Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
In West Sussex, South East, this city has 120,567 residents.
Safety lags: 42.7 violent and sexual offences and 15 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Among UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, it has less crime per resident than 56%. Fewer journeys need a car: on the way to work, 26% walk, cycle or take a bus or train. A median £350,000 buys a home here, 6 times what households in the Crawley council area earn in a year. All told, that adds up to a C− overall and a rank of #35 of 40 in West Sussex. It comes out better than 18% 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 Crawley 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 Crawley is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 84 buildings inside Crawley’s built-up area, 3 of them Grade I, and 3 scheduled monuments.
3% 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 1922 and a map from 1932.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Crawley. Best known first.
Historic houseBrantridge Park4.1 km outside town, to the south
Garden · National TrustNT Nymans Gardens4.1 km outside town, to the south
MuseumGatwick Aviation Museum2.1 km outside town, to the north
MuseumWings Museum3.7 km outside town, to the southZooZooTilgate Zoo200 m outside town, to the southPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Crawley.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 27% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
The average household earns £58K a year before tax. Of the commuters living in Crawley, 56% work in the town itself. For every resident in work, Crawley has 1.5 jobs. Short trips to work, under 5 km: 51%, above both West Sussex’s towns (44%) and England’s towns (45%).
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Below are three of its 35 schools, each with why it was picked. Our Lady Queen of Heaven Catholic Primary School’s results beat nine in ten schools in England like it. GCSE results at the town’s 7 secondary schools: 38% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 43.3.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hilltop Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 658 | A− |
| Hazelwick SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,913 | C+ |
| Our Lady Queen of Heaven Catholic Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 422 | 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 figures for Crawley’s built-up area: 11,190 crimes and 2,594 anti-social behaviour reports in the 12 months to August 2026. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 17.5 reports per 1,000, higher than both West Sussex’s towns (11.5) and England’s towns (7.8). Violence and sexual offences were 41% of the crimes.
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 owner-occupied share of households is 56%. Private rents average £1,488 a month across the Crawley council area. 20% rent privately, about level with England’s towns (21%) and above West Sussex’s towns (17%).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £560,000 | 473 |
| Semi-detached | £407,500 | 764 |
| Terraced | £342,500 | 1,465 |
| Flat or maisonette | £218,000 | 778 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Crawley’s listed buildings include Ifield Quaker Meeting House, Grade I. Per 10,000 residents, Crawley counts 7 listed buildings, below both West Sussex’s towns (52) and England’s towns (39). Grade II* covers 10 of them, Grade I 3.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The nearest A&E to Crawley is East Surrey Hospital, 7.5 miles away. 84% of the town’s residents described their health as good or very good at the census, above both West Sussex’s towns (83%) and England’s towns (82%). 12 GP practices serve the town; 78% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Crawley | West Sussex | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 84% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.3% | 4.5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 15% | 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.
Children are 20% of the town. Half of Crawley is older than 36.9, half younger. Degrees are held by 28% of adults, below both West Sussex’s towns (32%) and England’s towns (34%).
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Crawley | West Sussex | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 20% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 9.8% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 32% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 24% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 13% | 23% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 18% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.2% | 5.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 28% | 32% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · West Sussex and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
84 listed buildings in Crawley, 3 of them Grade I.
Ifield Quaker Meeting House: Photo: Basil Jradeh · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Parish Church of St Margaret: Photo: The Voice of Hassocks · CC0 · The Ancient Priors (Minters Restaurant a Louis Coiffeur): Photo: The Voice of Hassocks · CC0 · Toll House: Photo: Peter Trimming · CC BY-SA 2.0
62 notable people were born in Crawley.
Kevin Muscat: Anita Milas, CC BY 1.0 · Erin Doherty: Pubeye1234, CC BY 4.0 · Caroline Haslett: The author of this photograph is anonymous, but that we know it was taken c.1925 and was held in the archives of the Institution of Engineering and Technology., Public domain · Craig Pickering: Osaka07_D9A_M4-100_UK_post-VC.jpg: Arcimboldo derivative work: Lepax, CC BY 2.5 · Romesh Ranganathan: Ray Schram Photographer UK: http://www.RaySchram-Photo.co.uk/, CC BY 2.0 · Tara Leniston: Mariagolpe at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crawley | 120,567 | — | C− | C− | D | C+ |
| Pease Pottage | 1,688 | 2 | — | C+ | C− | B |
| Copthorne | 4,917 | 3.7 | B− | B− | C− | A |
| Handcross | 1,399 | 4.1 | — | B | C+ | B |
| Balcombe | 1,445 | 4.6 | — | C | A− | B− |
| Horley | 27,067 | 4.7 | B | C+ | C+ | B |
| Crawley Down | 5,775 | 5.1 | A+ | B− | A | A |
| Smallfield | 2,613 | 5.2 | C− | C | D | B |
Pease Pottage, Handcross and Balcombe have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
About the middle for its size: 44% 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 D.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
GCSE results trail 72% of towns in England, and primary results trail 59% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
City in West Sussex, England
Crawley is a built-up area of 120,567 people, in the Crawley 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.