Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The large town, home to 27,924 people, lies in West Sussex, South East. 25% of residents are 65 or over.
Lancing and Sompting’s grades pull in different directions. Cost of living is its weak spot: the median home sold for £350,000, 6.5 years of area income. Walking, cycling and public transport work well here: a fifth of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. All told, that adds up to a C− overall and a rank of #32 of 40 in West Sussex. It comes out better than 24% of UK towns. The rest of its grades are middling: B− for safety and C+ for jobs & income.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · income, ONS · claimants, DWP.
The 3 things Lancing and Sompting 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 Lancing and Sompting is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 25 buildings inside Lancing and Sompting’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade I, and 1 scheduled monument.
4% 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 Lancing and Sompting. Best known first.
Castle · English HeritageBramber Castle4 km outside town, to the north
Fort · National TrustCissbury Ring3.5 km outside town, to the northwest
PierWorthing Pier2.4 km outside town, to the southwest
MuseumMarlipins Museum700 m outside town, to the east
MuseumWorthing Museum and Art Gallery2.2 km outside town, to the southwest
FortShoreham Fort2.6 km outside town, to the eastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Lancing and Sompting.
15% of households are private tenants. Social housing holds just over one in ten households, below both West Sussex’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (18%). From September 2023 to August 2026, 1,206 homes sold inside Lancing and Sompting’s built-up area at standard prices; the middle one went for £350,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £446,500 | 231 |
| Semi-detached | £370,000 | 478 |
| Terraced | £325,000 | 286 |
| Flat or maisonette | £205,000 | 211 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Key Stage 2 results at the town’s 4 primary schools: 52% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Of its 6 schools, two are shown below, each with the reason. Attainment 8 at the 6 secondary schools within 3 km averages 47.5, and 49% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seaside Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 620 | B+ |
| The Sir Robert Woodard AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,427 | C+ |
16% are under 15, below West Sussex’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. Over-65s are 25% of the population. Half the people of Lancing and Sompting are older than 46.7. Young adults of 15 to 24 account for nearly a tenth of the town.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Lancing and Sompting | West Sussex | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.1% | 9.8% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 23% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 25% | 23% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 22% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.1% | 5.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 23% | 32% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · West Sussex and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 26% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Unemployment benefit claims came to 3.2% of 16 to 64s in 2026, above West Sussex’s towns (2.4%) and England’s towns (2.3%) alike. 78% of commuters drove to work at the census. Work in town: 19% of resident commuters. Each working resident is matched by 0.7 jobs in Lancing and Sompting.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Lancing and Sompting has 9 listed buildings for every 10,000 residents, lower than both West Sussex’s towns (52) and England’s towns (39). Its listed buildings include Lancing College, the Chapel, Grade I. Also worth knowing: 4% of homes date from before 1919. Grade II* covers 3 of them, Grade I 2.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
At the census, 21% of people here had a disability, above both West Sussex’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (17%). Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 6% of the town. 3 GP practices serve the town; 70% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Lancing and Sompting | West Sussex | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 78% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6% | 4.5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 21% | 17% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Read these answers with age in mind: they aren’t adjusted, so younger places do better. The Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them.
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
A year of reports to August 2026 adds up to 1,399 offences in Lancing and Sompting and 500 cases of nuisance behaviour. Violence and sexual offences accounted for 45% of recorded crime. Among the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, Lancing and Sompting has less crime per resident than 75% of them.
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.
25 listed buildings in Lancing and Sompting, 2 of them Grade I.
Lancing College, the Chapel: Photo: Bellminsterboy · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Airport Building, Comprising Control Tower, Administration Offices, Customs Hall, Restaurant, and Bars at Brighton City Airport (Shoreham Airport): Photo: nick macneill · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Monks Farm Presbytery: Photo: Mike Faherty · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Old Cottage: Photo: Mike Faherty · CC BY-SA 2.0
7 notable people were born in Lancing and Sompting.
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lancing and Sompting | 27,924 | — | C− | D | B− | C+ |
| Shoreham-by-Sea | 23,659 | 2.6 | B− | D− | B− | B |
| Worthing | 111,635 | 2.9 | C | D | C | C |
| Upper Beeding | 3,100 | 3.9 | A− | B− | A | A |
| Steyning | 5,513 | 4 | B+ | C− | A− | A |
| Southwick | 12,242 | 4.2 | C | D− | C | C |
| Findon | 1,840 | 4.2 | — | D− | A− | B+ |
| Rustington | 33,885 | 7.1 | C+ | D− | B+ | B |
Findon has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Against all UK towns, most of them smaller, it grades B−.
GCSE results beat 62% of towns in England, and primary results trail 88% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £350,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £205,000, terraced houses £325,000, semi-detached houses £370,000 and detached houses £446,500.
Large town in West Sussex, England
Lancing and Sompting is a built-up area of 27,924 people, in the Adur 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.