Pick two of the 46 places we cover and the tool below lines them up on the figures most shortlists turn on: the median sale price, the district’s 2026-27 Band D council tax, the 2021 population, whether the town has its own railway station, and the road miles to Norwich and to the nearest Norfolk coast. The full list is also on the Norfolk map.
Prices are HM Land Registry medians for standard sales in the 12 months to June 2026, the same figures the town guides quote. Council tax is each district’s published Band D, which covers the county, police and district shares but not the parish or town council precept, so the bill in a parished town is higher; each town guide gives the exact figure. Populations come from the 2021 Census and use the parish or the built-up area, whichever the town guide uses. The station column says only whether there is a station in the town; journey times are in the guides.
The tool leaves out two things on purpose. It does not compare crime, because counts in small places swing from year to year; the safest places guide gives rates per 1,000 residents and explains the method. And it gives no overall score, because any score depends on how the figures are weighted.
The spread is wide. The lowest median is Great Yarmouth’s £140,000 and the highest is Burnham Market’s £715,000, a figure taken over three years because the village has few sales. Start with two towns you are already considering, then read the guide for each; both are linked from the result.
Each result links to the full guide for both towns, and to the head-to-head comparison where one exists. All the head-to-head comparisons are listed below the tool.
Choose two towns to see them side by side. What a table cannot show is in the town guides linked from each result.
Prices: HM Land Registry medians, 12 months to June 2026. Council tax: each district’s 2026-27 Band D. Population: 2021 Census. Checked 24 September 2026.
The head-to-head comparisons
Thirteen pairs of places have a full comparison page, covering prices, schools, transport and day-to-day services, and each ends with a verdict. The line after each link is that verdict in short.
- Norwich vs King’s Lynn: Norwich is the choice if your work, your children’s schooling or your health care depends on the city, or if you want to live without a car. King’s Lynn suits people who work in Cambridge, or in London near King’s Cross a few days a week, and want the most house for the money.
- North Norfolk coast vs Norwich suburbs: Buy in a suburb if someone has to be in the city every weekday; the coast suits people who are retired, work from home or go to Norwich two or three days a week, and Cromer and Sheringham are the places to start.
- Sprowston vs Thorpe St Andrew: Sprowston is for a newer house on the north side of the city with a frequent bus, and Thorpe St Andrew for the river, an older house or a quick trip to Norwich station.
- Costessey vs Hellesdon: Costessey suits families with children starting secondary school and anyone working at the hospital, the UEA or the Research Park, while Hellesdon suits buyers after a family semi with young children and a short bus ride into the centre.
- Wymondham vs Attleborough: Wymondham is worth its higher prices if you work in Norwich, have primary-age children or are aiming for Wymondham College, and Attleborough is the better buy for Cambridge commuters and first-time buyers.
- Attleborough vs Long Stratton: Attleborough is the choice if anyone will commute by train or your teenagers will want a sixth form in town; Long Stratton suits drivers with younger children and is hard going without a car.
- Diss vs Harleston: Diss wins for anyone who needs the train to London or Norwich more than once a week, and Harleston suits people who work from home or drive and want a detached house for less.
- Dereham vs Fakenham: Dereham is the better base for a daily drive to Norwich and gets you the most house for the money; Fakenham suits people who work locally or from home and want the north Norfolk coast close by.
- Holt vs Aylsham: Aylsham is the more practical town for anyone working in Norwich or using state schools, and Holt suits families paying for Gresham’s and retired or home-working buyers who will use the coast most weeks.
- Cromer vs Sheringham: Cromer is the better choice if you are retiring, on a tighter budget or going to Norwich often; Sheringham suits families whose children will stay at school to 18 and people moving for the theatre, the market and the leisure centre.
- Hunstanton vs Cromer: Buy in Cromer if your work, family or hospital appointments are in Norwich, and in Hunstanton if your life faces west towards King’s Lynn, Cambridge or London and you will keep a car.
- Brundall vs Wroxham: Brundall suits people who take the train to work in Norwich and want a riverside village for less, and Wroxham and Hoveton suit buyers who want a secondary school, a supermarket and a boat on the northern Broads and can pay for them.
- Norfolk vs Suffolk: South Suffolk is the better choice if you will commute to London more than once or twice a week, and Norfolk if you work in Norwich, work from home or go to London only occasionally.