Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 9,218 in Suffolk, East of England.
Brandon grades C− overall against UK towns: better than 15% of UK towns. Its strongest subject is hazard risk (B): 0% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. Its weakest is schools (D): primary results beat 14% of towns in England; secondary results beat 9% of towns in England. The median home sold for £220,000 in the last three years, 4 times what households in the West Suffolk council area earn in a year.
The 3 things Brandon 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 Brandon is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 14 buildings inside Brandon’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I, and 1 scheduled monument.
10% 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 Brandon.
Brandon sits below both Suffolk’s towns (27%) and England’s towns (34%) on this measure. Over-65s are 24% of the population. The median resident of Brandon is 44.7 years old.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Brandon | Suffolk | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.3% | 10% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 25% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 25% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 24% | 23% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 29% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7% | 6.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 15% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 18% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Suffolk and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forest AcademyLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 389 | C |
| Breckland SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 615 | C− |
That puts Brandon above both Suffolk’s towns (5%) and England’s towns (5.2%). The nearest A&E to Brandon is West Suffolk Hospital, 15.1 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 | Brandon | Suffolk | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 77% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 7.3% | 5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 21% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
On this, Brandon is above both Suffolk’s towns (18.9) and England’s towns (22). Homes see 12.1 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year. Police recorded 516 crimes inside Brandon’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 32 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
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Brandon has 14 listed buildings inside its built-up area on Historic England’s list: 1 Grade I, 2 Grade II*. 10% of its homes were built before 1919.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Half the homes sold went for more than £220K, below both Suffolk’s towns (£310K) and England’s towns (£308K).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £260,000 | 185 |
| Semi-detached | £200,000 | 127 |
| Terraced | £178,750 | 88 |
| Flat or maisonette | £96,500 | 15 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 15% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
In the comparison, Brandon comes below both Suffolk’s towns (44%) and England’s towns (45%). 15% of commuters went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Brandon. Best known first.
Castle · English HeritageWeeting Castle1.6 km outside town, to the north
Museum · English HeritageGrimes Grave's Visitor Centre3.5 km outside town, to the northeast
Castle · English HeritageThetford Warren Lodge4.6 km outside town, to the eastAttractionAttractionGo Ape1.7 km outside town, to the eastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
14 listed buildings in Brandon, 1 of them Grade I.
Brandon Railway Station: Photo: Rich257 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Brandon House Hotel: Photo: N Chadwick · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Brandon War Memorial: Photo: Adrian S Pye · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Limes: Photo: Sandy Gerrard · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph
5 notable people were born in Brandon.
Brandon Moss: Alfred Thomson, Public domain · Derek Harrison: Lawson Speedway, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brandon | 9,218 | — | C− | B | C | C− |
| Weeting | 1,883 | 1.5 | — | B | A | C+ |
| Hockwold cum Wilton | 1,303 | 3.4 | — | D | A | C+ |
| Lakenheath | 4,567 | 4.7 | C+ | B | B | B− |
| Mundford | 1,563 | 4.7 | — | B− | A+ | B− |
| Feltwell | 2,919 | 5.1 | B− | C | A | C |
| Little Eriswell | 4,120 | 5.2 | A− | B | A+ | B+ |
| Thetford | 25,502 | 5.7 | C− | B | D | C− |
Weeting, Hockwold cum Wilton and Mundford have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Brandon has 3 state schools; places are handled by Suffolk council.
It has more crime per resident than most places its size: 74% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people report less. Police recorded 516 crimes inside Brandon’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 50% 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 £220,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £96,500, terraced houses £178,750, semi-detached houses £200,000 and detached houses £260,000.
Town in Suffolk, England
Brandon is a built-up area of 9,218 people, in the West Suffolk 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.