Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A large town of 42,633 in Hampshire, South East.
Fareham grades A− overall against UK towns: better than 78% of UK towns, and #37 of 76 in Hampshire. Its strongest subject is cost of living (A): median sale £310,000, 4.8 years of area income; rent £1,176 a month. Its weakest is safety (C): 34.3 violent and sexual offences and 10.1 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026. Among UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, it has less crime per resident than 51%.
The 2 things Fareham 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 Fareham is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 170 buildings inside Fareham’s built-up area, 12 of them Grade II*, and 1 scheduled monument.
7% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Fareham. Best known first.
Castle · English HeritagePortchester Castle2.4 km outside town, to the east
Abbey or priory · English HeritageTitchfield Abbey200 m outside town, to the west
Museum · English HeritageFort Brockhurst2.8 km outside town, to the southeast
MuseumExplosion! Museum of Naval Firepower4.7 km outside town, to the southeast
MuseumFort Nelson1 km outside town, to the eastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Fareham.
14% rent privately, lower than both Hampshire’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (21%). Social renters account for one in ten households. Also worth knowing: the £310,000 median rests on 1,870 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £457,000 | 452 |
| Semi-detached | £324,500 | 618 |
| Terraced | £281,000 | 455 |
| Flat or maisonette | £158,000 | 345 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Of its 19 schools, three are shown below, each with the reason. GCSE results at the town’s 4 secondary schools: just over two in five pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 44.5. Between them, 12 primaries and four secondaries teach 6,926 pupils in Fareham.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harrison Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 615 | A |
| Cams Hill SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,265 | A− |
| Uplands Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 308 | A |
Children under 15 make up 15%, lower than both Hampshire’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (18%). Young adults of 15 to 24 account for 10% of the town. The age that splits Fareham in two is 46.2.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Fareham | Hampshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 24% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 24% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 15% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.4% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 19% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 32% | 33% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Hampshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Fareham logged 2,876 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 463 complaints of anti-social conduct. Violence and sexual offences accounted for 48% of recorded crime. There were 10 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), higher than both Hampshire’s towns (5.3) 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.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 31% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Households take home £61K a year before tax, on average. The car took four in five commuters, above both Hampshire’s towns (75%) and England’s towns (70%). Unemployment benefit claims reached 2.5% of 16 to 64s in 2026. Of the commuters living in Fareham, 27% work in the town itself.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The nearest A&E to Fareham is Queen Alexandra Hospital, 5.5 miles away. 4 GP practices serve the town; 53% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. Disability touches 18% of the town’s population.
| Census 2021 | Fareham | Hampshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 82% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.5% | 4.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 18% | 17% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · These answers aren’t adjusted for age, so young towns look healthier; the Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, including 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.
Homes from before 1919 make up 7% of the total, lower than both Hampshire’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (16%). Grade II* covers 12 of them. The national list protects one ancient monument in Fareham.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
170 listed buildings in Fareham.
Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul: Photo: Hassocks5489 · CC0 · Roseneath: Photo: Tim Sheerman-Chase · CC BY 2.0 · Fort Fareham: Photo: David Alan Moore · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Post Office: Photo: Tim Sheerman-Chase · CC BY 2.0
28 notable people were born in Fareham.
Malcolm Gladwell: PEN American Center, CC BY 2.0 · Rachel Goswell: Ralf Lotys (Sicherlich), CC BY 4.0 · Sue Black: Mark Hillary from Serra Negra, São Paulo, Brazil, CC BY 2.0 · Andrew Vernon: Ian Robertson from East Lothian, Scotland, CC BY 2.0 · Robert Goddard: Transworld Publishers, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fareham | 42,633 | — | A− | A | C | B |
| Knowle | 1,487 | 1.9 | — | A | D | B+ |
| Lee-on-the-Solent | 24,307 | 3 | A | A− | A− | A− |
| Wickham | 2,170 | 3.1 | — | A− | C− | B+ |
| Locks Heath | 35,744 | 3.4 | A | A− | B− | A |
| Whiteley | 9,350 | 3.4 | A− | B | C+ | A |
| Gosport | 70,120 | 3.9 | C− | B | C− | C− |
| Waltham Chase | 2,830 | 5.5 | A | B | A− | A |
Knowle and Wickham have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
About the middle for its size: 49% 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.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Large town in Hampshire, England
Fareham is a built-up area of 42,633 people, in the Fareham 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.