Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
13,231 people call this town in West Sussex, South East home.
Homes are dear: homes sell for a median £289,000, about 5.8 times local household income. Health is a weak point: life expectancy 78.3 for men, 82.7 for women. Walkability is its strong suit: on the way to work, 18% walk, cycle or take a bus or train. The overall grade lands at D−, behind almost every UK town.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · life expectancy, ONS.
The 3 things Wick 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 Wick is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 10 buildings inside Wick’s built-up area.
5% 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 Wick. Best known first.
CastleArundel Castle2.9 km outside town, to the north
CathedralArundel Cathedral2.8 km outside town, to the north
Theme parkHarbour Park1.3 km outside town, to the south
MuseumArundel Museum & Heritage Centre2.6 km outside town, to the north
FortLittlehampton Redoubt1.5 km outside town, to the southMuseumMuseumLittlehampton Museum700 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 Wick.
The social rented sector houses 19% of households. Wick is the second cheapest of the 40 towns in West Sussex, at £289,000. Private rents average £1,231 a month across the Arun council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £403,000 | 70 |
| Semi-detached | £315,000 | 168 |
| Terraced | £275,000 | 171 |
| Flat or maisonette | £195,000 | 55 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Wick’s three primaries have 1,037 pupils between them. Below is one of its 3 schools, and why it was picked. 60% of pupils at the town’s 3 primary schools met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| White Meadows Primary AcademyLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 616 | B |
People 65 and over make up 16% of the town. Line up the people of Wick by age and the one in the middle is 37.1. 10% of residents are 15 to 24, near West Sussex’s towns (9.8%) and lower than England’s towns (12%).
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Wick | West Sussex | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 22% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 9.8% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 28% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 24% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 16% | 23% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 20% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.9% | 5.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 19% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 22% | 32% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · West Sussex and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Relative to its size, Wick keeps 8 listed buildings per 10,000 residents, below West Sussex’s towns (52) and England’s towns (39) alike. 5% of homes were built before 1919.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The nearest A&E to Wick is Worthing Hospital, 8 miles away. There is no GP practice in the town: the nearest is 1 miles off. At the census, 18% of people here had a disability, above West Sussex’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (17%) alike.
| Census 2021 | Wick | West Sussex | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 82% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.2% | 4.5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 18% | 17% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · No age adjustment applies to these census answers, which flatter younger towns; the Health Grade’s measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them, do allow for age.
Violence and sexual offences accounted for 47% of recorded crime. Wick logged 1,015 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 202 complaints of anti-social conduct. Homes saw 14.2 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year, higher than both West Sussex’s towns (9.7) and England’s towns (9.4).
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 21% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
About 11% of its commuters stay in Wick for work. For every resident in work, Wick has 0.5 jobs. Households had £51K a year before tax, lower than both West Sussex’s towns (£63K) and England’s towns (£55K). Home was the main workplace for just over a fifth of workers at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
10 listed buildings in Wick.
Court Wick Park: Photo: Dave Spicer · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph · Locomotive Public House: Photo: N Chadwick · CC BY-SA 2.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wick | 13,231 | — | D− | D | C− | C− |
| Littlehampton | 19,060 | 0.8 | D− | D | D | C− |
| Arundel | 3,035 | 2.1 | B | D− | C | A− |
| Yapton | 6,337 | 2.3 | D− | D− | C− | C |
| Rustington | 33,885 | 2.6 | C+ | D− | B+ | B |
| Walberton | 1,236 | 3.7 | — | D− | B+ | B |
| Barnham | 10,139 | 4.6 | C− | D− | C | B− |
| Bognor Regis | 68,443 | 6.2 | D | D | C− | C |
Walberton has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets 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.
GCSE results trail 93% of towns in England, and primary results trail 59% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). Wick has 3 state schools; places are handled by West Sussex council.
About the middle for its size: 64% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people report less crime per resident. Against all UK towns, most of them smaller, it grades C−.
Town in West Sussex, England
Wick is a built-up area of 13,231 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
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.
