Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A village of 2,146 in Suffolk, East of England.
Holbrook has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Its strongest subject is walkability (A+): 30% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is schools (D): primary results beat 16% of towns in England; secondary results beat 17% of towns in England. The median home sold for £366,100 in the last three years, 6.5 times what households in the Babergh council area earn in a year.
The 3 things Holbrook 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 Holbrook is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists them inside Holbrook’s built-up area.
24% 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 Holbrook.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 39% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
In the comparison, Holbrook comes below both Suffolk’s towns (44%) and England’s towns (45%). 39% 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
Its two schools are below.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Holbrook Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 182 | C |
| Holbrook AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 584 | C− |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
For Holbrook, that is above both Suffolk’s towns (88) and England’s towns (39). Holbrook has 66 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 0 Grade I, 4 Grade II*. Homes from before 1919 make up 24% of the total.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Holbrook sits below both Suffolk’s towns (6.8) and England’s towns (9.4) on this measure. Police recorded 49 crimes inside Holbrook’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 5 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violence comes to 14.9 per 1,000 residents a year.
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
Women here live to 86.2 on average and men to 83 (2019–23). At the census, 85% of people in Holbrook called their health good or very good, above both Suffolk’s towns (81%) and England’s towns (82%). The nearest A&E to Holbrook is Ipswich Hospital, 5.4 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Holbrook | Suffolk | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 85% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.7% | 5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 16% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
That puts Holbrook above both Suffolk’s towns (64%) and England’s towns (61%). 12% of households live in social housing.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £446,500 | 22 |
| Semi-detached | £324,000 | 16 |
| Terraced | £255,000 | 10 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
On this, Holbrook is above both Suffolk’s towns (10%) and England’s towns (12%). 20% of residents are children under 15. Holbrook has a median age of 41.6.
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Holbrook | Suffolk | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 20% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 16% | 10% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 18% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 24% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 22% | 23% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 14% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 4.5% | 6.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 39% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Suffolk and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Holbrook. Best known first.
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holbrook | 2,146 | — | — | B+ | A | A |
| Mistley | 1,827 | 4.1 | — | D− | C | B |
| Brantham | 2,081 | 4.2 | — | B+ | A− | A |
| Bradfield | 1,254 | 4.5 | — | D− | A+ | B |
| Manningtree | 1,676 | 4.8 | — | D− | C | B− |
| Shotley Gate | 1,418 | 4.9 | — | A− | A | A− |
| Capel St Mary | 2,992 | 4.9 | A | B+ | A | A+ |
| Ipswich | 151,566 | 5 | C | B | C− | C |
Mistley, Brantham, Bradfield, Manningtree and Shotley Gate have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 12.6 times the typical UK town for its size.
GCSE results trail 83% of towns in England, and primary results trail 84% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). Holbrook has 2 state schools; places are handled by Suffolk council.
Police recorded 49 crimes inside Holbrook’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 61% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £366,100, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: terraced houses £255,000, semi-detached houses £324,000 and detached houses £446,500.
Village in Suffolk, England
Holbrook is a built-up area of 2,146 people, in the Babergh 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.