Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 3,009 in Suffolk, East of England.
Thurston grades B+ overall against UK towns: better than 74% of UK towns, and #13 of 34 in Suffolk. Its strongest subject is health (A): life expectancy 81.3 for men, 86.4 for women. Its weakest is walkability (C−): 9% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. The median home sold for £345,000 in the last three years, 5.9 times what households in the Mid Suffolk council area earn in a year.
The 3 things Thurston 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 Thurston is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 13 buildings inside Thurston’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade II*.
5% 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 Thurston.
For Thurston, that is above both Suffolk’s towns (23%) and England’s towns (18%). Children are 15% of the town. The median resident of Thurston is 49.1 years old.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Thurston | Suffolk | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.4% | 10% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 20% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 27% | 23% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 15% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.5% | 6.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 19% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 33% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Suffolk and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thurston Community CollegeLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,512 | B− |
Thurston sits below both Suffolk’s towns (5%) and England’s towns (5.2%) on this measure. Thurston has no GP practice of its own; the nearest is 2.9 miles away. 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.
| Census 2021 | Thurston | Suffolk | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 85% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.6% | 5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 15% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 31% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
That puts Thurston below both Suffolk’s towns (44%) and England’s towns (45%). 89% of commuters drove to work at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
On this, Thurston is above both Suffolk’s towns (64%) and England’s towns (61%). 5% of households live in social housing.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £410,000 | 143 |
| Semi-detached | £275,372 | 72 |
| Terraced | £250,000 | 35 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
In the comparison, Thurston comes above both Suffolk’s towns (18.9) and England’s towns (22). Police recorded 223 crimes inside Thurston’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 20 reports of anti-social behaviour. Among the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Thurston has more crime per resident than 76% of them.
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 heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Thurston has 13 listed buildings inside its built-up area on Historic England’s list: 0 Grade I, 1 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
13 listed buildings in Thurston.
Church of St Peter: Photo: David from Colorado Springs, United States · CC BY 2.0 · Fox and Hounds Public House: Photo: John Goldsmith · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Thurston War Memorial: Photo: John Myers · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Stockhold Green Farmhouse: Photo: Sandy Gerrard · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thurston | 3,009 | — | B+ | B+ | C | A |
| Great Barton | 1,848 | 2 | — | D | A+ | A |
| Ixworth | 2,296 | 3.4 | — | C | B | A− |
| Woolpit | 1,838 | 4 | — | B+ | C+ | B+ |
| Bury St Edmunds | 41,279 | 4.1 | C+ | B− | C− | B− |
| Elmswell | 4,446 | 4.6 | A− | A− | B | A− |
| Stanton | 2,316 | 6 | — | B− | A | B |
| Walsham le Willows | 1,258 | 6.6 | — | A− | A | A |
Great Barton, Ixworth, Woolpit, Stanton and Walsham le Willows have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Police recorded 223 crimes inside Thurston’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 59% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
GCSE results beat 67% of towns in England, and primary results beat 68% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). One state school is inside the town; places are handled by Suffolk council.
Town in Suffolk, England
Thurston is a built-up area of 3,009 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.