Boston: local statistics
Boston is a district council area in the East Midlands, home to an estimated 72,092 people (mid-2025). This page brings together 10 official figures for the area, each with its period, publisher and the address it was read from. See also who has power over Boston, from the council up to the G20.
Key figures
What the figures show
Homes in Boston sold for an average of £177,438 in July 2026, down 0.3% on a year before. It ranks as the lowest in the East Midlands; the average for the East Midlands was £242,274. Since July 2016 prices have risen 27%; the July high in the series was £187,063 in 2023. The average price is 6.0 times the median annual pay of full-time employees who live in Boston. That ratio is the 28th highest ratio of all 35 council areas in the East Midlands.
The median full-time employee living in Boston was paid £609.40 a week before tax in April 2025, or £29,805 over a year. That is 15.5% below the figure for the East Midlands and the lowest in the East Midlands. Jobs based in Boston paid a median £656.20 a week, £46.80 more than the figure for people who live there. Ten years earlier, in 2015, it was £411.00: a change of +48% before inflation.
In August 2026, 1,975 people in Boston were on the claimant count, 4.7% of residents aged 16 to 64, compared with 3.5% in the East Midlands. A year earlier the rate was 4.2%. The five-year high was 5.7% (August 2021); the low was 4.1% (July 2025).
For 2026-27 the average Band D council tax bill in Boston is £2,308.73, up £72.11 on 2025-26. That makes it the 31st highest of 35 in the East Midlands. Ten years earlier, in 2016-17, it was £1,529.03.
In March 2026, 2,850 VAT or PAYE-registered businesses were based in Boston, 6% more than in 2016. That is 40 for every 1,000 residents, the 24th highest of 35 in the East Midlands.
Police recorded 6,284 crimes in Boston in the year to March 2026, 87.2 for every 1,000 residents, 7th of 32 in the East Midlands, counting from the highest rate. A year earlier it was 85.7. Across the 11 years shown it ranged from 58.2 to 87.2 per 1,000. Fraud is not included.
In 2022 to 2024, women in Boston had a life expectancy at birth of 81.9 years; for men it was 76.7 (England: 83.3 and 79.5). For women that is 0.8 years less than in 2012 to 2014; for men, 1.8 less. It is 26th of 35 in the East Midlands, counting from the highest for women.
72,092 people lived in Boston in mid-2025, according to the ONS, down 0.3% on a year earlier. That is 4,506 more people than in mid-2015, a rise of 6.7%; the East Midlands grew by 8.6% over the same years. That is the 23rd fastest growth of all 35 council areas in the East Midlands. The series peaked at 72,428 in mid-2023.
An estimated 73.7% of people aged 16 to 64 living in Boston were in work in April 2025 to March 2026, according to the ONS Annual Population Survey (give or take 12.2 points), against 75.4% across the East Midlands. Over the 11 years shown it ranged from 66.2% to 81.7%.
History
Population (mid-year)
| 2015 | 67,586 |
| 2016 | 68,589 |
| 2017 | 69,673 |
| 2018 | 70,132 |
| 2019 | 70,226 |
| 2020 | 70,181 |
| 2021 | 70,815 |
| 2022 | 71,618 |
| 2023 | 72,428 |
| 2024 | 72,288 |
| 2025 | 72,092 |
Average house price (same month each year)
| July 2016 | £139,742 |
| July 2017 | £145,506 |
| July 2018 | £148,019 |
| July 2019 | £158,114 |
| July 2020 | £156,505 |
| July 2021 | £161,150 |
| July 2022 | £182,809 |
| July 2023 | £187,063 |
| July 2024 | £185,381 |
| July 2025 | £177,911 |
| July 2026 | £177,438 |
Median weekly pay, residents
| 2015 | £411.00 a week |
| 2016 | £411.20 a week |
| 2017 | £410.20 a week |
| 2018 | £421.50 a week |
| 2019 | £452.50 a week |
| 2020 | £438.50 a week |
| 2021 | £495.70 a week |
| 2022 | £559.80 a week |
| 2023 | £586.30 a week |
| 2024 | £573.50 a week |
| 2025 | £609.40 a week |
Average Band D council tax
| 2016-17 | £1,529.03 |
| 2017-18 | £1,610.23 |
| 2018-19 | £1,690.88 |
| 2019-20 | £1,779.55 |
| 2020-21 | £1,842 |
| 2021-22 | £1,888.73 |
| 2022-23 | £1,973.29 |
| 2023-24 | £2,067.74 |
| 2024-25 | £2,165.35 |
| 2025-26 | £2,236.62 |
| 2026-27 | £2,308.73 |
Recorded crimes per 1,000 residents
| 2015/16 | 66.4 per 1,000 |
| 2016/17 | 58.2 per 1,000 |
| 2017/18 | 64.0 per 1,000 |
| 2018/19 | 84.4 per 1,000 |
| 2019/20 | 86.4 per 1,000 |
| 2020/21 | 73.4 per 1,000 |
| 2021/22 | 80.9 per 1,000 |
| 2022/23 | 82.6 per 1,000 |
| 2023/24 | 80.9 per 1,000 |
| 2024/25 | 85.7 per 1,000 |
| 2025/26 | 87.2 per 1,000 |
Employment rate
| 2015/16 | 66.2% |
| 2016/17 | 74.3% |
| 2017/18 | 80.8% |
| 2018/19 | 78.2% |
| 2019/20 | 81.7% |
| 2020/21 | 73.3% |
| 2021/22 | 70.2% |
| 2022/23 | 74.3% |
| 2023/24 | 77.7% |
| 2024/25 | 68.8% |
| 2025/26 | 73.7% |
Life expectancy, women
| 2012 to 2014 | 82.7 years |
| 2013 to 2015 | 82.6 years |
| 2014 to 2016 | 82.5 years |
| 2015 to 2017 | 82.0 years |
| 2016 to 2018 | 82.0 years |
| 2017 to 2019 | 82.2 years |
| 2018 to 2020 | 82.3 years |
| 2019 to 2021 | 82.0 years |
| 2020 to 2022 | 81.3 years |
| 2021 to 2023 | 81.8 years |
| 2022 to 2024 | 81.9 years |
Registered businesses
| 2016 | 2,700 |
| 2017 | 2,715 |
| 2018 | 2,645 |
| 2019 | 2,720 |
| 2020 | 2,735 |
| 2021 | 2,760 |
| 2022 | 2,820 |
| 2023 | 2,860 |
| 2024 | 2,805 |
| 2025 | 2,795 |
| 2026 | 2,850 |
Questions about Boston
What is the average house price in Boston?
