Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The town has 3,881 residents and lies in East Sussex, South East.
Strong in places, weak in others. Its lowest grade is for schools: primary results beat 6% of towns in England. At a median £480,000, a home costs 8.2 times the yearly income of households in the Wealden council area. Residents are healthier than most: life expectancy is 83.8 for men and 86.9 for women. All told, that adds up to a C+ overall and a rank of #11 of 26 in East Sussex. That leaves it better than two fifths of UK towns. The rest of its grades are middling: B− for safety and B for jobs & income.
Figures: life expectancy and incomes, ONS · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · claimants, DWP.
The 3 things Forest Row 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 Forest Row is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 28 buildings inside Forest Row’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade II*.
27% 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 Forest Row.
3.6% of residents described their health as bad or very bad, below both East Sussex’s towns (5.6%) and England’s towns (5.2%). Asked at the census, 86% of residents of Forest Row said they were in good or very good health. One GP practice serves the town; 83% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. A disability affects 15% of people in the town.
| Census 2021 | Forest Row | East Sussex | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 86% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.6% | 5.6% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 15% | 20% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · These shares come straight from the census, without allowing for age, and young towns benefit; the Health Grade instead weighs age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
Key Stage 2 results at the 2 primary schools within 3 km: nearly half of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). There is one school here; it is shown below. 199 pupils attend Forest Row’s one primary school.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forest Row Church of England Primary School and NurseryLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 199 | C− |
Only one of the 26 towns in East Sussex costs more to buy into than Forest Row, whose median sale is £480,000. Social housing holds one in ten households, below both East Sussex’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (18%). Renting privately is how 19% of households live.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £695,000 | 62 |
| Semi-detached | £425,000 | 35 |
| Terraced | £410,000 | 17 |
| Flat or maisonette | £195,000 | 23 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 47% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Working mainly from home: 47% of workers, above East Sussex’s towns (35%) and England’s towns (31%) alike. 29% of commuters travelled under 5 km to work. Of the commuters living in Forest Row, 16% work in the town itself. Walking, cycling and public transport carried 23% of commuters at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Grade II* covers 2 of them. Forest Row has 28 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 2 Grade II*. The register of parks and gardens lists one in the town.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Violence and sexual offences made up a quarter of the total. 369 crimes and 68 reports of anti-social behaviour: that is what police recorded inside Forest Row’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 12.8 reports per 1,000, higher than both East Sussex’s towns (9.4) and England’s towns (7.8).
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.
Forest Row has a median age of 48.5 years. People 65 and over make up a quarter of the town, above both East Sussex’s towns (22%) and England’s towns (18%). Young adults of 15 to 24 are 10% of the population.
54% women, 46% men
About 86 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.
| Forest Row | East Sussex | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 15% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 18% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 30% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 25% | 22% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 10% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 4.3% | 4.9% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 46% | 36% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · East Sussex and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Forest Row. Best known first.
Historic houseSaint Hill Manor3.4 km outside town, to the west
Museum · National TrustStanden2.6 km outside town, to the west
Historic houseHammerwood Park3.7 km outside town, to the northeast
MuseumEast Grinstead Museum3.8 km outside town, to the northwestGardenGarden · National TrustRosery2.5 km outside town, to the westHistoric houseHistoric houseBassets Manor3.7 km outside town, to the northeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
28 listed buildings in Forest Row.
The Swan Public House: Photo: Poliphilo · CC0 · The Parish Church of the Holy Trinity: Photo: Hassocks5489 · CC0 · Tablehurst: Photo: N Chadwick · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Lantern House: Photo: nick macneill · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forest Row | 3,881 | — | C+ | D− | B− | A+ |
| Ashurst Wood | 1,508 | 1.3 | — | B− | A− | A |
| East Grinstead | 26,350 | 3.2 | A− | B | B− | A− |
| Nutley | 1,218 | 4.5 | — | D | A | A |
| Dormansland | 2,300 | 4.9 | — | C− | A | B |
| Felbridge | 2,031 | 4.9 | — | C− | B+ | A− |
| Horsted Keynes | 1,121 | 5 | — | C | A | A+ |
| Crawley Down | 5,775 | 5.1 | A+ | B− | A | A |
Ashurst Wood, Nutley, Dormansland, Felbridge and Horsted Keynes have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
One state school is inside the town; places are handled by East Sussex council.
That is 3 times the typical UK town for its size.
Band D council tax in Forest Row is £2,887 for 2026–27, more than in almost all 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.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £480,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £195,000, terraced houses £410,000, semi-detached houses £425,000 and detached houses £695,000.
Town in East Sussex, England
Forest Row is a built-up area of 3,881 people, in the Wealden 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.