%) and near England’s towns (70%). Working from home was the norm for 21% of workers at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
SchoolsC+
Alnwick’s schools fall behind 58% of towns in England on results
Attainment 8 at the one secondary school within 3 km averages 41.3, and just over a third of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths. Key Stage 2 results at the town’s 3 primary schools: nearly two thirds of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Between them, three primaries and one secondary teach 1,960 pupils in Alnwick.
Department for Education · GIAS, Key Stage 2 and GCSE resultsSee all 5 schools →
Who lives here
Alnwick skews older, with 28% of residents 65 or over, more than Northumberland’s towns or England’s towns
14% are under 15, below both Northumberland’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (18%). Line up the people of Alnwick by age and the one in the middle is 50.5. People aged 15 to 24 make up a tenth of the town.
50.5median age
AlnwickNorthumberlandEngland
Ages · share of residents
28%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications18%
Apprenticeship7%
A levels or similar16%
Degree level31%
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
WomenEnglandMen
About 93 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.
ONS Census 2021 · Northumberland and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
History
Listed buildings in Alnwick: 249, with 5 at Grade I
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Listed buildings per head: 295 for every 10,000 residents of Alnwick. Its listed buildings include the Church of St Michael, Grade I. It has one registered historic park or garden.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Safety
Per resident, Alnwick sees more crime than 87% of UK towns
Police figures for Alnwick’s built-up area: 605 crimes and 144 anti-social behaviour reports in the 12 months to August 2026. There were 26 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), above both Northumberland’s towns (16.8) and England’s towns (7.8). Violence and sexual offences were 44% of the crimes.
42.4violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a yearDSafety Grade
Compared with UK towns its sizeLess crime per resident than 10% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people: more crime than most for its size. Context only, not part of the grade.
More crimeLess crime
Reports by type · Sep 2025 to Aug 2026
Violence & sexual267
Damage & arson74
Shoplifting72
Public order61
Other crime36
Other theft28
Drugs19
Vehicle crime19
Anti-social144
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.
42.4
violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
15.7
burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
26
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.
Health
Alnwick is 23.7 miles from the nearest A&E
21% of residents have a disability, near Northumberland’s towns (22%) and higher than England’s towns (17%). One GP practice serves the town; 86% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. Also worth knowing: women here live to 82.7 on average and men to 79.2 (2019–23).
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · No age adjustment applies to these census answers, which flatter younger towns; the Health Grade’s measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them, do allow for age.
HousingCost of living grade B
More households in Alnwick live in social housing than in Northumberland’s towns or England’s towns: 26%
Private renters make up 15% of households, near Northumberland’s towns (15%) and lower than England’s towns (21%). The £240,995 median rests on 517 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026). Home ownership stands at 59% of households.
£241Kmedian sale
Median sale price · Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
Alnwick£241K
Typical UK town£277K
By type
Median
Sales
Detached
£380,000
163
Semi-detached
£210,500
128
Terraced
£190,625
156
Flat or maisonette
£133,750
70
59%
of households own their home · England 61%
15%
rent privately · England 21%
£695
average private rent a month, Northumberland council area
Shilbottle, Longhoughton, Warkworth, Felton, South Broomhill and Longframlington have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Questions about Alnwick
How many listed buildings are there in Alnwick?
That is 12.1 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include The Castle, Stable Court and Covered Riding School Including West Wall of Riding School. It also has 2 scheduled monuments.
How much is council tax in Alnwick?
Band D council tax in Alnwick is £2,645 for 2026–27, more than in 92% 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.
About Alnwick
Town in Northumberland, England
Alnwick is a built-up area of 8,432 people, in the Northumberland 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
8,432 (Census 2021)
Council
Northumberland
County
Northumberland
Region
North East
Area
1.4 sq mi (3.6 km²)
ONS code
E63000015
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.
