Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
It is a town of 5,776 residents in Hampshire, South East.
Strong in places, weak in others. Marchwood’s overall B− puts it #55 of 76 in Hampshire. On that grade it does better than 52% of UK towns. Jobs & income is its strong suit: households earn a mean £61,315 a year, and 1.6% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Homes are dear: homes sell for a median £325,000, about 5.7 times local household income. Hazard risk is higher than most (D): 5.3% of homes face a high or medium risk of river or sea flooding. Its remaining grades are unremarkable: B− for safety and C+ for schools.
Figures: income, ONS · claimants, DWP · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · flood risk, Environment Agency · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Marchwood is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 2 things Marchwood does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 14 buildings inside Marchwood’s built-up area.
4% 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 Marchwood.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
4% of its homes were built before 1919, lower than both Hampshire’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (16%). Conservation areas cover 3% of Marchwood’s land, below both Hampshire’s towns (4%) and England’s towns (7%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Marchwood Junior School’s results beat 77% of schools in England like it. Of its 2 schools, one is shown below, with the reason. Some 420 pupils attend the town’s two primaries.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marchwood Junior SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 258 | A− |
9% live in social housing, lower than both Hampshire’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (18%). The £325,000 median rests on 207 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026). Private rents average £1,244 a month across the New Forest council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £468,500 | 70 |
| Semi-detached | £357,500 | 30 |
| Terraced | £285,500 | 66 |
| Flat or maisonette | £175,000 | 41 |
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 29% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
86% of commuters drove, above both Hampshire’s towns (75%) and England’s towns (70%). For 49% of commuters, work was under 5 km away. Of the commuters living in Marchwood, 16% work in the town itself. The town counts 0.7 jobs per working resident.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Disability touches 15% of Marchwood’s population. 85% of the town’s residents described their health as good or very good at the census, above Hampshire’s towns (83%) and England’s towns (82%) alike. Seeing a GP means leaving Marchwood: the nearest practice is 2 miles away. Life expectancy here is 85.3 for women and 81.8 for men (2019–23).
| Census 2021 | Marchwood | Hampshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 85% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.4% | 4.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 15% | 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 and sexual offences accounted for 55% of recorded crime. The 12 months to August 2026 brought 253 recorded crimes inside Marchwood’s built-up area, and 32 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violent crime ran at 22.9 per 1,000 residents a year, higher than Hampshire’s towns (20.7) and near 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.
Children under 15 make up 18%, higher than Hampshire’s towns (17%) and near England’s towns (18%). At 41.5, the median resident of Marchwood sits in the middle of the age range. 18% of residents have reached 65.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Marchwood | Hampshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.8% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 26% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 18% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 12% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.4% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 21% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 34% | 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 Marchwood. Best known first.
CastleSouthampton Castle1.2 km outside town, to the east
CastleNetley Castle4.5 km outside town, to the east
Museum · English HeritageMedieval Merchants House1.1 km outside town, to the east
Historic shipShieldhall700 m outside town, to the north
MuseumSeaCity Museum1.8 km outside town, to the northeast
Art gallerySouthampton City Art Gallery1.8 km outside town, to the northeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Town in Hampshire, England
Marchwood is a built-up area of 5,776 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
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marchwood | 5,776 | — | B− | C | B− | B+ |
| Hythe and Dibden Purlieu | 19,857 | 2.9 | C | C | C+ | B |
| Ashurst | 2,370 | 2.9 | — | D | A− | B+ |
| Totton | 28,093 | 3 | C | C | C− | B− |
| Southampton | 249,633 | 3.1 | D | C | D− | C− |
| Rownhams and Nursling | 4,796 | 3.8 | B+ | B | C− | A− |
| Netley | 6,309 | 4.7 | C+ | B+ | C | C |
| Chilworth | 1,169 | 5.1 | — | C+ | C+ | A− |
Ashurst and Chilworth have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £325,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £175,000, terraced houses £285,500, semi-detached houses £357,500 and detached houses £468,500.
GCSE results trail 67% of towns in England, and primary results beat 52% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). Marchwood has 2 state schools; places are handled by Hampshire council.
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.