Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
In Suffolk, East of England, this town has 4,778 residents.
Easy on the wallet, harder on other counts. Saxmundham’s overall grade, C+, puts it better than 42% of UK towns. That places it #25 of 34 in Suffolk. Jobs and pay trail most towns: mean household income £49,383; 2.5% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Safety is weaker too — 35.1 violent or sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, plus 10.9 home and vehicle crimes. Set beside UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, its crime per resident is higher than in 77%. Its strongest subject is cost of living — the median home sold for £295,000, 5.7 years of area income. Its remaining grades are unremarkable: C+ for health, B for walkability and B− for hazard risk.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · income and life expectancy, ONS · claimants, DWP · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · commuting, Census 2021 · flood risk, Environment Agency.
The 3 things Saxmundham 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 Saxmundham is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 47 buildings inside Saxmundham’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade II*.
14% 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 Saxmundham.
Police recorded 245 crimes inside Saxmundham’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 33 reports of anti-social behaviour. Of all the crimes, 61% were violence and sexual offences. There were 8 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), about level with England’s towns (7.8) and above Suffolk’s towns (3.9).
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.
Nearly three in five pupils at the 3 primary schools within 3 km met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Its only school is listed below.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saxmundham Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 252 | C |
28% of adults hold a degree, about level with Suffolk’s towns (27%) and below England’s towns (34%). Saxmundham has a median age of 43.2 years. The 65-and-over age group makes up nearly a quarter of residents.
52% women, 48% men
About 91 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.
| Saxmundham | Suffolk | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 10% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 23% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 25% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 23% | 23% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 18% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.1% | 6.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 28% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Suffolk and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Private tenants account for 16% of households. Home ownership stands at nearly three in five households. The £295,000 median rests on 205 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £359,000 | 96 |
| Semi-detached | £235,000 | 42 |
| Terraced | £237,500 | 56 |
| Flat or maisonette | £130,000 | 11 |
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.
For its size, Saxmundham has 98 listed buildings per 10,000 residents, above both Suffolk’s towns (88) and England’s towns (39). Grade II* covers 2 of them. Homes built before 1919 account for 14% 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 24% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
About a fifth of its commuters stay in Saxmundham for work. 16% of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train at the census, below both Suffolk’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (27%). The car carried 81% of commuters at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The nearest A&E to Saxmundham is Ipswich Hospital, 16.5 miles away. One GP practice serves the town; 80% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 5.5% of the town.
| Census 2021 | Saxmundham | Suffolk | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 80% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.5% | 5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 21% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · The census answers take no account of age, so a young town looks healthier; the Health Grade relies on age-adjusted measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them.
47 listed buildings in Saxmundham.
The Beeches Including Stable Block: Photo: Michael Dibb · CC BY-SA 2.0 · White Hart Hotel: Photo: No Swan So Fine · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Church House: Photo: No Swan So Fine · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Fairfield Preparatory School: Photo: Michael Dibb · CC BY-SA 2.0
5 notable people were born in Saxmundham.
Henry Bright: Thomas Dewell Scott, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saxmundham | 4,778 | — | C+ | B+ | C | C+ |
| Leiston | 5,919 | 4 | C+ | A | C | C+ |
| Framlingham | 3,831 | 6 | A | B | A− | A |
| Aldeburgh | 2,423 | 6.2 | — | C+ | A− | C+ |
| Wickham Market | 2,231 | 6.7 | — | A− | B+ | A |
| Rendlesham | 3,185 | 6.8 | B+ | B+ | A− | B+ |
| Laxfield | 1,004 | 7.7 | — | B | A+ | A− |
| Halesworth | 4,924 | 8.7 | B− | A− | B− | B− |
Aldeburgh, Wickham Market and Laxfield have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 4 times the typical UK town for its size.
Burglary was rare, with 3 reports in the year.
Town in Suffolk, England
Saxmundham is a built-up area of 4,778 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.