Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
950 people call this village in Suffolk, East of England home.
Southwold is below the 1,000 residents fair grades need, but every figure on this page is real. It skews older: 49% of residents are 65 or over. Its listed buildings number 142, with 1 at Grade I. Homes change hands at a median £625,000.
The 3 things Southwold does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 142 buildings inside Southwold’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
38% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 1 old photo or postcard going back to 1920.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Southwold.
Degrees are held by 39% of adults. The 15-to-24 age group: 4.1%, below Suffolk’s towns (10%) and England’s towns (12%) alike. Residents of Southwold have a median age of 64.5.
53% women, 47% men
About 88 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.
| Southwold | Suffolk | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 8.9% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 4.1% | 10% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 14% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 24% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 49% | 23% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 18% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.6% | 6.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 14% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 39% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Suffolk and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
The town has one school, shown below. At the 2 primary schools within 3 km, 55% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). 60 pupils attend Southwold’s one primary school.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southwold Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 60 | D |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 32% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Southwold counts 3.4 jobs per working resident. The car took nearly two thirds of commuters, below both Suffolk’s towns (79%) and England’s towns (70%). Household income averages £51K a year before tax. Work in town: 21% of resident commuters.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Just over a fifth of households rent from a council or housing body. Private rents average £842 a month across the East Suffolk council area. Households that own their home make up 63%.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £685,000 | 21 |
| Semi-detached | £625,000 | 17 |
| Terraced | £662,500 | 36 |
| Flat or maisonette | £303,000 | 12 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Violence accounts for 27 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year. In the 12 months to August 2026, police logged 67 crimes and 9 reports of anti-social behaviour inside Southwold’s built-up area. There were 10.9 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), above both Suffolk’s towns (3.9) and England’s towns (7.8).
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
At the census, 6% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, higher than both Suffolk’s towns (5%) and England’s towns (5.2%). Asked at the census, nearly three quarters of residents of Southwold said they were in good or very good health. Seeing a GP means leaving Southwold: the nearest practice is 0.6 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Southwold | Suffolk | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 74% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6% | 5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 25% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Census health answers are raw, so younger towns score better on them; for the Health Grade we use age-adjusted figures like life expectancy and early deaths.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Homes from before 1919 make up 38% of the total, above both Suffolk’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (16%). Southwold’s listed buildings include the Church of St Edmund, Grade I. At the top of the list, 1 are Grade I and 4 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Southwold. Best known first.
MuseumSailors' Reading Roomin town
MuseumSouthwold Museumin town
PierSouthwold Pier100 m outside town, to the east
MuseumAlfred Cory Museum400 m outside town, to the southAttractionAttractionUnder The Pier Showin townAttractionAttractionSouthwold Railway Steamworks400 m outside town, to the westPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
7 notable people were born in Southwold.
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwold | 950 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Reydon | 2,369 | 0.8 | — | B | A | B+ |
| Kessingland | 4,242 | 6.4 | B | A | B | C+ |
| Halesworth | 4,924 | 7.3 | B− | A− | B− | B− |
| Worlingham | 3,618 | 8.9 | A | A− | A | B+ |
| Beccles | 9,807 | 9.5 | B | A | C | C |
| Leiston | 5,919 | 9.6 | C+ | A | C | C+ |
| Lowestoft | 71,308 | 9.9 | C+ | A | D | C− |
Reydon has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 61.3 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of St Edmund.
Village in Suffolk, England
Southwold is a built-up area of 950 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.