Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Life expectancy is 87.3 for women and 83.9 for men. 2,581 people call this town in Hampshire, South East home.
A town without an obvious weak point. Where it does best is cost of living — homes sell for a median £375,000, about 4.7 times local household income. Work and incomes are strong: the mean household earns £70,933 a year. Put together, the subjects come to an A+ overall, ranking #3 of 76 in Hampshire. Set against the rest, it does better than almost every UK town. Its other grades sit near the middle: B− for schools and B− for walkability.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · income, ONS · claimants, DWP · commuting, Census 2021.
The 3 things Hawley 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 Hawley is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 5 buildings inside Hawley’s built-up area.
11% 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 Hawley. Best known first.
Abbey or priorySaint Michael’s Abbey2.9 km outside town, to the southeast
MuseumFarnborough Air Science Trust Museum4.4 km outside town, to the southAttractionAttractionHeritage Quarter4 km outside town, to the southAttractionAttractionBasingstoke Canal Visitor Centre4.9 km outside town, to the southeastHistoric siteHistoric siteEnglish Electric Lightning4.3 km outside town, to the southAttractionAttractionHistoric 24ft Low Speed Windtunnel4 km outside town, to the southPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Hawley.
3% of households live in social housing. Private rents average £1,414 a month across the Hart council area. 104 standard sales inside Hawley’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put the median at £375,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £625,000 | 37 |
| Semi-detached | £420,000 | 13 |
| Terraced | £351,500 | 20 |
| Flat or maisonette | £217,750 | 34 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Key Stage 2 results at the 21 primary schools within 3 km: 63% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Below is its only school. Attainment 8 at the 6 secondary schools within 3 km averages 45.9, and 43% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hawley Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 310 | C− |
3% of residents report bad or very bad health. There is no GP practice in Hawley: the nearest is 0.9 miles off. A disability affects 14% of people locally. At the census, 86% of people in Hawley called their health good or very good, above Hampshire’s towns (83%) and England’s towns (82%) alike.
| Census 2021 | Hawley | Hampshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 86% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3% | 4.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 14% | 17% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · No age adjustment applies to these census answers, which flatter younger towns; the Health Grade’s measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them, do allow for age.
Violence accounts for 13.6 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year, and homes saw 7.1 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year, below Hampshire’s towns (8.7) and England’s towns (9.4) alike. In the 12 months to August 2026, police logged 71 crimes and 10 reports of anti-social behaviour inside Hawley’s built-up area. Among the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Hawley has less crime per resident than 87% of them.
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 heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Every one of Hawley’s 5 listed buildings sits at Grade II, the most common listing. 11% of homes were built before 1919. This Hampshire town has one registered historic park or garden.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 39% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
84% of commuters drove, above both Hampshire’s towns (75%) and England’s towns (70%); what’s more, at the census, nearly two in five workers worked mainly from home. Also worth knowing: about 4% of its commuters stay in Hawley for work. For 40% 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
36% of adults hold a degree. People aged 15 to 24 make up 8.9% of the town, lower than both Hampshire’s towns (12%) and England’s towns (12%). Retirement age and beyond: nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or older. Typical age in Hawley: 46.7, the median.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Hawley | Hampshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 14% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.9% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 25% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 24% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 14% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 36% | 33% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Hampshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hawley | 2,581 | — | A+ | A | A− | A |
| Blackwater | 7,170 | 0.8 | A | A | B− | A− |
| Sandhurst | 20,220 | 1.5 | A | B− | A− | A |
| Minley | 1,041 | 1.9 | — | A− | A+ | A |
| Camberley | 36,787 | 2.1 | A− | B | C+ | B+ |
| Farnborough | 60,665 | 2.3 | C+ | C | C | B− |
| Yateley | 14,676 | 2.3 | A+ | A | B+ | A |
| Frimley | 15,101 | 2.3 | A | B | C+ | A− |
Minley has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Police recorded 71 crimes inside Hawley’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 39% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £375,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £217,750, terraced houses £351,500, semi-detached houses £420,000 and detached houses £625,000. Household incomes are higher than in 90% of UK towns, so cost of living still grades A.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Town in Hampshire, England
Hawley is a built-up area of 2,581 people, in the Hart 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.