Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 9,040 in Cornwall, South West.
Hayle grades D− overall against UK towns: behind almost every UK town, and #33 of 35 in Cornwall. Its strongest subject is walkability (A−): 21% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is cost of living (D−): median sale £285,000, 6.2 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.
The 3 things Hayle 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 Hayle is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 101 buildings inside Hayle’s built-up area, 9 of them Grade II*, and 6 scheduled monuments.
23% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 2 old photos and postcards going back to 1920.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Hayle.
That puts Hayle below both Cornwall’s towns (20%) and England’s towns (21%).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £379,750 | 107 |
| Semi-detached | £285,000 | 79 |
| Terraced | £250,000 | 124 |
| Flat or maisonette | £151,500 | 38 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Penpol SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 429 | C |
| Hayle AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 623 | C |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
On this, Hayle is above both Cornwall’s towns (0%) and England’s towns (7%). Hayle has 112 listed buildings for every 10,000 residents. Hayle has 101 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 0 Grade I, 9 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
In the comparison, Hayle comes above both Cornwall’s towns (7.6) and England’s towns (9.4). Violent crime runs at 36.7 per 1,000 residents a year. Police recorded 730 crimes inside Hayle’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 68 reports of anti-social behaviour.
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
For Hayle, that is below both Cornwall’s towns (30%) and England’s towns (34%). People 65 and over make up 24% of the town. Hayle has a median age of 45.7.
52% women, 48% men
About 91 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.
| Hayle | Cornwall | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.9% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 23% | 22% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 24% | 24% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 18% | 17% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.2% | 6.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 26% | 30% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Cornwall and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 17% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Hayle sits above both Cornwall’s towns (3%) and England’s towns (2.3%) on this measure. The average household earns £43K a year before tax.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
79% of Hayle’s residents described their health as good or very good in 2021, against 79% across Cornwall’s towns. 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.
| Census 2021 | Hayle | Cornwall | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 79% | 79% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.8% | 6.4% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 22% | 22% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Hayle. Best known first.
ZooParadise Parkin town
Art galleryTate St Ives5 km outside town, to the northwest · 214K visitors a year (2009)
MuseumBarbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden4.8 km outside town, to the northwest
Fort · National TrustTrencrom Hill3.5 km outside town, to the west
MuseumSt Hilary Church, Cornwall4.9 km outside town, to the south
MuseumSt Ives Museum4.7 km outside town, to the northwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
101 listed buildings in Hayle.
Church of St Elwyn: Photo: Tony Atkin · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The White Hart Hotel: Photo: Tony Atkin · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Former Offices and Remains of Foundry of Harvey and Company: Photo: Richard Law · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Cross at Approximately 4 Metres South West of Tower: Photo: Jowaninpensans · CC BY-SA 4.0
8 notable people were born in Hayle.
Rick Rescorla: US Army, Public domain · Elizabeth Carne: Melissa Hardie, Public domain · Kitty Jenner: unknown 1930 Arthurian Society in Truro, Public domain · Francis Cargeeg: The Countryman, CC BY-SA 3.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hayle | 9,040 | — | D− | D− | C− | C |
| St Erth | 1,128 | 1.8 | — | D− | C | C+ |
| Connor Downs | 1,482 | 2.1 | — | D− | C | C |
| Reawla | 1,117 | 2.5 | — | D | B+ | C |
| Carbis Bay | 3,967 | 2.6 | C+ | D− | A− | B |
| St Ives | 5,413 | 3.7 | D− | D− | D | C |
| Crowlas | 1,054 | 4.2 | — | D | A− | B− |
| Goldsithney | 1,346 | 4.5 | — | D− | B+ | C+ |
St Erth, Connor Downs, Reawla, Crowlas and Goldsithney have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 4.6 times the typical UK town for its size. It also has 6 scheduled monuments.
Band D council tax in Hayle is £2,724 for 2026–27, more than in 97% of UK towns (council, county, police and fire, plus the parish or town council). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
GCSE results trail 79% of towns in England, and primary results trail 82% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). Hayle has 3 state schools; places are handled by Cornwall council.
Town in Cornwall, England
Hayle is a built-up area of 9,040 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
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.