Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
33,885 people live in this large town in West Sussex, South East.
Housing is expensive: a typical home costs £407,500 and rent runs £1,231 a month. Overall, Rustington earns a C+, which places it #26 of 40 in West Sussex. On that grade it does better than 39% of UK towns. Crime is low: 17.3 violent or sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, plus 8.9 home and vehicle crimes. Its other grades sit near the middle: B for health, B for jobs & income and B for walkability.
Figures: crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · life expectancy and income, ONS · claimants, DWP · commuting, Census 2021.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Rustington is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things Rustington does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 127 buildings inside Rustington’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade I.
4% 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 1905.
Explore the history →127 listed buildings in Rustington, 2 of them Grade I.
The Parish Church of St Andrew: Photo: The Voice of Hassocks · CC0 · Knightscroft: Photo: Josie Campbell · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Parish Church of St Mary: Photo: The Voice of Hassocks · CC0 · The Lamb Inn: Photo: Graeme.duckworth · CC BY-SA 4.0
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Rustington.
Ages in Rustington split evenly at 56.2: half are older, half younger. Children under 15 make up 12%, lower than both West Sussex’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (18%). People aged 15 to 24 are 7.8% of the population.
53% women, 47% men
About 87 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.
| Rustington | West Sussex | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 12% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 7.8% | 9.8% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 17% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 37% | 23% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 19% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.4% | 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
Between them, eight primaries and one secondary teach 4,007 pupils in Rustington. Of its 9 schools, two are shown below, each with the reason. GCSE results at the 4 secondary schools within 3 km: 46% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 45.9.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rustington Community Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 554 | C+ |
| The Angmering SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,360 | C |
Private renters make up 12% of households, below West Sussex’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (21%) alike. 7% of households live in social housing. Half of the 2,061 standard sales inside Rustington’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £407,500.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £567,248 | 866 |
| Semi-detached | £380,005 | 458 |
| Terraced | £322,250 | 358 |
| Flat or maisonette | £245,000 | 379 |
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.
Rustington logged 1,421 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 433 complaints of anti-social conduct. Nearly two fifths of the crimes fell under violence and sexual offences. Also worth knowing: there were 10.8 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), lower than West Sussex’s towns (11.7) yet higher than 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 31% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
There are 0.7 jobs in Rustington for each resident in work. The car took 81% of commuters, higher than both West Sussex’s towns (75%) and England’s towns (70%). Nearly two in five commuters travelled under 5 km to work. Work in town: nearly a quarter of resident commuters.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
21% of residents have a disability, above both West Sussex’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (17%). Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 5.7% of the town. The nearest A&E to Rustington is Worthing Hospital, 5.4 miles away. 4 GP practices serve the town; just over four in five patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Rustington | West Sussex | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 79% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.7% | 4.5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 21% | 17% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · These shares come straight from the census, without allowing for age, and young towns benefit; the Health Grade instead weighs 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.
4% of its homes were built before 1919, lower than both West Sussex’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (16%). Rustington’s listed buildings include The Parish Church of St Andrew, Grade I.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Rustington. Best known first.
CastleArundel Castle4.7 km outside town, to the northwest
CathedralArundel Cathedral4.8 km outside town, to the northwest
Theme parkHarbour Park1.4 km outside town, to the west
CastleCastle Goring1.9 km outside town, to the northeast
MuseumArundel Museum & Heritage Centre4.4 km outside town, to the northwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
15 notable people were born in Rustington.
Justin Bell: Martin Lee from London, UK, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Robin Donovan: Nepoole, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Nigel Hitchcock: DG0MA, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Emily Sarah: Theinsideart, CC BY-SA 4.0
Large town in West Sussex, England
Rustington is a built-up area of 33,885 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
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rustington | 33,885 | — | C+ | D− | B+ | B |
| Littlehampton | 19,060 | 2 | D− | D | D | C− |
| Wick | 13,231 | 2.6 | D− | D | C− | C− |
| Arundel | 3,035 | 4.1 | B | D− | C | A− |
| Worthing | 111,635 | 4.2 | C | D | C | C |
| Yapton | 6,337 | 4.9 | D− | D− | C− | C |
| Findon | 1,840 | 5 | — | D− | A− | B+ |
| Walberton | 1,236 | 6.3 | — | D− | B+ | B |
Findon and Walberton 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.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £407,500, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £245,000, terraced houses £322,250, semi-detached houses £380,005 and detached houses £567,248.
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.