County ranking
Best places to live in Lincolnshire
30 towns ranked by overall liveability score, from official UK data.
This ranking covers the 52 Lincolnshire towns above 3,000 people that we can score in at least 8 of 9 categories, with the best 30 listed. The top two are all but level: Scunthorpe on 64/100, Bourne on 63. Across all 52 qualifying towns the county median is 49.5/100, 4.5 points below the 54/100 median for UK towns of this size.
On price, Grimsby is the top five's cheapest at a median of £137,000. Bourne, also in the top five, runs to £245,500. Bourne's second place leans heavily on one category: lifestyle, at 94/100 against a national town median of 21/100, far further ahead of the norm than its healthcare, the next strongest. Across the 30 towns listed, scores run from 64 down to 49, a 15-point spread. Category-by-category detail is on the pages for Scunthorpe, Bourne and North Hykeham.
| # | Town | Score | Strongest categories | Population | Median price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scunthorpe | 64 | Lifestyle 94 Transport 76 | 76,627 | £150,000 |
| 2 | Bourne | 63 | Lifestyle 94 Healthcare 50 | 12,981 | £245,500 |
| 3 | North Hykeham | 62 | Transport 65 Broadband 98 | 16,316 | £230,000 |
| 4 | Bracebridge Heath | 60 | Healthcare 51 Transport 52 | 5,719 | £230,000 |
| 5 | Grimsby | 60 | Healthcare 81 Transport 75 | 79,927 | £137,000 |
| 6 | Cleethorpes | 59 | Healthcare 75 Transport 73 | 29,486 | £155,000 |
| 7 | Lincoln | 58 | Healthcare 70 Transport 73 | 94,451 | £190,000 |
| 8 | Grantham | 57 | Healthcare 64 Transport 64 | 41,571 | £201,000 |
| 9 | Market Deeping | 57 | Transport 46 Broadband 84 | 6,645 | £304,000 |
| 10 | Washingborough and Heighington | 55 | Transport 51 Healthcare 36 | 6,088 | £250,000 |
| 11 | Barton-upon-Humber | 54 | Healthcare 54 Broadband 89 | 11,505 | £203,250 |
| 12 | Stamford | 54 | Lifestyle 56 Transport 54 | 20,763 | £310,000 |
| 13 | Boston | 53 | Healthcare 62 Lifestyle 61 | 35,490 | £186,250 |
| 14 | Cherry Willingham | 53 | Broadband 91 Transport 42 | 3,626 | £242,500 |
| 15 | Nettleham | 53 | Broadband 94 Transport 44 | 3,369 | £371,500 |
| 16 | Skellingthorpe | 53 | Transport 43 Schools 42 | 3,529 | £260,000 |
| 17 | Deeping St James | 52 | Transport 44 Schools 43 | 7,248 | £266,650 |
| 18 | Heckington | 51 | Broadband 99 Bills 59 | 3,265 | £242,500 |
| 19 | Louth | 51 | Healthcare 57 Lifestyle 57 | 17,655 | £218,000 |
| 20 | Ruskington | 51 | Broadband 99 Healthcare 32 | 5,112 | £240,000 |
| 21 | Spalding | 51 | Transport 61 Lifestyle 59 | 24,406 | £198,250 |
| 22 | Winterton | 51 | Broadband 99 Schools 47 | 4,584 | £168,750 |
| 23 | Brigg | 50 | Healthcare 60 Broadband 96 | 5,445 | £189,000 |
| 24 | Holton le Clay | 50 | Schools 42 Transport 38 | 3,828 | £220,000 |
| 25 | Humberston and New Waltham | 50 | Transport 54 Schools 47 | 9,199 | £230,000 |
| 26 | Metheringham | 50 | Broadband 97 Bills 57 | 3,282 | £242,500 |
| 27 | Branston | 49 | Broadband 77 Healthcare 30 | 3,926 | £265,000 |
| 28 | Epworth | 49 | Broadband 92 Bills 58 | 3,683 | £271,000 |
| 29 | Horncastle | 49 | Lifestyle 51 Broadband 89 | 7,262 | £195,000 |
| 30 | Woodhall Spa | 49 | Healthcare 34 Bills 61 | 4,093 | £325,000 |
Ranked on the default weighting, out of 100. Strongest categories are the two furthest above the national median for that category, not simply the two highest numbers. Almost every town scores well on safety, so raw highs would say little.
Find your own best place in Lincolnshire
The ranking above uses one weighting. Change any control below to re-rank all 52 qualifying towns around what you actually care about — who's moving, a minimum on one category, a price ceiling for the type of home you'd buy.
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How this ranking was built
Every settlement in Lincolnshire was scored across 9 categories (safety, schools, healthcare, transport, environment, broadband, lifestyle, economic health and bills) from official sources including Police UK, Ofsted, the CQC, Ofcom, the Environment Agency and MHCLG. Two filters then decide who appears here:
- Population above 3,000. Without a floor the list fills with hamlets of a few dozen people. Lincolnshire has 52 towns above it.
- Real data in at least 8 of 9 categories. Places we can only partly measure are excluded rather than ranked on guesswork.
Counties are ceremonial, and a town belongs to the county its postcodes physically sit in, so border towns land where residents would expect them to.
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