Fowey has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Its strongest subject is walkability (A+): 30% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is cost of living (D−): median sale £435,000, 9.5 years of area income; rent £1,000 a month.
Devon And Cornwall Police published 33 of the 36 months; rates are per year over the months published.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Fowey is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Fowey.
Who lives here
Fowey skews older, with 33% of residents 65 or over, more than Cornwall’s towns or England’s towns
That puts Fowey above both Cornwall’s towns (24%) and England’s towns (18%). Children are 12% of the town. Fowey has a median age of 55.
55median age
FoweyCornwallEngland
Ages · share of residents
33%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications13%
Apprenticeship6%
A levels or similar17%
Degree level37%
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
WomenEnglandMen
About 90 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
History
More buildings in Fowey are listed than in Cornwall’s towns or England’s towns: 508 per 10,000 residents
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
In the comparison, Fowey comes above both Cornwall’s towns (52) and England’s towns (39). Fowey’s listed buildings include Church of St Fimbarrus or St Nicholas, Grade I. Fowey has 103 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 2 Grade I, 5 Grade II*.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Safety
Fowey has more crime per resident than 58% of UK towns
Police recorded 102 crimes inside Fowey’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 11 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences were 63% of the crimes; the police category includes harassment and stalking, so it runs higher than U.S. “violent crime”.
27.5violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a yearC+Safety Grade
Compared with UK towns its sizeLess crime per resident than 23% of the 1,541 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people: more crime than most for its size. Context only, not part of the grade.
More crimeLess crime
Reports by type · Sep 2025 to Aug 2026
Violence & sexual64
Other theft14
Damage & arson9
Other crime6
Public order4
Burglary2
Shoplifting1
Drugs1
Anti-social11
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.
27.5
violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
9
burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
5
anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 (not graded)
data.police.uk street-level crime · points inside the ONS built-up-area boundary · OGL
Health
Fowey is 20.4 miles from the nearest A&E
One GP practice serves the town; 82% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. At the census, 20% of people here had a disability, below Cornwall’s towns (22%) but above England’s towns (17%). These answers aren’t adjusted for age, so young towns look healthier; the Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
Carlyon Bay, Pelynt and Penwithick have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Questions about Fowey
How many listed buildings are there in Fowey?
That is 20.9 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include Church of St Fimbarrus or St Nicholas. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
Are schools in Fowey good?
Fowey has 2 state schools; places are handled by Cornwall council.
Is Fowey expensive to live in?
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £435,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £276,000, terraced houses £360,000, semi-detached houses £262,000 and detached houses £540,000. Private rents in the Cornwall council area averaged £1,000 a month in August 2026.
About Fowey
Village in Cornwall, England
Fowey is a built-up area of 2,027 people, in the Cornwall 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
Population
2,027 (Census 2021)
Council
Cornwall
County
Cornwall
Region
South West
Area
0.4 sq mi (1 km²)
ONS code
E63006965
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.
