Living in Emsworth
Figures last changed 20 October 2026. House prices for Emsworth are on the main Emsworth page.
On this page: Who lives in Emsworth? · How much is council tax in Emsworth? · Is Emsworth safe? · How noisy is Emsworth, and how clean is the air?
Who lives in Emsworth?
About 10,500 people lived in Emsworth at the 2021 Census, in about 4,810 households, and they were older than most of England: 33% were 65 or over, against 24% across Havant borough and 18% in England. The median age was about 54, against 46 across the area and 40 in England. Of its households, 50% owned their home outright and 26% with a mortgage; 13% rented privately, against 13% across the area, and 10% rented from a council or housing association. 32% were one person living alone, most of them aged 66 or over. Rents are published only for whole council areas: across Havant borough, private rents averaged £1,151 a month in August 2026, up 3.1% on a year, on the ONS private rents index, against £1,459 in England. The census figures cover the 36 census output areas that hold Emsworth's postcodes, so at the edges they can take in a few homes just outside it.
Source: Census 2021 (Office for National Statistics, via Nomis) · ONS Price Index of Private Rents.
How much is council tax in Emsworth?
A Band D home in Emsworth is charged £2,320 in council tax for 2026 to 2027: Emsworth has no parish council, so its bill is the same as the rest of Havant borough. Of that, Hampshire County Council takes £1,690, the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police and Crime Commissioner £290, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Authority £93 and Havant Borough Council £247. The other bands are fixed shares of Band D: Band A is £1,547, Band C £2,062, Band E £2,836 and Band H, the highest, £4,641. These are full bills before discounts: someone living alone gets 25% off. A home's band is on the Valuation Office Agency's register, and the council's own bill may differ by a few pence.
Source: Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England (MHCLG), Table 10.
Is Emsworth safe?
By police figures, safer than Havant borough as a whole: police recorded 503 crimes in and around Emsworth between September 2025 and August 2026, about 48 for every 1,000 residents, against 78 across Havant borough. The most common were violence and sexual offences (204), other theft (60) and criminal damage and arson (53). In police figures that heading includes threats, harassment and stalking, not only assaults. There were also 85 reports of anti-social behaviour, which is counted separately because it is not a crime. Police place each incident at an anonymous point nearby, so ones near the edge can land on either side, and visitors and passing traffic count in the crimes but not in the residents, which pushes the rate up in town centres and along main roads.
Source: Police recorded crime and anti-social behaviour (data.police.uk) · Census 2021 (Office for National Statistics, via Nomis).
How noisy is Emsworth, and how clean is the air?
Road noise reaches much of it, on the government's noise maps: 135 of Emsworth's 300 postcodes (45%) have road noise at their centre point above the World Health Organization's guideline of 53 decibels, a day and night average that weights the evening and night up. The middle postcode sits at about 52 decibels and the loudest at 68. Railway noise passes the WHO's 54 decibel guideline at five postcodes near the line. The air is within the legal limits, though not the WHO's tighter guidelines: Defra's background maps put nitrogen dioxide at about 9 micrograms per cubic metre in 2026 across Emsworth's ten one-kilometre squares, against a legal limit of 40 and a WHO guideline of 10, and fine particles (PM2.5) at about 7, against a legal limit of 20 and a WHO guideline of 5. Noise is modelled for 2022, 4 metres above the ground, so a house set back from the road can be quieter. The pollution figures are background levels away from the kerb, projected from 2021; beside a busy road they are higher.
Source: Defra strategic noise maps, Round 4 (2022), road and rail · Defra background air pollution maps (2021 base year).
Figures cover 300 postcodes in Emsworth. How these figures are made.