Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
17,883 people call this town in Hampshire, South East home.
A solid town with one catch. It is easy to get around without a car (A−): just over a fifth of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. Cost of living is another plus: the median home sold for £377,500, 5.6 years of area income. The drawback is safety (C): 31.7 violent or sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, plus 9.4 home and vehicle crimes. Among UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, it has less crime per resident than 58%. Overall, that makes a B+, better than nearly three quarters of UK towns. Its place in the ranking is #41 of 76 in Hampshire. Elsewhere it is close to typical: B for schools, B− for health, B for jobs & income and B− for hazard risk.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · life expectancy and income, ONS · claimants, DWP · flood risk, Environment Agency.
The 3 things Alton 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 Alton is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 145 buildings inside Alton’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade I.
12% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds a map from 1896.
Explore the history →Two U.S. towns are named after Alton. The oldest, Alton, New Hampshire, was settled in 1796.
USUS editionAlton, New Hampshire, settled in 1796, takes its name from this town.
Also named after Alton:Alton, ME842
Named after: each U.S. town’s Wikipedia article. Grades compare each town with towns in its own country, so they aren’t a head-to-head.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Alton.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 32% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
The car took just over three quarters of commuters, about level with Hampshire’s towns (75%) and above England’s towns (70%). For every resident in work, Alton has 0.9 jobs. Work in town: 34% of resident commuters. Households take home £62K a year before tax, on average.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Below are three of its 8 schools, each with why it was picked. Attainment 8 at the 2 secondary schools within 3 km averages 49.6, and 52% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths. Between them, six primaries and one secondary teach 2,195 pupils in Alton.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Butts Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 357 | B |
| Amery Hill SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 982 | A− |
| Saint Lawrence Church of England Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 219 | A− |
Social housing holds a fifth of households, higher than both Hampshire’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (18%). From September 2023 to August 2026, 929 homes sold inside Alton’s built-up area at standard prices; the middle one went for £377,500. Private rents average £1,262 a month across the East Hampshire council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £587,500 | 229 |
| Semi-detached | £405,000 | 260 |
| Terraced | £343,750 | 196 |
| Flat or maisonette | £216,500 | 244 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Children under 15 count for 16% of the people here. Just over a fifth of residents are 65 or over, above both Hampshire’s towns (20%) and England’s towns (18%). The age that splits Alton in two is 44.4.
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Alton | Hampshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.9% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 25% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 22% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 15% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 35% | 33% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Hampshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
For its size, Alton has 81 listed buildings per 10,000 residents. Its listed buildings include Jane Austen's House, Grade I. Just over a tenth of its homes were built before 1919, between Hampshire’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (16%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Alton logged 1,010 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 138 complaints of anti-social conduct. 49% of the crimes fell under violence and sexual offences. Also worth knowing: there were 7.8 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), about level with England’s towns (7.8) and above Hampshire’s towns (5.3).
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.
The nearest A&E to Alton is Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital, 10.7 miles away. 2 GP practices serve the town; 84% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. Life expectancy here is 83.9 for women and 80.8 for men (2019–23).
| Census 2021 | Alton | Hampshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 83% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.9% | 4.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 17% | 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.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Alton. Best known first.
MuseumJane Austen's House Museumin town
MuseumCurtis Museumin town
Historic houseChawton House300 m outside town, to the south
MuseumGliding Heritage Centre3 km outside town, to the northwest
MuseumGilbert White's House4.9 km outside town, to the southMuseumMuseumThe Allen Galleryin townPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
145 listed buildings in Alton, 2 of them Grade I.
Parish Church of St Lawrence: Photo: Ericoides · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Chawton House: Photo: Simon Burchell · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Geale's Almshouses: Photo: Paul the Archivist · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Anstey Mill: Photo: Portellophotography · CC BY-SA 4.0
21 notable people were born in Alton.
Jimmy Dickinson: Pompey Rog, CC BY-SA 4.0 · William Curtis: Gilbert Stuart, Public domain · Mark Stent: Madelynnelyse, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Samantha Warriner: Chris Smith, CC BY 2.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alton | 17,883 | — | B+ | A− | C | B− |
| Holybourne | 1,304 | 1.4 | — | B | A | A− |
| Four Marks | 5,613 | 4.4 | A+ | B− | A− | A+ |
| Bentley | 1,406 | 5 | — | C+ | A | A− |
| Whitehill | 5,178 | 5.6 | B+ | A | B | B |
| Bordon | 9,349 | 5.6 | C+ | A | C− | C |
| Lindford | 2,740 | 5.9 | C+ | B+ | C+ | C+ |
| Odiham | 5,091 | 7.1 | A+ | A− | A− | A+ |
Holybourne and Bentley have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 3.3 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include Jane Austen's House.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £377,500, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £216,500, terraced houses £343,750, semi-detached houses £405,000 and detached houses £587,500. Household incomes are higher than in 74% of UK towns, so cost of living still grades A−.
About the middle for its size: 42% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people report less crime per resident. Against all UK towns, most of them smaller, it grades C.
Town in Hampshire, England
Alton is a built-up area of 17,883 people, in the East Hampshire 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.