Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 7,339 in Hampshire, South East.
Homes are dear: a typical home costs £305,000 and rent runs £1,244 a month. Holbury ranks #66 of 76 in Hampshire, with a C overall. It comes out better than 33% of UK towns. Incomes are on the low side: households earn a mean £54,719 a year, and 2.8% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Floods and other hazards weigh less here: 0.1% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. The rest of its grades are middling: B− for safety, C+ for schools and C+ for health.
Figures: flood risk, Environment Agency · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · income and life expectancy, ONS · claimants, DWP · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026.
The 3 things Holbury 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 Holbury is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 8 buildings inside Holbury’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
2% 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 Holbury. Best known first.
Castle · English HeritageCalshot Castle2 km outside town, to the east
MuseumNational Motor Museum3.7 km outside town, to the west
Abbey or prioryBeaulieu Abbey3.5 km outside town, to the west
CastleNetley Castle3.7 km outside town, to the north
Historic housePalace House3.6 km outside town, to the west
GardenExbury Gardens2.9 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 Holbury.
16% are under 15, near Hampshire’s towns (17%) and lower than England’s towns (18%). Over-65s are a quarter of the population. The age that splits Holbury in two is 47.5. Those aged 15 to 24 account for 8.9% of residents.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Holbury | Hampshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.9% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 22% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 25% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 19% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 9.2% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 20% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 21% | 33% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Hampshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Below are two of its 3 schools, each with why it was picked. At the 8 primary schools within 3 km, 64% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Some 932 pupils attend Holbury’s two primaries and one secondary.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cadland Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 379 | B+ |
| Lift New ForestLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 504 | C− |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
2% of homes date from before 1919. Holbury’s listed buildings include the Church of All Saints, Grade I. For its size, Holbury has 11 listed buildings per 10,000 residents, below Hampshire’s towns (26) and England’s towns (39) alike.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 22% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Of the commuters living in Holbury, 18% work in the town itself. By car: that was how 86% of commuters travelled at the census. 37% of commuters travelled under 5 km, lower than both Hampshire’s towns (46%) and England’s towns (45%). Working from home was the norm for just over a fifth of workers at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Social renters account for 10% of households. 76% of households own their home, above Hampshire’s towns (64%) and England’s towns (61%) alike. 287 standard sales inside Holbury’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put the median at £305,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £376,000 | 121 |
| Semi-detached | £299,975 | 68 |
| Terraced | £260,000 | 84 |
| Flat or maisonette | £171,500 | 14 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The nearest A&E to Holbury is Southampton General Hospital, 7.5 miles away. This Hampshire town has no GP practice of its own; the nearest is 2.2 miles away. 18% of residents have a disability, higher than Hampshire’s towns (17%) and near England’s towns (17%).
| Census 2021 | Holbury | Hampshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 81% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 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 · A young population flatters these answers, which are not age-adjusted; the Health Grade instead uses measures that allow for age, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
58% of the crimes fell under violence and sexual offences. Holbury logged 319 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 59 complaints of anti-social conduct. Each year, 7.5 burglaries and acts of damage are recorded per 1,000 residents.
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.
4 notable people were born in Holbury.
Edgar Gibson: Edwin Alfred Debenham (died 1925), Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holbury | 7,339 | — | C | C | B− | C+ |
| Blackfield and Langley | 5,844 | 1.1 | C− | C− | C+ | B− |
| Hythe and Dibden Purlieu | 19,857 | 2.4 | C | C | C+ | B |
| Hamble-le-Rice | 4,613 | 3.3 | A− | A− | B− | A− |
| Netley | 6,309 | 3.5 | C+ | B+ | C | C |
| Bursledon | 8,072 | 5 | C+ | A− | C− | C+ |
| Marchwood | 5,776 | 5.3 | B− | C | B− | B+ |
| Locks Heath | 35,744 | 5.3 | A | A− | B− | A |
People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
GCSE results trail 79% of towns in England, and primary results beat 64% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). Holbury has 3 state schools; places are handled by Hampshire council.
Town in Hampshire, England
Holbury is a built-up area of 7,339 people, in the New Forest 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.