Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 34,046 people, this large town lies in Hampshire, South East.
What it saves you on housing, it gives back elsewhere. Its strongest is cost of living (A): homes sell for a median £352,500, about 5.3 times local household income. With a B+ overall, Horndean is better than three quarters of UK towns and ranks #39 of 76 in Hampshire. Add health to its strengths — life expectancy 82.9 for men, 86.5 for women. The catch is schools: primary results beat 17% of towns in England; secondary results beat 32% of towns in England.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · life expectancy, ONS.
The 3 things Horndean 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 Horndean is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 8 buildings inside Horndean’s built-up area.
3% 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 Horndean.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
3% of its homes were built before 1919, lower than both Hampshire’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (16%). Scaled to its population, that is 2 listed buildings for every 10,000 people in Horndean.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
54% of pupils at the town’s 4 primary schools met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Of its 11 schools, two are shown below, each with the reason. Secondary results at the town’s 2 secondary schools: an Attainment 8 score of 44.3, with 38% at grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Horndean Church of England Junior SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 453 | C |
| Horndean Technology CollegeLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,288 | B− |
Social housing holds just over one in ten households, below both Hampshire’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (18%). Nearly one in ten households are private tenants. The median sale, £352,500, comes from 1,436 standard sales inside Horndean’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £447,500 | 606 |
| Semi-detached | £340,000 | 452 |
| Terraced | £285,000 | 263 |
| Flat or maisonette | £180,000 | 115 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 30% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
88% of commuters drove to work at the census. Short trips to work, under 5 km: 27%, below both Hampshire’s towns (46%) and England’s towns (45%). Income per household averages £61K a year, before tax. About 12% of its commuters stay in Horndean for work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
4 GP practices serve the town; 73% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. 4.2% of residents described their health as bad or very bad, close to Hampshire’s towns (4.3%) and below England’s towns (5.2%). The nearest A&E to Horndean is Queen Alexandra Hospital, 4.8 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Horndean | Hampshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 83% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.2% | 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.
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Over the year to August 2026, 1,429 offences were reported in Horndean, along with 198 incidents of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences accounted for 51% of recorded crime. Violent crime ran at 24.2 per 1,000 residents a year, above both Hampshire’s towns (20.7) and England’s towns (22).
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.
29% of adults hold a degree, below Hampshire’s towns (33%) and England’s towns (34%) alike. Young adults of 15 to 24 account for nearly a tenth of the town. At 46.6, the median resident of Horndean sits in the middle of the age range. The share of residents under 15 is 16%.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Horndean | Hampshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.5% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 22% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 24% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 16% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.6% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 20% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 29% | 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 Horndean. Best known first.
MuseumButser Ancient Farm800 m outside town, to the northeast
FortFort Widley4.9 km outside town, to the southwest
MuseumSpring Arts and Heritage Centre4.3 km outside town, to the south
FortFort Purbrook4.1 km outside town, to the southHistoric houseHistoric houseSouthwick House4.8 km outside town, to the southwestAttractionAttractionThe Sustainability Centre3.4 km outside town, to the northPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
3 notable people were born in Horndean.
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Horndean | 34,046 | — | B+ | A | B− | A− |
| Clanfield | 1,254 | 2.3 | — | B | B+ | A+ |
| Denmead | 6,509 | 2.3 | B | B | A− | B |
| Waterlooville | 34,766 | 2.5 | C− | C− | C | B− |
| Rowlands Castle | 2,969 | 2.7 | B− | B− | C+ | A |
| Havant | 46,964 | 3.4 | D− | C+ | D | C− |
| Westbourne | 1,938 | 5 | — | D | B | B+ |
| Emsworth | 11,512 | 5.1 | C+ | D | B− | A− |
Clanfield and Westbourne have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
GCSE results trail 68% of towns in England, and primary results trail 83% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £352,500, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £180,000, terraced houses £285,000, semi-detached houses £340,000 and detached houses £447,500. Household incomes are higher than in 70% of UK towns, so cost of living still grades A.
Large town in Hampshire, England
Horndean is a built-up area of 34,046 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.