Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A borough of 286,591 people, one of London’s 32 boroughs.
Hounslow grades B overall against UK towns: better than 56% of UK towns, and #15 of 33 in London. Its strongest subject is walkability (A+): 49% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is safety (C−): 35.2 violent and sexual offences and 21.5 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026. Among UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, it has less crime per resident than 59%. The median home sold for £485,000 in the last three years, 6.6 times what households in the Hounslow council area earn in a year.
The 3 things Hounslow 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 Hounslow is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 465 buildings inside Hounslow’s built-up area, 26 of them Grade I, and 4 scheduled monuments.
17% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 1 old photo or postcard going back to 1900.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Hounslow. Best known first.
Historic house · English HeritageChiswick Housein town
Historic houseSyon Housein town
MuseumBoston Manorin town
CathedralCathedral of the Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God and Holy Royal Martyrsin town
Historic houseGunnersbury Parkin town
MuseumHogarth's Housein townPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Hounslow.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 32% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
5.2% of people aged 16 to 64 were on unemployment benefits in 2026. The car took 47% of commuters, above London’s towns (38%) but below England’s towns (70%). Before tax, the average household brings in £73K a year. Work in town: 32% of resident commuters.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Attainment 8 at the town’s 18 secondary schools averages 51.6, and 56% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths. Below are three of its 75 schools, each with why it was picked. Some 42,688 pupils attend Hounslow’s 48 primaries and 19 secondaries. St Michael and St Martin Catholic Primary School’s results beat nearly every one of schools in England like it.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hounslow Heath SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 1,178 | B |
| The Heathland SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,759 | B+ |
| St Michael and St Martin Catholic Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 475 | A+ |
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Reported offences in Hounslow came to 25,415 over twelve months to August 2026; nuisance and anti-social incidents added 6,693. There were 24.4 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), about level with London’s towns (24.9) and above England’s towns (7.8). Violence and sexual offences accounted for nearly two fifths of recorded crime.
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.
31% rent privately, close to London’s towns (30%) and above England’s towns (21%). Home ownership stands at 46% of households. Private rents average £1,952 a month across the Hounslow council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £715,000 | 139 |
| Semi-detached | £565,000 | 1,323 |
| Terraced | £530,000 | 1,641 |
| Flat or maisonette | £370,000 | 2,607 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
43 GP practices serve the town; 77% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. 4.1% of residents report bad or very bad health. At the census, 85% of people in Hounslow called their health good or very good, close to London’s towns (85%) and above England’s towns (82%).
| Census 2021 | Hounslow | London | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 85% | 85% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.1% | 4.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 12% | 13% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · These answers aren’t adjusted for age, so young towns look healthier; the Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Hounslow’s listed buildings include Boston Manor House, Boston Manor Park, Grade I. Homes from before 1919 make up 17% of the total, about level with England’s towns (16%) and below London’s towns (28%). The national list protects 4 ancient monuments here.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
People 65 and over make up just over a tenth of the town, close to London’s towns (12%) and below England’s towns (18%). Half the people of Hounslow are older than 36.8. Also worth knowing: among adults, 42% have a degree.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Hounslow | London | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 33% | 34% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 24% | 24% | 25% |
| 65+ | 12% | 12% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 19% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 3.5% | 3.2% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 12% | 13% | 17% |
| Degree level | 42% | 47% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · London and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
465 listed buildings in Hounslow, 26 of them Grade I.
Chiswick House: Photo: Michael Coppins · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cascade in Chiswick Park: Photo: Patche99z · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Great Engine House, Kew Bridge Pumping House: Photo: Les Chatfield from Brighton, England · CC BY 2.0 · Sarah Sermons Almshouses: Photo: Maxwell Hamilton · CC BY-SA 3.0
360 notable people were born in Hounslow.
Kate Beckinsale: Gerald Geronimo, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Jimmy Page: Dina Regine, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Naomi Scott: iDominick, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Ian Gillan: Stefan Brending (2eight), CC BY-SA 3.0 de · M.I.A.: Interscope Records, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Peter Brook: John Thaxter, CC0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hounslow | 286,591 | — | B | C | C− | C |
| Richmond upon Thames | 192,888 | 2.2 | A | C+ | C+ | A |
| Ealing | 367,271 | 3.7 | B− | C | C− | C+ |
| Sunbury-on-Thames | 21,476 | 4.4 | B− | D | C− | B |
| Ashford Common | 8,333 | 4.8 | B+ | C− | B | B |
| Stanwell | 11,728 | 5 | C | C− | D | C− |
| Ashford | 22,823 | 5.2 | B | C− | C | B+ |
| Upper Halliford | 2,337 | 5.6 | — | D | B− | B |
Upper Halliford has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
GCSE results beat 82% of towns in England, and primary results beat 85% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
About the middle for its size: 41% of the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more report less crime per resident. Against all UK towns, most of them far smaller, it grades C−.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £485,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £370,000, terraced houses £530,000, semi-detached houses £565,000 and detached houses £715,000.
London borough in London
Hounslow is a built-up area of 286,591 people, in the Hounslow 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.