Photo: Robin Drayton · CC BY-SA 2.0How Hampshire stacks up
One of the best towns in the UK is in Hampshire: South Wonston for safety (#3). On balance it grades A−, which places it 15th. It stands out for long healthy lives (67.8 years of healthy life expectancy).
Each subject puts the official figure for the whole county beside a measure built from our town grades. How this works
Safety
25th of 65B63/100 Somewhat below-average crime. Its standout is South Wonston, #3 in the UK for safety. At 34.9 violent offences per 1,000 residents, Hampshire sits 31st lowest among the areas. Dorset, Wiltshire and Berkshire all do better on safety.
With theft, burglary and the rest counted too, 73 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 31st highest.
Source: police.uk street-level crime, September 2025 to August 2026 (each crime placed by its LSOA); Census 2021 residents. Greater Manchester Police publishes none.
Measure: recorded crime against residents (violence, burglary, vehicle crime, criminal damage), as in our Safety grades. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,138 graded towns. 76 Hampshire towns.
Where recorded crime concentrates
At the quiet end sit Barton on Sea (#31), Woolton Hill and Highclere (#85) and Bransgore (#86) of 2,138 towns. The busiest quarter for recorded crime takes in Southampton, Portsmouth and Havant. By population, 35% of its town residents are in top-quarter towns and 31% in bottom-quarter ones.
| County | Safest quarter | Most-crime quarter | Split |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ards and North Down | 100% | 0% | |
| Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | 100% | 0% | |
| Lisburn and Castlereagh | 100% | 0% | |
| Mid Ulster | 100% | 0% | |
| Antrim and Newtownabbey | 78% | 0% | |
| Hampshire | 35% | 31% |
Town centres and the people who live there
Each crime on police.uk is pinned to a nearby street or public place, not an address; both figures count crimes where those points fall. The county-wide rate takes in town centres, stations and shopping streets, where many offences are recorded but few people live. Our town grades leave shop theft and other town-centre crime out and count violence, burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage, the crimes that reach people at home.
Schools
44th of 90B−52/100 Middle of the table for schools. In the tests every English pupil sits at eleven, 62% here reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (20th lowest). 55% of town residents live in bottom-quarter towns, among them Southampton and Portsmouth.
Attainment 8 at GCSE: 44.6 (8th lowest), weighed equally with the primary results.
Source: DfE key stage 2 results 2024/25 and key stage 4 (Attainment 8), every state school in the county, pupil-weighted. England only.
Measure: our Schools grade: primary and secondary results of the schools in and around each town. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,331 graded towns. 76 Hampshire towns.
Cost of living
68th of 98C31/100 A bit expensive for what people earn. Homes cost 5.6 times what the average household takes in a year: a typical sale of £340,000 against income of £61,300. Hawley leads its towns at #202 of 2,515; 34% of town residents live in top-quarter towns.
Typical sale price: £340,000 (21,055 sales, 13th highest).
Private rent £1,286 a month (15th highest); Band D council tax £2,335 (39th lowest). Shown for context.
Source: HM Land Registry Price Paid, standard sales September 2025 to August 2026; ONS small-area income estimates (financial year ending 2023); ONS Price Index of Private Rents (August 2026); council Band D 2026/27.
Measure: our Cost of living grade: prices and rents against local income, plus council tax. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,515 graded towns. 76 Hampshire towns.
Health
16th of 98A85/100 Healthy with few exceptions. Of a life expectancy of 82.2 years, 67.8 are expected in good health (10th longest among the areas). Nearly every town does well here, South Wonston and Four Marks among them. Few places anywhere beat Swanmore, #6 of 2,515 towns for health.
Total life expectancy is 82.2 years (10th longest).
Source: ONS life expectancy and healthy life expectancy by small area (MSOA), 2019 to 2023, men and women averaged.
Measure: our Health grade: ONS life and healthy life expectancy, Census health, and OHID indicators in England. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,515 graded towns. 76 Hampshire towns.
Jobs & income
10th of 98A91/100 Well off nearly everywhere. Households take in £61,300 a year on average (8th highest), and 3.0% of working-age adults claim out-of-work benefits. Almost no one here lives in a bottom-quarter town; Chandler's Ford and Hook are typical. Whiteley ranks #8 of 2,156 towns in the UK for incomes.
Out-of-work claimants in August 2026: 3.0% of working-age adults (43rd lowest), weighed with income in the grade.
Source: ONS small-area income estimates (financial year ending 2023), household-weighted; DWP claimant count (August 2026) by council.
Measure: our Jobs & income grade: household income. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,156 graded towns. 76 Hampshire towns.
Getting about
31st of 98B+69/100 A bit less car-bound than most. 21% of commuters walk, cycle or take the bus or train to work, against 26% across England and Wales (33rd highest of 98 areas). One town stands apart: Winchester, #57 in the UK, while nearly every other town sits lower.
Worked mainly from home at the 2021 Census: 33% of workers (context; they are left out of the commuting share).
Source: ONS Census 2021, method of travel to work (TS061) by council; people working mainly from home left out.
Measure: our Walkability grade: how many everyday places are within reach on foot. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,515 graded towns. 76 Hampshire towns.
