Lowestoft grades C+ overall against UK towns: better than 39% of UK towns, and #28 of 34 in Suffolk. Its strongest subject is cost of living (A): median sale £220,000, 4.2 years of area income; rent £842 a month. Its weakest is jobs & income (D): mean household income £44,609; 4.5% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Lowestoft is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Lowestoft.
Who lives here
Degrees are less common in Lowestoft than in Suffolk’s towns or across England’s towns: 20% of adults
On this, Lowestoft is below both Suffolk’s towns (27%) and England’s towns (34%). Those 65 and older account for 25% of residents. The median resident of Lowestoft is 46 years old.
46median age
LowestoftSuffolkEngland
Ages · share of residents
25%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications23%
Apprenticeship8%
A levels or similar18%
Degree level20%
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
WomenEnglandMen
About 94 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.
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Safety
Lowestoft records more burglary and damage per resident than Suffolk’s towns or England’s towns, at 17 per 1,000 a year
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
In the comparison, Lowestoft comes above both Suffolk’s towns (6.7) and England’s towns (9.4). Violence comes to 40.6 per 1,000 residents a year. Police recorded 5,825 crimes inside Lowestoft’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 784 reports of anti-social behaviour.
40.6violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a yearDSafety Grade
Compared with UK towns its sizeLess crime per resident than 57% of the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more: about the middle for its size. Context only, not part of the grade.
More crimeLess crime
Reports by type · Sep 2025 to Aug 2026
Violence & sexual2,753
Damage & arson761
Shoplifting515
Public order354
Other theft348
Vehicle crime318
Burglary217
Other crime154
Anti-social784
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.
40.6
violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
17
burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
10.2
anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 (not graded)
data.police.uk street-level crime · points inside the ONS built-up-area boundary · OGL
Health
More people in Lowestoft live with a disability than in Suffolk’s towns or across England’s towns: 23%
For Lowestoft, that is above both Suffolk’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (17%). Women here live to 81.2 on average and men to 77.7 (2019–23). 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.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
History
Old homes shape Lowestoft: 26% were built before 1919, more than in Suffolk’s towns or England’s towns
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
That puts Lowestoft above both Suffolk’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (16%). Lowestoft’s listed buildings include Church of St Margaret, Grade I. Lowestoft has 119 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 2 Grade I, 7 Grade II*.
Benjamin Britten: Szalay Zoltán, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Thomas Nashe: Richard Lichfield, Public domain · Frederick Denison Maurice: Acabashi, CC BY 3.0 · Dennis Robertson: Unknown photographer, Public domain · Richard Money: Jonesy702, CC BY-SA 4.0 · George Davison: http://www.terrynorm.ic24.net/george%20davison.htm, Public domain
Corton has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Questions about Lowestoft
How many listed buildings are there in Lowestoft?
Its Grade I buildings include Church of St Margaret.
Is Lowestoft safe?
About the middle for its size: 43% of the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more report less crime per resident. Against all UK towns, most of them far smaller, it grades D. Police recorded 5,825 crimes inside Lowestoft’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 47% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
Does Lowestoft flood?
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
About Lowestoft
Large town in Suffolk, England
Lowestoft is a built-up area of 71,308 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
Population
71,308 (Census 2021)
Council
East Suffolk
County
Suffolk
Region
East of England
Area
8.3 sq mi (21.4 km²)
ONS code
E63002827
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.
