Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A village of 1,004 in Suffolk, East of England.
Laxfield has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Its strongest subject is safety (A+): 9.3 violent and sexual offences and 3 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026. Its weakest is jobs & income (C): mean household income £51,670; 2.3% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. The median home sold for £402,500 in the last three years, 6.9 times what households in the Mid Suffolk council area earn in a year.
The 3 things Laxfield 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 Laxfield is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists them inside Laxfield’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 Laxfield.
Burglary and damage came to 3 per 1,000 residents a year, below both Suffolk’s towns (6.8) and England’s towns (9.4). Police recorded 20 crimes inside Laxfield’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 2 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences were 50% of the crimes; the police category includes harassment and stalking.
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
All Saints Church of England Primary School, Laxfield’s results beat 79% of schools in England like it. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| All Saints Church of England Primary School, LaxfieldLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 97 | A− |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Laxfield sits above both Suffolk’s towns (88) and England’s towns (39) on this measure. Laxfield’s listed buildings include Church of All Saints', Grade I. Laxfield has 29 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 1 Grade I, 2 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
84% of Laxfield’s residents described their health as good or very good in 2021, against 81% across Suffolk’s towns. 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 | Laxfield | Suffolk | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 84% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.6% | 5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 17% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 30% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
That puts Laxfield below both Suffolk’s towns (44%) and England’s towns (45%). 12% 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
On this, Laxfield is below both Suffolk’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (21%). 69% of households own their home.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £445,000 | 48 |
| Semi-detached | £275,000 | 13 |
| Terraced | £230,000 | 9 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
In the comparison, Laxfield comes below both Suffolk’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (18%). Those 65 and older account for 28% of residents. Half the people of Laxfield are older than 52.3.
49% women, 51% men
About 105 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Laxfield | Suffolk | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 13% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 7.9% | 10% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 20% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 31% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 28% | 23% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 19% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.3% | 6.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 31% | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laxfield | 1,004 | — | — | B | A+ | A− |
| Stradbroke | 1,190 | 4 | — | A− | A+ | A− |
| Framlingham | 3,831 | 5.6 | A | B | A− | A |
| Halesworth | 4,924 | 6.6 | B− | A− | B− | B− |
| Harleston | 5,077 | 7.4 | B− | A− | B | B− |
| Saxmundham | 4,778 | 7.7 | C+ | B+ | C | C+ |
| Eye | 2,211 | 9.3 | — | A− | B | B |
| Debenham | 2,294 | 9.4 | — | A− | A | A |
Stradbroke, Eye and Debenham have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Primary results beat 94% of towns in England (Department for Education, Key Stage 2). One state school is inside the town; places are handled by Suffolk council.
That is 11.9 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of All Saints'.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £402,500, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: terraced houses £230,000, semi-detached houses £275,000 and detached houses £445,000.
Village in Suffolk, England
Laxfield is a built-up area of 1,004 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.