Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 5,852 in Northumberland, North East. Primary school results trail 100% of towns in England.
Amble grades C− overall against UK towns: better than 21% of UK towns, and #18 of 20 in Northumberland. Its strongest subject is walkability (A): 24% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is schools (D−): primary results beat 0% of towns in England; secondary results beat 1% of towns in England. The median home sold for £215,000 in the last three years, 4.6 times what households in the Northumberland council area earn in a year.
Northumbria Police published 34 of the 36 months; rates are per year over the months published.
The 3 things Amble 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 Amble is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 20 buildings inside Amble’s built-up area.
23% 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 Amble.
Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amble Links Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 216 | – |
| Coquet Community SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 567 | D− |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 18% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Amble sits above both Northumberland’s towns (2.5%) and England’s towns (2.3%) on this measure. 18% of workers worked mainly from home at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
That puts Amble below both Northumberland’s towns (29%) and England’s towns (34%). Children under 15 make up 14% of residents. Amble has a median age of 51.1.
52% women, 48% men
About 91 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.
| Amble | Northumberland | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 14% | 15% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.6% | 9.4% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 20% | 22% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 31% | 28% | 25% |
| 65+ | 27% | 25% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 21% | 19% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 8.8% | 7.1% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 24% | 29% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Northumberland and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
On this, Amble is above both Northumberland’s towns (10.1) and England’s towns (9.4). Violent crime runs at 30.9 per 1,000 residents a year. Police recorded 372 crimes inside Amble’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 209 reports of anti-social behaviour.
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
14% rent privately, close to Northumberland’s towns (15%) and below England’s towns (21%).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £290,000 | 136 |
| Semi-detached | £190,000 | 94 |
| Terraced | £172,000 | 133 |
| Flat or maisonette | £127,000 | 13 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
In the comparison, Amble comes below both Northumberland’s towns (78%) and England’s towns (82%). The nearest A&E to Amble is Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital, 17.8 miles away. These answers aren’t adjusted for age, so young towns look healthier; the Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
| Census 2021 | Amble | Northumberland | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 74% | 78% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 7.5% | 6.5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 23% | 22% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Amble has 20 listed buildings inside its built-up area on Historic England’s list: 0 Grade I, 0 Grade II*. 23% of its homes were built before 1919.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
20 listed buildings in Amble.
Church of St Cuthbert: Photo: Simon Cobb · CC0 · Main Block of Co Operative Society Premises: Photo: Simon Cobb · CC0 · The Vicarage with Outbuildings and Yard Wall: Photo: Simon Cobb · CC0 · Amble War Memorial Clock Tower: Photo: Simon Cobb · CC0
11 notable people were born in Amble.
Luke James: CLEMENATOR, CC BY-SA 4.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amble | 5,852 | — | C− | B+ | C− | C |
| Warkworth | 1,412 | 1.3 | — | C | B+ | C+ |
| Hadston | 2,713 | 2.8 | C | A | D | D |
| South Broomhill | 1,520 | 3.1 | — | B | C− | D |
| Shilbottle | 1,787 | 4.9 | — | A− | A− | C |
| Felton | 1,270 | 5.3 | — | C+ | A+ | B− |
| Widdrington Station | 2,495 | 6.6 | — | A | C | D |
| Alnwick | 8,432 | 7.1 | C+ | B | D | C |
Warkworth, South Broomhill, Shilbottle, Felton and Widdrington Station have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
GCSE results trail 99% of towns in England, and primary results trail almost all (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). Amble has 3 state schools; places are handled by Northumberland council.
An older town. At the 2021 Census, 27% of residents were 65 or over and 31% were 45 to 64, against 18% and 25% across England’s towns; 14% were under 15.
It has more crime per resident than most places its size: 80% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people report less. Police recorded 372 crimes inside Amble’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 40% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £215,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £127,000, terraced houses £172,000, semi-detached houses £190,000 and detached houses £290,000.
Town in Northumberland, England
Amble is a built-up area of 5,852 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
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.