North Kesteven is a local government district in Lincolnshire, England. The council is based in Sleaford. The district also contains the town of North Hykeham, which adjoins the neighbouring city of Lincoln, along with numerous villages and surrounding rural areas.

The neighbouring districts are Lincoln, West Lindsey, East Lindsey, Boston, South Holland, South Kesteven and Newark and Sherwood.

The district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. It covered the area of three former districts from the administrative county of Kesteven, which were all abolished at the same time:^[2]

• East Kesteven Rural District
• North Kesteven Rural District
• Sleaford Urban District

The new district was named North Kesteven referencing its position within Kesteven, one of the three historic parts of Lincolnshire.^[3]

North Kesteven District Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Lincolnshire County Council.^[4] The whole district is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.^[5]

North Kesteven borders West Lindsey (along the Foss Dyke and the River Witham) and the city of Lincoln to the north, East Lindsey to the north-east (along the River Witham), Boston (borough) to the east, South Holland to the south-east, South Kesteven to the south, and the county of Nottinghamshire to the west.

North Kesteven covers an area of 356 square miles (920 km²), of which 94% is classified as green space, which includes agricultural land and open space.^[15]

The district is characterised by small settlements and large areas of arable farmland. More than 80% of the population live in rural settlements or a market town.^[16] The two towns are Sleaford and North Hykeham, and the larger villages include Cranwell, Metheringham, Navenby, Ruskington and Waddington.

The district has two main RAF stations - RAF Cranwell (near Sleaford), and RAF Waddington (near Lincoln), both situated close to the A15, the main north–south road running through North Kesteven. The district is also home to RAF Digby, which lies between Sleaford and Metheringham. The former RAF Swinderby, which can be found adjacent to the A46 near the western edge of the district, closed in 1995.

The predominantly rural nature of the district has encouraged people to move to the area to take advantage of its quality of life, low crime rates, relatively low house prices, good-quality education and local heritage. This is reflected in research, which has shown 90% of residents are satisfied with their local area as a place to live and 82% of residents feel their area is a place where people from different backgrounds can get on well together.^[17]

North Kesteven is mostly rural in character but there are urban areas around the towns of North Hykeham and Sleaford. Sleaford forms an urban area with the nearby villages of Greylees, Holdingham, Leasingham and Quarrington, North Hykeham and Waddington form part of an urban area with the city of Lincoln.^[18] Within the district, 40% of the population live in the "Lincoln Fringe", the area immediately surrounding Lincoln City.^[19] 72 parishes serve the district communities, comprising 58 parish councils, two town councils and 12 parish meetings.

The population of the district was 107,766 at the 2011 census.^[20]

The district has comprehensive schools in North Hykeham, Branston and Welbourn. The area around Sleaford (including Ruskington) has selective schools. Other schools in the area include Kesteven and Sleaford High School and Branston Community College.

The district part funds The National Centre for Craft & Design, in the Hub building in Sleaford. Adjacent to it are annex buildings of Grantham College, funded by the East Midlands LSC.

The entire district is divided into civil parishes. The parish councils for Sleaford and North Hykeham take the style "town council". Some of the smaller parishes share grouped parish councils or have parish meetings instead of parish councils.^[21]