Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
This large town in Hampshire, South East has a population of 60,665.
Strong in places, weak in others. Farnborough ranks #62 of 76 in Hampshire, with a C+ overall. Nationally, it does better than 41% of UK towns. Its weakest is schools: primary results beat 38% of towns in England; secondary results beat 22% of towns in England. Where it does best is jobs & income: the mean household earns £64,096 a year. Homes sell for a median £370,000, about 6.1 years of what households in the Rushmoor council area earn. It also does well on walkability (B+): on the way to work, 18% walk, cycle or take a bus or train. Its remaining grades are unremarkable: B− for health and B for hazard risk.
Figures: income and life expectancy, ONS · claimants, DWP · commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · flood risk, Environment Agency.
The 3 things Farnborough 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 Farnborough is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 35 buildings inside Farnborough’s built-up area, 4 of them Grade I, and 2 scheduled monuments.
9% 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 1890.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Farnborough. Best known first.
Abbey or priorySaint Michael’s Abbeyin town
MuseumFarnborough Air Science Trust Museumin town
MuseumAldershot Military Museumin town
MuseumRoyal Army Physical Training Corps Museumin town
CathedralCathedral of St Michael and St George, Aldershot300 m outside town, to the southAttractionAttractionHeritage Quarterin townPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Farnborough.
St Mark's Church of England Primary School’s results beat 77% of schools in England like it. Three of its 27 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. At the town’s 12 primary schools, nearly three in five pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tower Hill Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 418 | B+ |
| The Wavell SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,042 | C+ |
| St Mark's Church of England Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 102 | A− |
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Property crime (burglary and damage) runs at 12.8 per 1,000 residents a year. A year of reports to August 2026 adds up to 3,913 offences in Farnborough and 576 cases of nuisance behaviour. Also worth knowing: for its size, Farnborough records less crime per resident than 86% of the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more. Violence and sexual offences accounted for just over two fifths 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.
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.
2.7% of 16 to 64s claimed unemployment benefits in 2026, higher than both Hampshire’s towns (1.9%) and England’s towns (2.3%). There are 1 jobs in Farnborough for each resident in work. For nearly half of commuters, work was under 5 km away.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Nearly a tenth of its homes were built before 1919, below both Hampshire’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (16%). Historic England’s list names 35 listed buildings in Farnborough: 4 Grade I, 2 Grade II*. Its listed buildings include the Abbey Church of St Michael, Grade I.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Private rents average £1,385 a month across the Rushmoor council area. Half of the 2,211 standard sales inside Farnborough’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £370,000. Nearly two thirds of households are owner-occupiers.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £575,000 | 425 |
| Semi-detached | £415,000 | 667 |
| Terraced | £340,000 | 572 |
| Flat or maisonette | £221,500 | 547 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 3.7% of the town. At the census, 85% of people in Farnborough called their health good or very good, higher than both Hampshire’s towns (83%) and England’s towns (82%). 6 GP practices serve the town; 78% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Farnborough | Hampshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 85% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.7% | 4.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 14% | 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.
Young adults of 15 to 24 account for 11% of the town. The middle age in Farnborough is 38.8. Graduates make up nearly a third of adults.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Farnborough | Hampshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 30% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 16% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 16% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.3% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 32% | 33% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Hampshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
35 listed buildings in Farnborough, 4 of them Grade I.
Building Q121 at Former Royal Aircraft Establishment Site: Photo: Lewis Hulbert · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Abbey Church of St Michael: Photo: JohnArmagh · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Main Building to Farnborough Hill Convent: Photo: Lewis Hulbert · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Thatched Cottage Public House: Photo: Mr Ignavy · CC BY-SA 2.0
40 notable people were born in Farnborough.
Jeremy Hardy: Flickr user Andy from London, UK, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Steve Bennett: Nick from Bristol, UK, CC BY 2.0 · Aimee Fuller: JaceMerlyn, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Shaun Udal: Nick Morrison, CC BY-SA 2.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Farnborough | 60,665 | — | C+ | C | C | B− |
| Frimley | 15,101 | 1.8 | A | B | C+ | A− |
| Hawley | 2,581 | 2.3 | A+ | A | A− | A |
| Minley | 1,041 | 2.7 | — | A− | A+ | A |
| Deepcut | 2,163 | 2.8 | — | B+ | C | A− |
| Blackwater | 7,170 | 2.9 | A | A | B− | A− |
| Ash and Ash Vale | 24,284 | 3.1 | B− | C+ | B− | B |
| Camberley | 36,787 | 3.1 | A− | B | C+ | B+ |
Minley and Deepcut 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 C.
Its Grade I buildings include Abbey Church of St Michael. It also has 2 scheduled monuments.
GCSE results trail 78% of towns in England, and primary results trail 62% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £370,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £221,500, terraced houses £340,000, semi-detached houses £415,000 and detached houses £575,000.
Large town in Hampshire, England
Farnborough is a built-up area of 60,665 people, in the Rushmoor 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.