Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A village of 2,294 in Suffolk, East of England.
Debenham has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Its strongest subject is health (A): life expectancy 82.8 for men, 87.5 for women. Its weakest is hazard risk (D): 6.3% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. The median home sold for £341,000 in the last three years, 5.8 times what households in the Mid Suffolk council area earn in a year.
The 3 things Debenham 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 Debenham is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists them inside Debenham’s built-up area.
27% 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 Debenham.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
In the comparison, Debenham comes above both Suffolk’s towns (88) and England’s towns (39). Debenham’s listed buildings include Church of St Mary, Grade I. Debenham has 79 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 1 Grade I, 6 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Its two schools are below.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sir Robert Hitcham Church of England Voluntary Aided SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 169 | C |
| Debenham High SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 714 | A− |
Women here live to 87.5 on average and men to 82.8 (2019–23). The nearest A&E to Debenham is Ipswich Hospital, 11.6 miles away. 4.3% of residents described their health as bad or very bad, below both Suffolk’s towns (5%) and England’s towns (5.2%).
| Census 2021 | Debenham | Suffolk | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 83% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.3% | 5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 17% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
Burglary and damage came to 3.5 per 1,000 residents a year, below both Suffolk’s towns (6.8) and England’s towns (9.4). Violent crime runs at 13.4 per 1,000 residents a year. Police recorded 58 crimes inside Debenham’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 8 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
For Debenham, that is above both Suffolk’s towns (64%) and England’s towns (61%). Private renters make up 14% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £461,250 | 60 |
| Semi-detached | £290,000 | 28 |
| Terraced | £245,000 | 23 |
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 32% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Debenham sits below both Suffolk’s towns (44%) and England’s towns (45%) on this measure. 13% 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
That puts Debenham above both Suffolk’s towns (23%) and England’s towns (18%). Under-15s account for 16% of the population. The median resident of Debenham is 49.7 years old.
52% women, 48% men
About 92 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.
| Debenham | Suffolk | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 10% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 17% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 29% | 23% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 16% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.1% | 6.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 35% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Suffolk and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Debenham | 2,294 | — | — | A− | A | A |
| Mendlesham | 1,018 | 4.4 | — | A | A | B+ |
| Stowupland | 2,019 | 6.9 | — | A | C+ | B+ |
| Framlingham | 3,831 | 7 | A | B | A− | A |
| Eye | 2,211 | 7 | — | A− | B | B |
| Needham Market | 5,055 | 7.2 | A− | A | B | B− |
| Bacton and Cotton | 1,567 | 7.4 | — | A− | A | A− |
| Stradbroke | 1,190 | 7.6 | — | A− | A+ | A− |
Mendlesham, Stowupland, Eye, Bacton and Cotton and Stradbroke have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 14.1 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of St Mary.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Police recorded 58 crimes inside Debenham’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 53% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
Village in Suffolk, England
Debenham is a built-up area of 2,294 people, in the Mid 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.