Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A borough of 182,187 people, one of London’s 32 boroughs.
Some subjects shine; others lag. Its standout strength is schools: primary results beat 97% of towns in England; secondary results beat 95% of towns in England. It also does well on walkability: 77% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. The median home sold for £760,000, 10.1 times what households in the Hammersmith and Fulham council area earn in a year. Crime is the sore point: 39.2 violent or sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, plus 23.5 home and vehicle crimes. Against UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, it has more crime per resident than 58%. All told, that adds up to a B− overall and a rank of #16 of 33 in London. Nationally, it does better than 54% of UK towns.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · incomes, ONS.
The 3 things Hammersmith and Fulham 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 Hammersmith and Fulham is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 257 buildings inside Hammersmith and Fulham’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I, and 1 scheduled monument.
56% 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 Hammersmith and Fulham. Best known first.
MuseumFulham Palacein town
MuseumWilliam Morris Societyin town
Historic houseEmery Walker's Housein town
PierChelsea Harbour Pierin town
Historic houseBuckingham Palace3.6 km outside town, to the east
Cathedral · English HeritageWestminster Abbey4.3 km outside town, to the eastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Hammersmith and Fulham.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 52% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Short trips to work, under 5 km: 54%, higher than both London’s towns (43%) and England’s towns (45%). The census counted 52% of workers working mainly from home. Work in town: 27% of resident commuters. Household income averages £75K a year before tax.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Addison Primary School’s results beat nearly every one of schools in England like it. Of its 58 schools, three are shown below, each with the reason. Attainment 8 at the town’s 11 secondary schools averages 56.7, and nearly two thirds of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| William Morris Sixth FormLargest primary schoolSixth form / 16–19 | Sixth form / 16–19 | 810 | – |
| The London Oratory SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,392 | A |
| St Stephen's CofE Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 445 | A+ |
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Police recorded 20,103 crimes inside Hammersmith and Fulham’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 5,891 reports of anti-social behaviour. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 32.2 reports per 1,000, above London’s towns (24.1) and England’s towns (7.8) alike.
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.
Of Hammersmith and Fulham’s 257 listed buildings on Historic England’s list, Grade I counts 1 and Grade II* 24. The town’s listed buildings include Fulham Palace, Grade I. 56% of homes were built before 1919.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Social housing holds 30% of households, above London’s towns (23%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. 36% of households are private tenants. Half of the 6,305 standard sales inside Hammersmith and Fulham’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £760,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £1,810,000 | 21 |
| Semi-detached | £1,750,000 | 109 |
| Terraced | £1,425,000 | 1,575 |
| Flat or maisonette | £635,000 | 4,600 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
At the census, 13% of people here had a disability, below London’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (17%) alike. 27 GP practices serve the town; three quarters of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. The nearest A&E to Hammersmith and Fulham is Charing Cross Hospital, 0.3 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Hammersmith and Fulham | London | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 87% | 85% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.1% | 4.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 13% | 13% | 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.
10% of residents are 65 or over, lower than both London’s towns (12%) and England’s towns (18%). Those aged 15 to 24 account for 14% of residents. Hammersmith and Fulham has a median age of 34.2.
53% women, 47% men
About 88 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Hammersmith and Fulham | London | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 14% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 38% | 34% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 23% | 24% | 25% |
| 65+ | 10% | 12% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 12% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 2.3% | 3.2% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 13% | 13% | 17% |
| Degree level | 58% | 47% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · London and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
257 listed buildings in Hammersmith and Fulham, 1 of them Grade I.
Former Odeon Cinema: Photo: Alex.muller · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Parish Church of All Saints: Photo: Diliff · CC BY-SA 3.0 · St Joseph's Almshouses: Photo: Edwardx · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fulham Fire Station: Photo: Edwardx · CC BY-SA 3.0
613 notable people were born in Hammersmith and Fulham.
Benedict Cumberbatch: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Beatrix Potter: Charles G.Y. King (1854-1937), Public domain · Tom Hardy: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Hugh Grant: Kurt Kulac, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Sacha Baron Cohen: Raph_PH, CC BY 2.0 · Rosamund Pike: Number 10, CC BY 4.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hammersmith and Fulham | 182,187 | — | B− | C− | D | C+ |
| Kensington and Chelsea | 143,348 | 1.3 | B+ | C− | D | B+ |
| Westminster | 203,571 | 2.6 | B− | C− | D− | B− |
| Wandsworth | 326,725 | 3.1 | B+ | C− | C | B− |
| Camden | 209,342 | 4.4 | B− | C− | D− | C+ |
| Brent | 340,611 | 4.7 | C+ | D | C− | C+ |
| Lambeth | 317,108 | 5 | C+ | C− | D | C |
| Ealing | 367,271 | 5.2 | B− | C | C− | C+ |
People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £760,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £635,000, terraced houses £1,425,000, semi-detached houses £1,750,000 and detached houses £1,810,000.
Among the strongest in England: GCSE results beat 95% of towns in England, and primary results beat 97% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Its Grade I building is Fulham Palace. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
Against all UK towns, most of them far smaller, it grades D. Police recorded 20,103 crimes inside Hammersmith and Fulham’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 32% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
London borough in London
Hammersmith and Fulham is a built-up area of 182,187 people, in the Hammersmith and Fulham 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.