Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 5,775 people, this town lies in West Sussex, South East.
Good on most counts; one lags. Crawley Down grades A+ overall, better than 95% of UK towns, and ranks #5 of 40 in West Sussex. Health is where it shines (A) — life expectancy 83.3 for men, 85.1 for women. It is strong on jobs & income as well (A): the mean household earns £68,050 a year. The median home sold for £477,575, 6.8 times what households in the Mid Sussex council area earn in a year. What holds it back is walkability — 11% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport.
Figures: life expectancy and income, ONS · claimants, DWP · commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
The 3 things Crawley Down 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 Down is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 11 buildings inside Crawley Down’s built-up area.
7% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Crawley Down.
Self-reported good health: 86% of Crawley Down’s residents. 14% of residents have a disability, below West Sussex’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (17%) alike. The nearest A&E to Crawley Down is East Surrey Hospital, 7.7 miles away. Also worth knowing: men in Crawley Down can expect to live to 83.3, women to 85.1 (2019–23).
| Census 2021 | Crawley Down | West Sussex | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 86% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.3% | 4.5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 14% | 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.
63% of pupils at the 6 primary schools within 3 km met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). There is one school here; it is shown below. Secondary results at the one secondary school within 3 km: an Attainment 8 score of 49.4, with 50% at grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crawley Down Village CofE SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 396 | B− |
Violence came to 13.2 per 1,000 residents a year, below both West Sussex’s towns (17.6) and England’s towns (22). Burglary and damage come to 5.3 per 1,000 residents a year. In the 12 months to August 2026, police logged 131 crimes and 63 reports of anti-social behaviour inside Crawley Down’s built-up area.
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.
Homes from before 1919 make up 7% of the total, below West Sussex’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (16%) alike. Listed buildings per head: 19 for every 10,000 residents of Crawley Down.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 40% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
There are 0.4 jobs in Crawley Down for each resident in work. The car took 87% of commuters, above West Sussex’s towns (75%) and England’s towns (70%) alike. Two in five workers did their job mainly from home at the census. Work in town: 6% of resident commuters.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
8% of households live in social housing. Private rents average £1,423 a month across the Mid Sussex council area. Half of the 227 standard sales inside Crawley Down’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £477,575.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £600,800 | 100 |
| Semi-detached | £441,000 | 79 |
| Terraced | £390,000 | 39 |
| Flat or maisonette | £225,000 | 9 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The 15-to-24 age group makes up 8.5% of residents. Line up the people of Crawley Down by age and the one in the middle is 47.8. Degrees are held by nearly a third of adults.
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
| Crawley Down | West Sussex | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.5% | 9.8% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 21% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 26% | 23% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 13% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.9% | 5.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 32% | 32% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · West Sussex and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Crawley Down. Best known first.
Garden · National TrustWakehurst4.7 km outside town, to the south
Historic houseSaint Hill Manor2.5 km outside town, to the southeast
Museum · National TrustStanden3.3 km outside town, to the southeast
MuseumEast Grinstead Museum4.1 km outside town, to the east
MuseumPriest House3.4 km outside town, to the southGardenGarden · National TrustRosery3.3 km outside town, to the southeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
3 notable people were born in Crawley Down.
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crawley Down | 5,775 | — | A+ | B− | A | A |
| Felbridge | 2,031 | 1.8 | — | C− | B+ | A− |
| Copthorne | 4,917 | 2.1 | B− | B− | C− | A |
| East Grinstead | 26,350 | 2.8 | A− | B | B− | A− |
| Smallfield | 2,613 | 4.1 | C− | C | D | B |
| Ashurst Wood | 1,508 | 4.3 | — | B− | A− | A |
| Dormansland | 2,300 | 4.5 | — | C− | A | B |
| Lingfield | 3,622 | 4.5 | B− | C− | C | B+ |
Felbridge, Ashurst Wood and Dormansland have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Police recorded 131 crimes inside Crawley Down’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 43% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £477,575, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £225,000, terraced houses £390,000, semi-detached houses £441,000 and detached houses £600,800. Household incomes are higher than in 85% of UK towns, so cost of living still grades B−.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Town in West Sussex, England
Crawley Down is a built-up area of 5,775 people, in the Mid Sussex 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.