Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 2,231 people, this village lies in Suffolk, East of England. Walking, cycling and public transport carry 16% of commuters.
Wickham Market’s strongest subject is health: life expectancy is 83.3 for men and 86.6 for women. Cost of living is a strength too — a typical home costs £286,000 and rent runs £842 a month. The local economy is weaker than most (C): the mean household earns £58,590 a year. Hazard risk is higher than most (C): 1.3% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. Elsewhere it is close to typical: B for schools and B for walkability.
Figures: life expectancy and income, ONS · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · claimants, DWP · flood risk, Environment Agency · commuting, Census 2021. Wickham Market has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
The 3 things Wickham 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 Wickham Market is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Wickham Market has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists them inside Wickham Market’s built-up area.
23% 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 Wickham Market.
Among adults, 30% have a degree. Children under 15 make up 14%, lower than both Suffolk’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (18%). Those aged 15 to 24 account for nearly one in ten residents. At 52, the median resident of Wickham Market sits in the middle of the age range.
53% women, 47% men
About 89 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.
| Wickham Market | Suffolk | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 14% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9% | 10% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 20% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 23% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 33% | 23% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 21% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.5% | 6.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 30% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Suffolk and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
At the 2 primary schools within 3 km, 64% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). The town has one school, shown below.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wickham Market Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 163 | B+ |
One GP practice serves the town; 91% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. Asked at the census, 77% of residents of Wickham Market said they were in good or very good health. Just over a fifth of residents have a disability, higher than both Suffolk’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (17%). Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 6.4% of the town.
| Census 2021 | Wickham Market | Suffolk | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 77% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.4% | 5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 21% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · 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.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Historic England’s list names 37 listed buildings in Wickham Market: 4 Grade II*. Conservation areas cover 23% of the town’s land, above Suffolk’s towns (6%) and England’s towns (7%) alike.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Nearly a quarter of households rent from a council or housing body. The median sale, £286,000, comes from 92 standard sales inside Wickham Market’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Owners make up 64% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £405,000 | 30 |
| Semi-detached | £278,500 | 32 |
| Terraced | £225,000 | 27 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Of all the crimes, 51% were violence and sexual offences. Police figures for Wickham Market’s built-up area: 73 crimes and 20 anti-social behaviour reports in the 12 months to August 2026. Violence came to 16.1 per 1,000 residents a year, lower than both Suffolk’s towns (19.2) and England’s towns (22).
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 Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 19% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Unemployment benefit claims came to 2.8% of 16 to 64s in 2026, above both Suffolk’s towns (2.2%) and England’s towns (2.3%). The car carried 83% of commuters at the census. Of the commuters living in Wickham Market, 11% work in the town itself. 19% of workers did their job mainly from home at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Wickham Market. Best known first.
Historic houseGlemham Hall4.7 km outside town, to the northeast
MuseumParham Airfield Museum4.6 km outside town, to the northeast
MuseumBentwaters Cold War Museum4.6 km outside town, to the southeast
Theme parkEaston Farm Park2.9 km outside town, to the northwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wickham Market | 2,231 | — | — | A− | B+ | A |
| Rendlesham | 3,185 | 2.8 | B+ | B+ | A− | B+ |
| Melton | 1,608 | 3.6 | — | B+ | B− | A |
| Framlingham | 3,831 | 4.7 | A | B | A− | A |
| Woodbridge | 10,146 | 4.7 | A− | B− | B | A− |
| Sutton Common | 1,262 | 5 | — | A | A+ | B+ |
| Grundisburgh | 1,424 | 5.7 | — | B− | A | A |
| Saxmundham | 4,778 | 6.7 | C+ | B+ | C | C+ |
Melton, Sutton Common and Grundisburgh have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 6.8 times the typical UK town for its size.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Village in Suffolk, England
Wickham Market is a built-up area of 2,231 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.