Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 4,242 in Suffolk, East of England.
Kessingland grades B overall against UK towns: better than 60% of UK towns, and #17 of 34 in Suffolk. Its strongest subject is cost of living (A): median sale £210,000, 4 years of area income; rent £842 a month. Its weakest is jobs & income (D): mean household income £44,345; 4.2% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits.
The 3 things Kessingland 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 Kessingland is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 6 buildings inside Kessingland’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
18% 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 Kessingland.
For Kessingland, that is above both Suffolk’s towns (23%) and England’s towns (18%). Children under 15 make up 12% of residents. The median resident of Kessingland is 55 years old.
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Kessingland | Suffolk | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 12% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 7.9% | 10% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 18% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 34% | 23% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 26% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 8.8% | 6.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 19% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Suffolk and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kessingland Church of England Primary AcademyLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 198 | B− |
Kessingland sits below both Suffolk’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (21%) on this measure. 71% of households own their home. Kessingland is the cheapest of the 35 towns in Suffolk: its median sale is £210,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £314,250 | 50 |
| Semi-detached | £215,500 | 60 |
| Terraced | £185,000 | 108 |
| Flat or maisonette | £100,000 | 5 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Kessingland has 6 listed buildings inside its built-up area on Historic England’s list: 1 Grade I, 0 Grade II*. 18% of its homes were built before 1919.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
That puts Kessingland below both Suffolk’s towns (81%) and England’s towns (82%). Kessingland’s share in bad or very bad health, 8.8%, is the highest of the 79 towns in Suffolk. 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 | Kessingland | Suffolk | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 72% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 8.8% | 5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 28% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
Police recorded 144 crimes inside Kessingland’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 14 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences were 56% of the crimes; the police category includes harassment and stalking, so it runs higher than U.S. “violent crime”.
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 Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 17% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
On this, Kessingland is below both Suffolk’s towns (44%) and England’s towns (45%). 14% 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 Kessingland. Best known first.
MuseumEast Anglia Transport Museum3.5 km outside town, to the northwestPierPierClaremont Pier4.7 km outside town, to the northZooZooOulton Broad Mini Zoo4.9 km outside town, to the northPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
6 listed buildings in Kessingland, 1 of them Grade I.
Kessingland War Memorial: Photo: Adrian S Pye · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Pond Farmhouse: Photo: Richard Law · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph · The Ark: Photo: Richard Law · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph · 59, High Street: Photo: Richard Law · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kessingland | 4,242 | — | B | A | B | C+ |
| Lowestoft | 71,308 | 3.5 | C+ | A | D | C− |
| Worlingham | 3,618 | 5.7 | A | A− | A | B+ |
| Reydon | 2,369 | 5.9 | — | B | A | B+ |
| Beccles | 9,807 | 6.6 | B | A | C | C |
| Corton | 1,134 | 6.8 | — | A | B+ | B− |
| Hopton on Sea | 2,575 | 8.3 | C− | D | C | C |
| Thurlton | 1,145 | 10 | — | A− | A− | B |
Reydon, Corton and Thurlton have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £210,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £100,000, terraced houses £185,000, semi-detached houses £215,500 and detached houses £314,250.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Town in Suffolk, England
Kessingland is a built-up area of 4,242 people, in the East 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.