Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
This village in Cambridgeshire, East of England has a population of 1,827.
People here tend to be in good health (A+): life expectancy is 84.1 for men and 86.8 for women. At a median £522,500, a home costs 7.2 times the yearly income of households in the South Cambridgeshire council area. Its weakest subject is schools: primary results beat 38% of towns in England. Natural hazards are less of a worry than in most UK towns (A).
Figures: life expectancy and incomes, ONS · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · flood risk, Environment Agency. Harston has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
The 3 things Harston 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 Harston is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Harston has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists them inside Harston’s built-up area.
17% 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 Harston.
Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 3% of the town. One GP practice serves the town; nine in ten patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. 85% of people in Harston rate their own health good or very good. At the census, 15% of people here had a disability, below both Cambridgeshire’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (17%).
| Census 2021 | Harston | Cambridgeshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 85% | 84% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3% | 4.4% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 15% | 16% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · The census answers take no account of age, so a young town looks healthier; the Health Grade relies on age-adjusted measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them.
The one school in town appears below. At the 7 primary schools within 3 km, nearly three in five pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Its one primary school teaches 117 pupils.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harston and Newton Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 117 | B+ |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 48% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
48% of workers worked mainly from home, higher than both Cambridgeshire’s towns (34%) and England’s towns (31%). Average household income comes to £89K a year before tax. Also worth knowing: of the commuters living in Harston, 6% work in the town itself. The 2026 claimant rate among 16 to 64s was 1.3%.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Violence and sexual offences accounted for 53% of recorded crime. Per 1,000 residents, 16.4 violent crimes are recorded each year. Harston logged 49 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 10 complaints of anti-social conduct.
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 heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Homes from before 1919 make up 17% of the total, above Cambridgeshire’s towns (12%) and England’s towns (16%) alike. Grade II* covers 3 of them. Listed buildings per head: 82 for every 10,000 residents of Harston.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Those aged 15 to 24 account for nearly one in ten residents. Just over a fifth of residents are 65 or over, above Cambridgeshire’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. Harston has a median age of 47 years.
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Harston | Cambridgeshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.2% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 20% | 28% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 31% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 22% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 12% | 17% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 4.5% | 5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 13% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 54% | 37% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Cambridgeshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Private renters make up just over one in ten households, below both Cambridgeshire’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (21%). The social rented sector houses 13% of households. 48 standard sales inside Harston’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put the median at £522,500.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £670,000 | 25 |
| Semi-detached | £441,000 | 18 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harston | 1,827 | — | — | B− | B | A+ |
| Hauxton | 1,322 | 0.9 | — | B− | A | A+ |
| Haslingfield | 1,535 | 1.5 | — | B− | A | A+ |
| Foxton | 1,275 | 2.1 | — | C+ | B− | A+ |
| Barrington | 1,184 | 2.2 | — | C+ | B | A |
| Great Shelford and Stapleford | 6,159 | 2.4 | A+ | C+ | A | A+ |
| Whittlesford | 1,608 | 3.3 | — | B− | B+ | A+ |
| Fowlmere | 1,295 | 3.5 | — | B− | B+ | A |
Hauxton, Haslingfield, Foxton, Barrington, Whittlesford and Fowlmere have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 3.4 times the typical UK town for its size.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £522,500, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: semi-detached houses £441,000 and detached houses £670,000. Household incomes are higher than in almost all of UK towns, so cost of living still grades B−.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Village in Cambridgeshire, England
Harston is a built-up area of 1,827 people, in the South Cambridgeshire 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.