Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A large town of 20,499 in Surrey, South East.
Farnham grades A+ overall against UK towns: better than 96% of UK towns, and #8 of 65 in Surrey. Its strongest subject is schools (A+): primary results beat 100% of towns in England; secondary results beat 95% of towns in England. Its weakest is hazard risk (C): 1.6% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. The median home sold for £525,000 in the last three years, 7.2 times what households in the Waverley council area earn in a year.
The 3 things Farnham 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 Farnham is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 288 buildings inside Farnham’s built-up area, 4 of them Grade I, and 3 scheduled monuments.
24% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 3 old photos and postcards going back to 1903.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Farnham. Best known first.
Castle · English HeritageFarnham Castlein town
MuseumCrafts Study Centrein town
MuseumMuseum of Farnhamin town
Abbey or priory · English HeritageWaverley Abbey800 m outside town, to the east
CathedralCathedral of St Michael and St George, Aldershot3.6 km outside town, to the north
Wildlife parkBirdworld3.1 km outside town, to the southwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Farnham.
South Farnham School’s results beat nearly every one of schools in England like it. Two of its 7 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Farnham SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 845 | A+ |
| Highfield South Farnham SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 479 | A+ |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
On this, Farnham is above both Surrey’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (16%). Farnham has 140 listed buildings for every 10,000 residents. Farnham has 288 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 4 Grade I, 38 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 51% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
In the comparison, Farnham comes above both Surrey’s towns (£71K) and England’s towns (£55K). 51% of workers worked mainly from home at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Women here live to 85.1 on average and men to 82.8 (2019–23). 3.1% of residents described their health as bad or very bad, close to Surrey’s towns (3.3%) and below England’s towns (5.2%). The nearest A&E to Farnham is Frimley Park Hospital, 8 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Farnham | Surrey | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 87% | 87% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.1% | 3.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 15% | 14% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
Half the homes sold went for more than £525K, close to Surrey’s towns (£535K) and above England’s towns (£308K).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £1,035,000 | 278 |
| Semi-detached | £565,000 | 165 |
| Terraced | £442,500 | 160 |
| Flat or maisonette | £342,500 | 298 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
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 1,011 crimes inside Farnham’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 199 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences were 43% of the crimes; the police category includes harassment and stalking.
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
For Farnham, that is above both Surrey’s towns (42%) and England’s towns (34%). Young adults of 15 to 24 are 13% of the population. Half the people of Farnham are older than 42.8.
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Farnham | Surrey | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 13% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 22% | 25% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 20% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 10% | 13% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 3.4% | 4.2% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 50% | 42% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Surrey and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
288 listed buildings in Farnham, 4 of them Grade I.
Farnham Castle (Comprising Castle Buildings to the South Only): Photo: Lewis Hulbert · CC BY-SA 3.0 · The Church of St Andrew: Photo: Hassocks5489 · CC0 · Willmer House: Photo: BabelStone · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Hatch Mill and House (Occupied by the West Surrey College of Art and Design): Photo: BabelStone · CC BY-SA 4.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Farnham | 20,499 | — | A+ | C+ | B− | A |
| Wrecclesham | 7,312 | 1.4 | A+ | C | A | A+ |
| Weybourne | 11,241 | 1.8 | A | B− | B+ | A+ |
| Badshot Lea | 1,883 | 2.1 | — | B− | B | A |
| Aldershot | 39,827 | 3.1 | B− | C+ | D | C |
| Crondall | 1,220 | 3.5 | — | B | B− | A |
| Bentley | 1,406 | 3.8 | — | C+ | A | A− |
| Elstead | 2,261 | 4.2 | — | C+ | B− | A− |
Badshot Lea, Crondall, Bentley and Elstead have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Among the strongest in England: GCSE results beat 95% of towns in England, and primary results beat almost all (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
That is 5.8 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include Farnham Castle (Comprising Castle Buildings to the South Only). It also has 3 scheduled monuments.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £525,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £342,500, terraced houses £442,500, semi-detached houses £565,000 and detached houses £1,035,000.
Large town in Surrey, England
Farnham is a built-up area of 20,499 people, in the Waverley 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.