Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
With 4,935 residents, it is a town in Hampshire, South East.
Strong in places, weak in others. Headley Down and Headley’s overall B+ puts it #45 of 76 in Hampshire. Set against the rest, it does better than two thirds of UK towns. Its best grade is for health (A−): life expectancy 82.7 for men, 85.6 for women. The local economy does well: the mean household earns £69,135 a year. Most journeys need a car: 7% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Schools lag: primary results beat 7% of towns in England; secondary results beat 45% of towns in England. A median £552,500 buys a home here, 8.3 times what households in the East Hampshire council area earn in a year.
Figures: life expectancy and income, ONS · claimants, DWP · commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
The 3 things Headley Down and Headley 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 Headley Down and Headley is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 24 buildings inside Headley Down and Headley’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade II*.
14% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Headley Down and Headley.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 42% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Working mainly from home: just over two in five workers, above Hampshire’s towns (32%) and England’s towns (31%) alike. At the census, nine in ten commuters went by car. Of the commuters living in Headley Down and Headley, 3% work in the town itself. Unemployment benefit claims reached 1.6% of 16 to 64s in 2026.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Key Stage 2 results at the 5 primary schools within 3 km: nearly half of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). The town has one school, shown below. GCSE results at the one secondary school within 3 km: 46% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 44.2.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Holme Church of England Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 179 | C− |
At the census, 3.9% of people here described their health as bad or very bad. The nearest A&E to Headley Down and Headley is Royal Surrey County Hospital, 12.2 miles away. One GP practice serves the town; 74% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Headley Down and Headley | Hampshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 84% | 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 · 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.
For its size, Headley Down and Headley records less crime per resident than 84% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. In the 12 months to August 2026, police logged 139 crimes and 10 reports of anti-social behaviour inside the town’s built-up area. Burglary and damage came to 5.9 per 1,000 residents a year, lower than both Hampshire’s towns (8.7) and England’s towns (9.4). Violence accounts for 16.4 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year.
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.
Grade II* covers 1 of them. The pre-1919 share of homes is 14%. Relative to its size, Headley Down and Headley keeps 49 listed buildings per 10,000 residents, above both Hampshire’s towns (25) and England’s towns (39).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Owners make up just over four in five households, above Hampshire’s towns (64%) and England’s towns (61%) alike. Council and housing-body homes hold just over one in ten households. The median sale, £552,500, comes from 162 standard sales inside Headley Down and Headley’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £702,500 | 107 |
| Semi-detached | £400,000 | 19 |
| Terraced | £300,000 | 33 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Children under 15 make up 14%, lower than both Hampshire’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (18%); what’s more, the share aged 15 to 24 is 8.9%. Ages in Headley Down and Headley split evenly at 52.3: half are older, half younger. Degrees are held by two in five adults.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Headley Down and Headley | Hampshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 14% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.9% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 17% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 32% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 28% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 15% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 4.4% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 15% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 40% | 33% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Hampshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Headley Down and Headley. Best known first.
24 listed buildings in Headley Down and Headley.
Church of All Saints: Photo: Simon Burchell · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Chestnut Cottage: Photo: David960 · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph · Arford Lodge: Photo: David960 · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph · Appletree Cottage: Photo: David960 · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph
3 notable people were born in Headley Down and Headley.
Jessica Hawkins: Mitchea99, CC0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Headley Down and Headley | 4,935 | — | B+ | B− | A− | A− |
| Lindford | 2,740 | 1.7 | C+ | B+ | C+ | C+ |
| Bordon | 9,349 | 2.3 | C+ | A | C− | C |
| Hindhead | 6,444 | 2.6 | A | B− | B+ | B+ |
| Whitehill | 5,178 | 2.9 | B+ | A | B | B |
| Liphook | 7,128 | 2.9 | A | B | B− | A− |
| Haslemere | 11,897 | 4.2 | A | C+ | B | B |
| Wrecclesham | 7,312 | 5.3 | A+ | C | A | A+ |
People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £552,500, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: terraced houses £300,000, semi-detached houses £400,000 and detached houses £702,500. Household incomes are higher than in 87% of UK towns, so cost of living still grades B−.
Police recorded 139 crimes inside Headley Down and Headley’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 42% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
GCSE results trail 55% of towns in England, and primary results trail 93% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). One state school is inside the town; places are handled by Hampshire council.
Town in Hampshire, England
Headley Down and Headley is a built-up area of 4,935 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.