HM Land Registry's figure for July 2026 is £177,438.
What is the average salary in Boston?
Median pay for full-time employees living in Boston was £609.40 a week in April 2025 (£29,805 a year), from the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.
How many people claim unemployment-related benefits in Boston?
1,975 in August 2026 (4.7% of residents aged 16 to 64), on the ONS claimant count, which is not the unemployment rate.
How much is Band D council tax in Boston?
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government gives an average Band D bill of £2,308.73 for 2026-27.
What is the crime rate in Boston?
87.2 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents in the year to March 2026, excluding fraud (Home Office).
What is life expectancy in Boston?
For 2022 to 2024 the ONS gives 76.7 years for men and 81.9 for women.
What is the population of Boston?
72,092 in mid-2025, the latest ONS mid-year estimate.
Who has power over Boston
Every body that makes decisions for Boston, from the street up to the G20. Each one links to its page on the official record. How the ten levels work.
Level 1: Neighbourhood and community power
Residents' and tenants' groups, neighbourhood forums and local policing panels.
Level 2: Parish, town and community councils
Parish, town and community councils, where the area has them, sit below the council.
Level 3: Local councils
- Boston council spending, reserves, debt and council tax
- Boston in official figures this page
Level 4: County councils, combined authorities and metro mayors
- Lincolnshire County Council county council
- Greater Lincolnshire Combined Authority combined authority
- Lincolnshire Police police force
- NHS Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board NHS
- United Lincolnshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust NHS
- East Midlands in official figures
Level 5: Devolved and state governments
England has no devolved parliament of its own: its laws are made by the UK Parliament.
Level 6: National government
- Boston and Skegness: Richard Tice (Reform UK) MP
- All 650 MPs votes, interests and costs
- UK government and Parliament official figures and sources
Level 7: Regional blocs and supranational bodies
- Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights (CoE / ECtHR) The UK Government says the United Kingdom was one of the Council of Europe's founding members.
Level 8: The UN and global treaty bodies
- United Nations (General Assembly and Security Council) The UN lists the United Kingdom as a member admitted on 24 October 1945.
- United Nations Security Council (UNSC) The UK is one of the five permanent members of the Security Council and holds the veto, according to the UN.
- NATO NATO lists the United Kingdom among its 12 founding members, which signed the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington, D.C.
- World Health Organization (WHO) WHO's list of member states includes the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
- World Trade Organization (WTO) The WTO says the United Kingdom has been a WTO member since 1 January 1995 and a member of GATT since 1 January 1948.
- Commonwealth of Nations The UK is one of the 56 members, one of three European members with Cyprus and Malta, and the Commonwealth Secretariat is headquartered at Marlborough House in London.
Level 9: The IMF, World Bank and global finance
- International Monetary Fund (IMF) The UK has been a member since 27 December 1945 and has a quota of SDR 20,155.1 million (IMF country page for the United Kingdom).
- World Bank Group (WBG) The UK holds 3.75% of voting power in the IBRD (data as of 30 June 2026) and 6.92% in IDA (as of 30 June 2026), according to the World Bank's voting tables.
Level 10: G7, G20, Davos and global forums
Sources
Each value above links to the official file or query it was read from, on 14 October 2026. What each figure measures.
- Recorded crime: Years before April 2020 come from the earlier Home Office table.
More on this area and these figures
- Council money: spending, reserves and debt
- Figures for the whole region: the East Midlands
- UK figures: UK average house price · UK average weekly earnings growth · UK unemployment rate
- Other council areas in the East Midlands: Bolsover · Derbyshire Dales · High Peak · Melton · Oadby and Wigston · West Lindsey
Related questions
- What is the average house price in my area?
- What is the average salary in my area?
- What is the unemployment rate in my area?
- How much has council tax gone up this year?
- How do I check my council tax band?
Figures checked 14 October 2026. Link moved or figure out of date? Tell us.