Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Population 6,774: a town in Essex, East of England. 13% of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport.
Great Wakering’s weakest subject is schools (D) — primary results beat 14% of towns in England; secondary results beat 16% of towns in England. Homes sell for a median £360,000, about 5.9 years of what households in the Rochford council area earn. Put together, the subjects come to a C− overall, ranking #70 of 81 in Essex. Set against the rest, it does better than 22% of UK towns. Elsewhere it is close to typical: C+ for jobs & income, B− for walkability and B− for hazard risk.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · incomes, ONS · claimants, DWP · commuting, Census 2021 · flood risk, Environment Agency.
The 3 things Great Wakering 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 Great Wakering is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 50 buildings inside Great Wakering’s built-up area, 3 of them Grade II*.
14% 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 Great Wakering.
Retirement age and beyond: 21% of residents are 65 or older. Great Wakering has a median age of 44 years. Children under 15 make up 17%, below Essex’s towns (18%) and close to England’s towns (18%).
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Great Wakering | Essex | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 23% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 21% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 21% | 19% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.7% | 5.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 20% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Essex and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Between them, two primaries teach 579 pupils in Great Wakering. Of its 2 schools, one is shown below, with the reason. GCSE results at the 2 secondary schools within 3 km: 35% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 40.7.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Great Wakering Primary AcademyLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 412 | C− |
Men in Great Wakering can expect to live to 79.3, women to 82.4 (2019–23). One GP practice serves the town; 77% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. The nearest A&E to Great Wakering is Southend University Hospital, 4.8 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Great Wakering | Essex | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 82% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.7% | 4.8% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 16% | 17% | 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.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Grade II* covers 3 of them. Great Wakering has 50 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 3 Grade II*. The pre-1919 share of homes is 14%.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Police recorded 298 crimes inside Great Wakering’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 50 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences were 58% of the crimes. Also worth knowing: homes saw 9.1 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year, lower than Essex’s towns (10.6) and near England’s towns (9.4).
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.
Private renters make up one in ten households, lower than both Essex’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (21%). 13% of households live in social housing. Behind the median of £360,000: 287 standard sales inside Great Wakering’s built-up area, September 2023 to August 2026.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £455,000 | 89 |
| Semi-detached | £350,000 | 119 |
| Terraced | £315,000 | 46 |
| Flat or maisonette | £153,000 | 33 |
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 29% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
84% of commuters took the car to work at the census. Work in town: 6% of resident commuters. Income per household averages £58K a year, before tax. Unemployment benefit claims came to 2.8% of 16 to 64s in 2026, above both Essex’s towns (2.5%) and England’s towns (2.3%).
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Great Wakering. Best known first.
MuseumSouthchurch Hall4.3 km outside town, to the west
AquariumSea Life Adventure Aquarium4.7 km outside town, to the southwestMuseumMuseumCart and Wagon Shed2.5 km outside town, to the southPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
50 listed buildings in Great Wakering.
Church of All Saints: Photo: Lonpicman · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Church of St Mary the Virgin: Photo: Lonpicman · 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great Wakering | 6,774 | — | C− | C+ | C+ | C |
| Southend-on-Sea | 182,295 | 4.2 | C | C | D | C− |
| Rochford | 12,617 | 4.8 | C− | C+ | D | C |
| Canewdon | 1,216 | 5.1 | — | B− | A− | C− |
| Burnham-on-Crouch | 7,806 | 5.4 | B | B | C | B |
| Ashingdon | 6,490 | 5.8 | A | C+ | A | B+ |
| Hockley and Hawkwell | 15,430 | 7 | A | C | A− | A |
| Southminster | 4,548 | 7.7 | C− | B+ | C+ | C |
Canewdon has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 3 times the typical UK town for its size.
GCSE results trail 84% of towns in England, and primary results trail 86% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). Great Wakering has 2 state schools; places are handled by Essex council.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £360,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £153,000, terraced houses £315,000, semi-detached houses £350,000 and detached houses £455,000.
Town in Essex, England
Great Wakering is a built-up area of 6,774 people, in the Rochford 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.
