Settled homeowners who unpacked once and never left. More than eight in ten own their home. The typical resident is nearer fifty than forty. Hardly anyone rents privately. Crawley Down is not a village anyone passes through.
Every population figure here comes from the 2021 census. About 83% of Crawley Down's households own their home outright or with a mortgage, and only about 7% rent privately. Social renting accounts for about 8%, a larger share than private renting. A private rental here is rare enough that when one comes up, it goes quickly.
The median resident is 48, and 25 to 44 year olds make up about 21% of the population. The village's buyers tend to arrive with children already at school and a previous house to sell. Young renters and first-time buyers have largely gone elsewhere, mostly because of prices, not because the village keeps them out.
The Office for National Statistics models the area's median household income at about £68,000 a year before tax, for the financial year to March 2023. It is a modelled figure for that year, not a current wage, but it describes comfortable households rather than stretched ones. When the local talk turns to money, it is more likely to be about an extension than about how to make the month's money last.
About 23% of households are couples with dependent children, and lone-parent households make up about 8%. About 26% of households are one person living alone. Within that group, about 16% of all households are pensioners living alone. That makes the village a mix of school-run families and older residents who stayed after the children left. The quiet cul-de-sac houses both.
About 32% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, and about 13% have no formal qualifications. Full-time students account for about 2% of residents, which is about as few as you would expect in a village with no college and not many rooms to rent. It is a mixed village where the plumber and the project manager are neighbours, and nobody treats that as unusual.
The village's residents are settled, comfortable and in no hurry to leave, and that stability is one of its strongest features. Anyone looking for a young, fast-changing place should look elsewhere. Anyone who wants neighbours who will still be there in ten years has come to the right village.