Where it falls short is cost of living: the median home sold for £350,000, 6.4 years of area income. Worthing’s overall grade, C, puts it better than a third of UK towns. The ranking puts it #28 of 40 in West Sussex. Crime is the sore point: 34.1 violent and sexual offences and 12.6 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Among UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, it has less crime per resident than 84%. Walking, cycling and public transport work well here (A): on the way to work, 27% walk, cycle or take a bus or train. Add schools to its strengths: primary results beat 55% of towns in England; secondary results beat 72% of towns in England.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Worthing is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Worthing.
Work & commuteJobs & income grade B−
More commuters in Worthing work nearby than in West Sussex’s towns or England’s towns: 59% travel under 5 km
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.
3.3% of 16 to 64s claimed unemployment benefits in 2026, above both West Sussex’s towns (2.4%) and England’s towns (2.3%). Household income averages £54K a year before tax. Of the commuters living in Worthing, 56% work in the town itself. Jobs per working resident: 0.9.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
SchoolsB+
Worthing’s schools outperform 67% of towns in England on results
Attainment 8 at the town’s 6 secondary schools averages 49.1, and 52% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths. Three of its 29 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. Between them, 21 primaries and six secondaries teach 14,509 pupils in Worthing.
Department for Education · GIAS, Key Stage 2 and GCSE resultsSee all 29 schools →
HousingCost of living grade D
Homes in Worthing sell for £350K at the median, against £425K in West Sussex’s towns and £308K in England’s towns
Renting privately is how just over a fifth of households live. Social housing holds one in ten households, below both West Sussex’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (18%). Private rents average £1,297 a month across the Worthing council area.
£350Kmedian sale
Median sale price · Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
Worthing£350K
Typical UK town£277K
By type
Median
Sales
Detached
£540,000
956
Semi-detached
£402,000
1,143
Terraced
£350,000
1,022
Flat or maisonette
£220,000
1,705
68%
of households own their home · England 61%
22%
rent privately · England 21%
£1,297
average private rent a month, Worthing council area
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Safety
Crime per resident in Worthing is higher than in 75% of UK towns
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
There were 16.1 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), above both West Sussex’s towns (11.5) and England’s towns (7.8). Worthing logged 9,306 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 2,294 complaints of anti-social conduct. Violence and sexual offences made up 37% of the total.
34.1violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a yearCSafety Grade
Compared with UK towns its sizeLess crime per resident than 84% of the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more: less crime than most for its size. Context only, not part of the grade.
More crimeLess crime
Reports by type · Sep 2025 to Aug 2026
Violence & sexual3,487
Shoplifting1,896
Public order1,043
Damage & arson775
Other theft506
Vehicle crime391
Drugs308
Other crime212
Anti-social2,294
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.
34.1
violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
12.6
burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
16.1
anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 (not graded)
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.
Who lives here
An older city: 22% of residents are 65 or over
The middle age in Worthing is 44.8. 16% are under 15, about level with West Sussex’s towns (17%) and below England’s towns (18%). People aged 15 to 24 make up 9.5% of the town.
44.8median age
WorthingWest SussexEngland
Ages · share of residents
22%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications16%
Apprenticeship5%
A levels or similar18%
Degree level32%
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
WomenEnglandMen
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
ONS Census 2021 · West Sussex and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
History
Worthing’s heritage list runs to 218 buildings, 3 of them Grade I
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
18% of its homes were built before 1919, higher than both West Sussex’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (16%). Worthing’s listed buildings include the Castle Goring, Grade I. Grade II* covers 12 of them, Grade I 3.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Health
Disability is more common in Worthing than in West Sussex’s towns or across England’s towns: 19% of residents
8 GP practices serve the town; 82% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. Asked at the census, 81% of residents of Worthing said they were in good or very good health. The nearest A&E to Worthing is Worthing Hospital, 1.4 miles away.
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.
Nearby attractions
Castle Goring and 8 more in and around Worthing
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Worthing. Best known first.
Gwendoline Christie: Harald Krichel, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Nicollette Sheridan: current events, CC BY 2.0 · John Selden: George Vertue / Peter Lely, Public domain · Harrison Reed: Timmy96, CC0 · Harry Hay: Faerichiee, Public domain · John Richardson: Cavarrone at the Italian Wikipedia project., Public domain
Findon has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Questions about Worthing
Is Worthing safe?
Against all UK towns, most of them far smaller, it grades C.
Does Worthing flood?
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Is Worthing expensive to live in?
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 £220,000, terraced houses £350,000, semi-detached houses £402,000 and detached houses £540,000.
About Worthing
City in West Sussex, England
Worthing is a built-up area of 111,635 people, in the Worthing 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
Population
111,635 (Census 2021)
Council
Worthing (mostly)
County
West Sussex
Region
South East
Area
8.9 sq mi (23.1 km²)
ONS code
E63006549
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.
