Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
10,139 people live in this town in West Sussex, South East. 12% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport.
Prices are high against local incomes: homes sell for a median £365,000, about 7.3 times local household income. At C− overall, Barnham is better than 25% of UK towns and ranks #31 of 40 in West Sussex. It also trails on safety (C): 28.7 violent or sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, plus 15.2 home and vehicle crimes. Set beside UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, its crime per resident is higher than in 47%. Its strongest subject is jobs & income: households earn a mean £60,325 a year, and 3.1% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Hazards are a real consideration (D): 6.1% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. The rest of its grades are middling: B for schools and B− for health.
Figures: income and life expectancy, ONS · claimants, DWP · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · flood risk, Environment Agency.
The 3 things Barnham 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 Barnham is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 43 buildings inside Barnham’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade I.
10% 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 Barnham. Best known first.
CastleArundel Castle4.6 km outside town, to the east
CathedralArundel Cathedral4.2 km outside town, to the east
Abbey or priory · English HeritageBoxgrove Priory and Grounds3.2 km outside town, to the northwest
MuseumTangmere Military Aviation Museum2.5 km outside town, to the west
MuseumArundel Museum & Heritage Centre4.6 km outside town, to the eastMuseumMuseumCass Sculpture Foundation4.3 km outside town, to the northwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Barnham.
12% rent privately, lower than both West Sussex’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (21%). Council and housing-body homes hold 8% of households. Private rents average £1,231 a month across the Arun council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £490,000 | 243 |
| Semi-detached | £355,625 | 164 |
| Terraced | £295,000 | 95 |
| Flat or maisonette | £189,950 | 74 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Attainment 8 at the town’s 2 secondary schools averages 48.5, and 46% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths. At the town’s 3 primary schools, 62% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Between them, three primaries and two secondaries teach 2,777 pupils in Barnham.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barnham Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 313 | B+ |
| St Philip Howard Catholic SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,322 | A− |
| Aldingbourne Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 212 | A− |
Violence and sexual offences accounted for 43% of recorded crime. Barnham logged 656 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 141 complaints of anti-social conduct. There were 12.9 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), above both West Sussex’s towns (11.5) and England’s towns (7.8).
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.
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.
10% of commuters who live in Barnham also work there. The car took 86% of commuters, above West Sussex’s towns (75%) and England’s towns (70%) alike. For every resident in work, Barnham has 0.7 jobs.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
One GP practice serves the town; 68% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. The nearest A&E to Barnham is St Richard's Hospital, 5.3 miles away. 18% of residents in Barnham live with a disability.
| Census 2021 | Barnham | West Sussex | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 83% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.6% | 4.5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 18% | 17% | 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.
Before 1919: that is when one in ten homes were built. Barnham’s listed buildings include Barnham Court, Grade I. Grade II* covers 1 of them, Grade I 2.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The age that splits Barnham in two is 47. 16% are under 15, lower than both West Sussex’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (18%). Young adults of 15 to 24 account for 10% of the town.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Barnham | West Sussex | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 9.8% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 22% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 24% | 23% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 15% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.8% | 5.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 33% | 32% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · West Sussex and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
43 listed buildings in Barnham, 2 of them Grade I.
The Parish Church of St Mary: Photo: The Voice of Hassocks · CC0 · The Parish Church of St George: Photo: The Voice of Hassocks · CC0 · The Wilkes Head Inn: Photo: Hassocks5489 · CC0 · Granary/Outbuilding at Manor Farm to the North West of the Farmhouse: Photo: The Voice of Hassocks · CC0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barnham | 10,139 | — | C− | D− | C | B− |
| Walberton | 1,236 | 1.1 | — | D− | B+ | B |
| Yapton | 6,337 | 2.7 | D− | D− | C− | C |
| Tangmere | 4,000 | 3.1 | C | C | B | C+ |
| Bognor Regis | 68,443 | 3.7 | D | D | C− | C |
| Arundel | 3,035 | 3.8 | B | D− | C | A− |
| Westhampnett | 1,238 | 4.4 | — | D | D | A− |
| Wick | 13,231 | 4.6 | D− | D | C− | C− |
Walberton and Westhampnett 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.
Against all UK towns, most of them smaller, it grades C.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £365,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £189,950, terraced houses £295,000, semi-detached houses £355,625 and detached houses £490,000.
Town in West Sussex, England
Barnham is a built-up area of 10,139 people, in the Arun 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.