Flood risk
53rd of 87C+40/100 A bit more flood risk than most. 1.5% of homes in its towns are at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea, against 1.6% across England and Wales (25th highest). Town by town it lands near the middle, with Hartley Wintney its best at #387 of 2,452.
Source: Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales flood-risk maps (rivers and the sea), homes in every town of the county.
Measure: our Hazard risk grade: the share of homes at high or medium flood risk. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,452 graded towns. 76 Hampshire towns.
Growth
35th of 98B+65/100 Growing a bit faster than average. Since 2011 it has grown 8.9%, the 39th fastest change of 98 areas. Botley ranks #10 of 1,579 towns in the UK for growth.
Since the 2021 Census: +3.2%, 40th fastest.
Source: ONS mid-year population estimates, 2011 and 2024.
Measure: population change from 2011 to 2024 (ONS estimates for built-up areas). The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 1,579 graded towns. 54 Hampshire towns. Covers 94% of residents of Hampshire’s graded towns.
How Hampshire compares to its neighbours
Each of its neighbours (Dorset, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Surrey and West Sussex) does better on safety.
| Hampshire | Dorset | Wiltshire | Berkshire | Surrey | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | A− 7815th of 65 | B+ 7318th of 65 | A− 8312th of 65 | A 889th of 65 | A 898th of 65 |
| Safety | B 6331st official · 35% in top towns | A 8611th official · 61% in top towns | A− 8014th official · 45% in top towns | B+ 7021st official · 38% in top towns | A 8812th official · 71% in top towns |
| Schools | B− 5228th official · 13% in top towns | A− 7529th official · 33% in top towns | C+ 4340th official · 11% in top towns | A 935th official · 64% in top towns | A+ 972nd official · 72% in top towns |
| Cost of living | C 3178th official · 34% in top towns | D 593rd official · 0% in top towns | C+ 3565th official · 30% in top towns | D 1489th official · 6% in top towns | D− 097th official · 0% in top towns |
| Health | A 8510th official · 49% in top towns | A− 8212th official · 38% in top towns | A 868th official · 39% in top towns | A 934th official · 58% in top towns | A+ 982nd official · 98% in top towns |
| Jobs & income | A 918th official · 49% in top towns | B 6232nd official · 12% in top towns | B+ 7316th official · 17% in top towns | A 893rd official · 80% in top towns | A+ 992nd official · 99% in top towns |
| Getting about | B+ 6933rd official · 3% in top towns | B+ 7037th official · 3% in top towns | B− 4643rd official · 0% in top towns | A− 8420th official · 23% in top towns | A− 8123rd official · 14% in top towns |
| Flood risk | C+ 4031st official · 20% in top towns | B− 4915th official · 13% in top towns | B+ 6618th official · 23% in top towns | D 650th official · 3% in top towns | C− 1751st official · 18% in top towns |
| Growth | B+ 6539th official · 23% in top towns | B− 5445th official · 11% in top towns | A 8914th official · 50% in top towns | A+ 9511th official · 68% in top towns | B+ 6730th official · 22% in top towns |
Each cell: the subject’s grade and score, the county’s rank on the official figure (1st = the better end), and the share of its town residents living in a top-quarter town for the UK. Neighbour names open their report cards.
How this report card works
Two measures, side by side. The left card is an official figure for the whole county, its towns, villages and countryside together, built from the small areas and councils that make it up and ranked against the other counties. The right card is built from our town grades: of everyone living in the county’s graded towns of 2,500 or more, the share whose town is in the top quarter for the UK. Quarters are of people, not towns: the top quarter is the best-placed towns that together hold a quarter of everyone living in graded towns, so a county of big cities is not marked down just for being urban. A county can do well on one measure and not the other; that difference is often the story.
Scores and grades. Each subject’s score (0–100) is the area’s standing in one UK league of 98: the ceremonial counties of England (London counts as one), Wales’s eight preserved counties, and Scotland’s 32 and Northern Ireland’s 11 council areas, each called by its own name. The two measures’ percentiles are averaged, then ranked again, the same method as our town grades. Where a nation publishes its own kind of figure, the official figure is ranked within that nation: school results everywhere, health in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and flood risk in Scotland. Each area’s figures are set beside its own nation’s. 100 is the best county, 0 the last. Letters use the town-grade scale (A+ from 95, A from 85, A− from 75 … D below 15). The overall score weighs safety 18, cost of living 18, schools 16, health 14, jobs & income 12, getting about 8, growth 8, flood risk 6 (out of 100), over the subjects a county has. Counties with fewer than 5 graded towns (Rutland, Bristol) are graded on the official figures alone.
What it is not. A county figure averages everyone, so it cannot show whether a county is evenly good or a mix of very good and struggling places. The town measure shows the mix but leaves out villages and towns under 2,500. Neither says anything about any one street.
Gaps. Wales publishes no school results that compare with England’s, so Welsh counties have no Schools grade. Greater Manchester Police publishes no street-level crime, so Greater Manchester has no Safety grade and, as for its towns, no overall grade. Nor does Police Scotland, so Scotland’s council areas have no Safety grade or overall grade yet. Scotland and Northern Ireland have no small-area income figures, so their household income is estimated from ONS household income per head. Flood risk has no county-wide official figure; it is the share of homes in the county’s towns at high or medium risk. Sources are named under each figure. How grades work
Sources: 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.