Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The town has 10,067 residents and lies in East Sussex, South East. 43% of households own their home outright.
The weak point is schools — primary results beat 15% of towns in England; secondary results beat 19% of towns in England. Prices are high against local incomes: a typical home costs £310,000 and rent runs £1,262 a month. It is easy to get around without a car: 17% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. All told, that adds up to a C overall, better than 29% of UK towns. In the ranking it comes #16 of 26 in East Sussex.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Polegate is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things Polegate does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 1 building inside Polegate’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade II*.
6% 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 Polegate.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Polegate has 1 listed building inside its built-up area on Historic England’s list: 1 Grade II*. 6% of its homes were built before 1919.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The town has one school, shown below. 53% of pupils at the 8 primary schools within 3 km met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). 689 pupils attend Polegate’s one primary school.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Polegate Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 689 | C+ |
The 15-to-24 age group: 8.2%, below both East Sussex’s towns (12%) and England’s towns (12%). Children under 15 make up 16% of residents. Polegate has a median age of 48.4. Graduates make up a quarter of adults.
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.
| Polegate | East Sussex | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 15% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.2% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 22% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 27% | 22% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 20% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7% | 4.9% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 25% | 36% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · East Sussex and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
9% live in social housing, below both East Sussex’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (18%). The private rented sector houses 15% of households. The median sale, £310,000, comes from 477 standard sales inside Polegate’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £372,500 | 98 |
| Semi-detached | £315,000 | 238 |
| Terraced | £280,000 | 63 |
| Flat or maisonette | £167,750 | 78 |
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 25% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
For just over a third of commuters, work was under 5 km away. A quarter of workers worked mainly from home, below both East Sussex’s towns (35%) and England’s towns (31%). The average household earns £48K a year before tax. Of the commuters living in Polegate, 9% work in the town itself.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Disability touches 22% of Polegate’s population. 6.4% of residents described their health as bad or very bad, above both East Sussex’s towns (5.6%) and England’s towns (5.2%). 2 GP practices serve the town; nearly two thirds of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Polegate | East Sussex | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 77% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.4% | 5.6% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 22% | 20% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Census health answers are raw, so younger towns score better on them; for the Health Grade we use age-adjusted figures like life expectancy and early deaths.
Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 13.5 reports per 1,000, above both East Sussex’s towns (9.4) and England’s towns (7.8). In the 12 months to August 2026, police logged 447 crimes and 130 reports of anti-social behaviour inside Polegate’s built-up area. Violence and sexual offences were 34% of the crimes.
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.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Polegate. Best known first.
Castle · English HeritagePevensey Castle4.1 km outside town, to the east
Historic houseMichelham Priory4.3 km outside town, to the northwestZooZooDrusillas Park4.5 km outside town, to the westHistoric siteHistoric siteLong Man of Wilmington3 km outside town, to the westAttractionAttractionEastbourne Miniature Steam Railway3.3 km outside town, to the southeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Town in East Sussex, England
Polegate is a built-up area of 10,067 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
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Polegate | 10,067 | — | C | C | B | C |
| Lower Willingdon | 6,126 | 0.9 | B− | C− | A− | A− |
| Stone Cross | 5,036 | 2 | C | C− | B− | B |
| Westham | 1,861 | 3 | — | C− | B+ | B |
| Hailsham | 22,560 | 3.1 | D | C | C+ | C |
| Eastbourne | 99,171 | 3.2 | D− | D− | D | C |
| Crumbles | 3,056 | 4 | C+ | D− | A | B |
| Hellingly | 2,616 | 4.3 | D− | C− | D | B+ |
Westham has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Band D council tax in Polegate is £2,754 for 2026–27, more than in 98% 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.
GCSE results trail 81% of towns in England, and primary results trail 85% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). One state school is inside the town; places are handled by East Sussex council.
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.