Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
It is a town of 5,513 residents in West Sussex, South East.
People here tend to be in good health: life expectancy is 81.9 for men and 86.8 for women. What counts against it is cost of living — the median home sold for £469,500, 7 years of area income. It lags on schools as well — primary results beat 16% of towns in England; secondary results beat 60% of towns in England. The overall grade comes out at B+, #12 of 40 in West Sussex. On that grade it does better than nearly three quarters of UK towns.
Figures: life expectancy, ONS · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
The 3 things Steyning 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 Steyning is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 117 buildings inside Steyning’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade I.
19% 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 Steyning.
Two in five adults hold a degree. Children under 15 make up 14%, below West Sussex’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. Line up the people of Steyning by age and the one in the middle is 53.7. People aged 15 to 24 are 9.6% of the population.
53% women, 47% men
About 88 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.
| Steyning | West Sussex | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 14% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.6% | 9.8% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 15% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 33% | 23% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 13% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 4.1% | 5.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 40% | 32% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · West Sussex and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
At the 2 primary schools within 3 km, 53% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Below are its two schools. Steyning’s one primary and one secondary have 2,110 pupils between them.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steyning CofE Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 335 | C− |
| Steyning Grammar SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,775 | B |
3.9% of residents described their health as bad or very bad, lower than both West Sussex’s towns (4.5%) and England’s towns (5.2%). The nearest A&E to Steyning is Worthing Hospital, 5.3 miles away. One GP practice serves the town; 87% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Steyning | West Sussex | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 83% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.9% | 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 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.
19% of its homes were built before 1919, above West Sussex’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (16%) alike. Steyning’s listed buildings include Brotherhood Hall, 9, Church Street, Grade I. Of the town’s 117 listed buildings on Historic England’s list, Grade I counts 2 and Grade II* 7.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Violence and sexual offences made up 47% of the total. In the 12 months to August 2026, police logged 156 crimes and 52 reports of anti-social behaviour inside Steyning’s built-up area. Violent crime ran at 14.1 per 1,000 residents a year, below both West Sussex’s towns (17.6) and England’s towns (22). Also worth knowing: among the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Steyning has less crime per resident than 84% 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.
9% live in social housing, lower than both West Sussex’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (18%). Private rents average £1,474 a month across the Horsham council area. Half of the 233 standard sales inside Steyning’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £469,500.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £680,000 | 84 |
| Semi-detached | £468,125 | 44 |
| Terraced | £380,000 | 63 |
| Flat or maisonette | £255,000 | 42 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 42% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Home was the main workplace for just over two in five workers at the census. Four in five commuters drove, higher than both West Sussex’s towns (75%) and England’s towns (70%). Work in town: 18% of resident commuters. For every resident in work, Steyning has 0.7 jobs.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Steyning. Best known first.
Castle · English HeritageBramber Castle100 m outside town, to the southeast
Fort · National TrustCissbury Ring3.8 km outside town, to the southwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
117 listed buildings in Steyning, 2 of them Grade I.
Chantry House: Photo: Antiquary · CC BY 4.0 · Springwells Hotel: Photo: Antiquary · CC BY 3.0 · Mouse Cottage: Photo: Ian Cunliffe · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 95 and 97, High Street: Photo: Simon Burchell · CC BY-SA 4.0
20 notable people were born in Steyning.
Maisie Peters: Justin Higuchi, CC BY 2.0 · Fanny Cornforth: Telrúnya 10:00, 3 January 2008 (UTC), Public domain · Emélie Polini: White, New York., Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steyning | 5,513 | — | B+ | C− | A− | A |
| Upper Beeding | 3,100 | 1.1 | A− | B− | A | A |
| Findon | 1,840 | 3.8 | — | D− | A− | B+ |
| Henfield | 5,630 | 3.8 | C+ | C− | B | B+ |
| Lancing and Sompting | 27,924 | 4 | C− | D | B− | C+ |
| Ashington | 2,688 | 4.2 | B | C− | A | A+ |
| Shoreham-by-Sea | 23,659 | 4.6 | B− | D− | B− | B |
| Partridge Green | 1,911 | 5.1 | — | C+ | A | B+ |
Findon and Partridge Green have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 8.7 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include Brotherhood Hall, 9, Church Street.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £469,500, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £255,000, terraced houses £380,000, semi-detached houses £468,125 and detached houses £680,000.
Town in West Sussex, England
Steyning is a built-up area of 5,513 people, in the Horsham 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.