Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 5,919 in Suffolk, East of England.
Leiston grades C+ overall against UK towns: better than 41% of UK towns, and #27 of 34 in Suffolk. Its strongest subject is cost of living (A): median sale £222,500, 4.3 years of area income; rent £842 a month. Its weakest is schools (D−): primary results beat 4% of towns in England; secondary results beat 2% of towns in England.
The 3 things Leiston 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 Leiston is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 22 buildings inside Leiston’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade II*.
32% 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 Leiston.
Its two schools are below.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leiston Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 383 | C− |
| Alde Valley AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 645 | D |
For Leiston, that is below both Suffolk’s towns (27%) and England’s towns (34%). Over-65s are 25% of the population. The median resident of Leiston is 47.2 years old.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Leiston | Suffolk | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 10% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 22% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 25% | 23% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 23% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 8.3% | 6.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 21% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Suffolk and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Leiston sits above both Suffolk’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (18%) on this measure.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £350,000 | 47 |
| Semi-detached | £223,750 | 92 |
| Terraced | £195,000 | 65 |
| Flat or maisonette | £135,000 | 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 16% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
That puts Leiston below both Suffolk’s towns (£58K) and England’s towns (£55K). 16% 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
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Leiston has 22 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 0 Grade I, 2 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
On this, Leiston is above both Suffolk’s towns (18.9) and England’s towns (22). Police recorded 343 crimes inside Leiston’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 27 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences were 58% 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
In the comparison, Leiston comes above both Suffolk’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (17%). The nearest A&E to Leiston is Ipswich Hospital, 19 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 | Leiston | Suffolk | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 78% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.3% | 5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 22% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Leiston. Best known first.
Abbey or priory · English HeritageLeiston Abbey400 m outside town, to the northArt galleryArt galleryMuseum of Beyond2.6 km outside town, to the southeastMuseumMuseumSaxmundham Museum4.5 km outside town, to the westWater parkWater parkChapel Barn Lodges1.8 km outside town, to the southMuseumMuseumThorpeness & Aldringham Heritage Centre2.7 km outside town, to the southeastAttractionAttractionThorpeness Windmill2.2 km outside town, to the southeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
22 listed buildings in Leiston.
Church of St Margaret: Photo: Adrian Cable · CC BY-SA 2.0 · White Horse Hotel: Photo: Christopher Hilton · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Water Tower: Photo: Ashley Dace · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Leiston Hall: Photo: Simon Mortimer · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph
3 notable people were born in Leiston.
Robert Eagle: Skippo10, CC BY-SA 3.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leiston | 5,919 | — | C+ | A | C | C+ |
| Aldeburgh | 2,423 | 3.3 | — | C+ | A− | C+ |
| Saxmundham | 4,778 | 4 | C+ | B+ | C | C+ |
| Rendlesham | 3,185 | 8.6 | B+ | B+ | A− | B+ |
| Wickham Market | 2,231 | 9.7 | — | A− | B+ | A |
| Halesworth | 4,924 | 10 | B− | A− | B− | B− |
| Framlingham | 3,831 | 10 | A | B | A− | A |
| Reydon | 2,369 | 10 | — | B | A | B+ |
Aldeburgh, Wickham Market and Reydon have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Leiston has 2 state schools; places are handled by Suffolk council.
That is 1.5 times the typical UK town for its size.
At the 2021 Census, 10% of Leiston’s 5,919 residents were 15 to 24 and 25% were 65 or over, against 12% and 18% across England’s towns.
It has more crime per resident than most places its size: 70% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people report less. Burglary was rare, with 8 reports in the year.
Town in Suffolk, England
Leiston is a built-up area of 5,919 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.