Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 5,055 in Suffolk, East of England.
Needham Market grades A− overall against UK towns: better than 83% of UK towns, and #6 of 34 in Suffolk. Its strongest subject is cost of living (A): median sale £260,000, 4.5 years of area income; rent £1,005 a month. Its weakest is hazard risk (D): 5.6% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea.
The 3 things Needham Market 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 Needham Market is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 102 buildings inside Needham Market’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
15% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Needham, Massachusetts, is named after Needham Market.
USUS editionNeedham, Massachusetts, settled in 1680, takes its name from this town.
Named after: each U.S. town’s Wikipedia article. Grades compare each town with towns in its own country, so they aren’t a head-to-head.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Needham Market.
Just over one in ten households live in social housing. 340 standard sales inside Needham Market’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put the median at £260,000. Private tenants account for 18% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £350,000 | 97 |
| Semi-detached | £255,000 | 117 |
| Terraced | £225,000 | 89 |
| Flat or maisonette | £140,000 | 37 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
64% of pupils at the 3 primary schools within 3 km met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bosmere Community Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 246 | C− |
The 15-to-24 age group makes up nearly one in ten residents. 28% of residents are 65 or over, above both Suffolk’s towns (23%) and England’s towns (18%). The middle age in Needham Market is 50. Degrees are held by 25% of adults.
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Needham Market | Suffolk | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 13% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.4% | 10% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 24% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 28% | 23% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 20% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.6% | 6.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 25% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Suffolk and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Needham Market counts 102 listed buildings on the national list (Historic England): 1 Grade I, 5 Grade II*. Its listed buildings include the Church of St John the Baptist, Grade I. Homes built before 1919 account for 15% of the housing.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 27% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
For every resident in work, Needham Market has 0.6 jobs. 86% of commuters drove, above Suffolk’s towns (79%) and England’s towns (70%) alike. Average household income comes to £59K a year before tax. Also worth knowing: about 9% of its commuters stay in Needham Market for work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The 12 months to August 2026 brought 255 recorded crimes inside Needham Market’s built-up area, and 35 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences made up 45% of the total. Property crime (burglary and damage) runs at 9.3 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 · The police category of violence and sexual offences includes harassment and stalking.
The nearest A&E to Needham Market is Ipswich Hospital, 9.2 miles away. At the census, 20% of people here had a disability, higher than both Suffolk’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (17%). One GP practice serves the town; 55% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Needham Market | Suffolk | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 79% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5% | 5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 20% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · These shares come straight from the census, without allowing for age, and young towns benefit; the Health Grade instead weighs age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
102 listed buildings in Needham Market, 1 of them Grade I.
The Bull Inn: Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Railway Station: Photo: Geof Sheppard · CC BY-SA 4.0 · The Almshouses: Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Old Town Hall: Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0
3 notable people were born in Needham Market.
June Brown: Joe Freeman, CC BY 2.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Needham Market | 5,055 | — | A− | A | B | B− |
| Stowmarket | 21,537 | 3.2 | B | A | C+ | C+ |
| Stowupland | 2,019 | 3.3 | — | A | C+ | B+ |
| Great Blakenham | 2,188 | 3.6 | — | A | B | B− |
| Great Bricett | 1,518 | 4.1 | — | A | A+ | B |
| Claydon | 3,140 | 4.2 | A− | A | A− | B− |
| Haughley | 1,316 | 5.6 | — | A | C | B+ |
| Elmsett | 1,001 | 5.7 | — | B− | A+ | A− |
Stowupland, Great Blakenham, Great Bricett, Haughley and Elmsett have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 8.3 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of St John the Baptist.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Town in Suffolk, England
Needham Market is a built-up area of 5,055 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.