Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
93,570 people call this large town in Essex, East of England home.
Several subjects drag its grade down. Crime is the sore point (D): 45.5 violent and sexual offences and 20.5 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Against UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, it has more crime per resident than 66%. Harlow ranks #75 of 81 in Essex, with a D overall. On that grade it does better than 14% of UK towns. Where it does best is walkability (A−) — on the way to work, 22% walk, cycle or take a bus or train. The median home sold for £330,000, 5.9 times what households in the Harlow council area earn in a year. Elsewhere it is close to typical: C+ for schools and B for hazard risk.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · incomes, ONS · flood risk, Environment Agency.
The 3 things Harlow 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 Harlow is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 178 buildings inside Harlow’s built-up area, 5 of them Grade I, and 10 scheduled monuments.
2% 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 1910.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Harlow. Best known first.
GardenHarlow Town Parkin town
MuseumHarlow Museum & Walled Gardensin town
Historic houseDown Hall3.4 km outside town, to the northeast
CastleRye House Gatehouse3.3 km outside town, to the west
MuseumNorth Weald Airfield Museum4.2 km outside town, to the southeast
MuseumLowewood Museum4.7 km outside town, to the westPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Harlow.
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Police figures for Harlow’s built-up area: 9,626 crimes and 1,147 anti-social behaviour reports in the 12 months to August 2026. There were 10.3 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), above Essex’s towns (4.6) and England’s towns (7.8) alike. Violence and sexual offences accounted for 44% of recorded crime.
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.
Key Stage 2 results at the town’s 28 primary schools: 64% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Hare Street Community Primary School and Nursery’s results beat 98% of schools in England like it. GCSE results at the town’s 6 secondary schools: 37% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 42.3. Three of its 39 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Henry Moore Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 555 | A |
| Passmores AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,199 | D |
| Hare Street Community Primary School and NurseryTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 454 | A+ |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 21% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Harlow counts 0.9 jobs per working resident. Of the commuters living in the town, 51% work in the town itself. Working mainly from home: just over a fifth of workers, lower than both Essex’s towns (31%) and England’s towns (31%). 52% of commuters travelled under 5 km to work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Owners make up 54% of households, below both Essex’s towns (67%) and England’s towns (61%). Private renters make up 15% of households. 3,017 standard sales inside Harlow’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put the median at £330,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £525,000 | 397 |
| Semi-detached | £415,000 | 430 |
| Terraced | £330,000 | 1,494 |
| Flat or maisonette | £211,250 | 696 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
8 GP practices serve the town; 61% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. The nearest A&E to Harlow is The Princess Alexandra Hospital, 1.1 miles away. 16% of residents have a disability, about level with Essex’s towns (17%) and below England’s towns (17%).
| Census 2021 | Harlow | Essex | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 82% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.1% | 4.8% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 16% | 17% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Young towns look healthier on these answers, which aren’t adjusted for age; the Health Grade uses measures that are, such as 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.
At the top of the list, 5 are Grade I and 9 Grade II*. Harlow’s listed buildings include the Chapel South West of Harlowbury in Grounds, Grade I. 2% of its homes were built before 1919, below Essex’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (16%) alike.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
People 65 and over make up 15% of the town, lower than both Essex’s towns (20%) and England’s towns (18%). Harlow has a median age of 37.2. Graduates make up a quarter of adults.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Harlow | Essex | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 21% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 30% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 24% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 15% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 21% | 19% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.7% | 5.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 25% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Essex and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
178 listed buildings in Harlow, 5 of them Grade I.
Church of St Mary the Virgin: Photo: Stmaryatlatton · CC0 · Chapel South West of Harlowbury in Grounds: Photo: Robert Edwards · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Gables: Photo: Westrain · CC BY-SA 4.0 · The Chequers Public House: Photo: Gazamp · CC BY-SA 4.0
106 notable people were born in Harlow.
Victoria Beckham: Owl Bridge Media, CC BY 3.0 · Rupert Grint: User:Celestinesucess, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Shaun Murphy: DerHexer, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Carl Jenkinson: Egghead06, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Luke Young: John Dobson, CC BY 2.0 · Sarah Fuller Flower Adams: Margaret Gillies, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harlow | 93,570 | — | D | C− | D | C− |
| Roydon | 1,587 | 3 | — | C− | C | B+ |
| Thornwood Common | 1,030 | 3.2 | — | D | B− | B |
| Sawbridgeworth | 10,471 | 3.7 | A− | C+ | C+ | B+ |
| North Weald Bassett | 4,323 | 4.1 | B | C− | C+ | B+ |
| Coopersale | 1,067 | 4.2 | — | C− | B+ | B+ |
| Lower Nazeing | 3,631 | 4.6 | B− | D | B− | B+ |
| Epping | 10,693 | 4.6 | B+ | D | C− | B |
Roydon, Thornwood Common and Coopersale have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Against all UK towns, most of them far smaller, it grades D.
Its Grade I buildings include Chapel South West of Harlowbury in Grounds. It also has 10 scheduled monuments.
Band D council tax in Harlow is £2,299 for 2026–27, less than in 75% 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.
Large town in Essex, England
Harlow is a built-up area of 93,570 people, in the Harlow 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.