Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
21,537 people live in this large town in Suffolk, East of England.
Stowmarket’s overall B puts it #16 of 34 in Suffolk. That leaves it better than 63% of UK towns. Homes are affordable (A): the median home sold for £260,000, 4.5 years of area income. It also does well on walkability — 18% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. The drawback is schools: primary results beat nearly half of towns in England; secondary results beat 14% of towns in England. Crime is the sore point: police record 31.7 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, and 8.1 home and vehicle crimes. Against UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, it has more crime per resident than 39%. Its other grades sit near the middle: C+ for health, B for jobs & income and B− for hazard risk.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · commuting, Census 2021 · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · life expectancy and income, ONS · claimants, DWP · flood risk, Environment Agency.
The thing Stowmarket 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 Stowmarket is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 138 buildings inside Stowmarket’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
11% 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 1900.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Stowmarket.
67% of households own their home, about level with Suffolk’s towns (64%) and above England’s towns (61%). Private rents average £1,005 a month across the Mid Suffolk council area. The median sale, £260,000, comes from 1,134 standard sales inside Stowmarket’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £335,000 | 370 |
| Semi-detached | £260,000 | 335 |
| Terraced | £217,500 | 336 |
| Flat or maisonette | £136,500 | 93 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Attainment 8 at the 2 secondary schools within 3 km averages 41.4, and 33% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths. Trinity Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School’s results beat 85% of schools in England like it. Below are three of its 9 schools, each with why it was picked. Key Stage 2 results at the town’s 6 primary schools: just over three in five pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cedars Park Community Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 389 | B |
| Stowmarket High SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 901 | C |
| Trinity Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 177 | A |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 25% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
80% of commuters drove, about level with Suffolk’s towns (79%) and above England’s towns (70%). About 32% of its commuters stay in Stowmarket for work. Jobs per working resident: 0.7.
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.
Stowmarket’s listed buildings include the Church of St Peter and St Mary, Grade I. Homes from before 1919 make up just over a tenth of the total, below both Suffolk’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (16%). Grade II* covers 8 of them, Grade I 1.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Violence and sexual offences were 53% of the crimes. 1,345 crimes and 93 reports of anti-social behaviour: that is what police recorded inside Stowmarket’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026. There were 4.4 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), between 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 · The police category of violence and sexual offences includes harassment and stalking.
2 GP practices serve the town; 87% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. The nearest A&E to Stowmarket is Ipswich Hospital, 12.4 miles away. 83% of the town’s residents described their health as good or very good at the census, about level with England’s towns (82%) and above Suffolk’s towns (81%).
| Census 2021 | Stowmarket | Suffolk | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 83% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.1% | 5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 17% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Young towns look healthier on these answers, which aren’t adjusted for age; the Health Grade uses measures that are, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
Typical age in Stowmarket: 40.2, the median. People 65 and over make up nearly a fifth of the town. Children under 15 count for 18% of the people here.
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Stowmarket | Suffolk | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 10% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 28% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 19% | 23% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 18% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.1% | 6.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 20% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 26% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Suffolk and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
138 listed buildings in Stowmarket, 1 of them Grade I.
Church of St Peter and St Mary: Photo: Martinevans123 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Lynton House: Photo: Sumitsurai · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Stowmarket Railway Station: Photo: Geof Sheppard · CC BY-SA 4.0 · The Maltings: Photo: Sumit Surai · CC BY-SA 4.0
10 notable people were born in Stowmarket.
Henry Cubitt, 2nd Baron Ashcombe: William Llewellyn, Public domain · Gareth Snell: Chris McAndrew, CC BY 3.0 · John Charles Oakes Marriott: The Sun and the New York herald, Public domain · Spencer John Bent: Photographer not identified, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stowmarket | 21,537 | — | B | A | C+ | C+ |
| Stowupland | 2,019 | 1.2 | — | A | C+ | B+ |
| Haughley | 1,316 | 2.5 | — | A | C | B+ |
| Needham Market | 5,055 | 3.2 | A− | A | B | B− |
| Great Bricett | 1,518 | 4.6 | — | A | A+ | B |
| Elmswell | 4,446 | 4.9 | A− | A− | B | A− |
| Woolpit | 1,838 | 5.1 | — | B+ | C+ | B+ |
| Bacton and Cotton | 1,567 | 5.4 | — | A− | A | A− |
Stowupland, Haughley, Great Bricett, Woolpit and Bacton and Cotton have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 2.6 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of St Peter and St Mary.
GCSE results trail 86% of towns in England, and primary results trail 51% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Against all UK towns, most of them smaller, it grades C+.
Large town in Suffolk, England
Stowmarket is a built-up area of 21,537 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.