Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
38,004 residents make their home in this large town in Essex, East of England. 26% of residents are 65 or over.
Health lags (C−): life expectancy 78 for men, 82 for women. Homes sell for a median £315,000, about 5.7 years of what households in the Castle Point council area earn. Walking, cycling and public transport work well here: on the way to work, 19% walk, cycle or take a bus or train. All told, that adds up to a C overall and a rank of #64 of 81 in Essex. Nationally, it does better than 29% of UK towns. Its other grades sit near the middle: B for schools and B− for hazard risk.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · life expectancy and incomes, ONS · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · flood risk, Environment Agency.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Canvey Island is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things Canvey Island does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 5 buildings inside Canvey Island’s built-up area, and 2 scheduled monuments.
0% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 2 old photos and postcards going back to 1919.
5 listed buildings in Canvey Island.
The Lobster Smack Public House: Photo: Glyn Baker · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Dutch Cottage: Photo: Oneblackline · CC BY-SA 3.0
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Canvey Island.
Children under 15 make up 16%, lower than both Essex’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (18%). Over-65s are just over a quarter of the population. Canvey Island has a median age of 46.3 years.
52% women, 48% men
About 94 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.
| Canvey Island | Essex | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 22% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 26% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 29% | 19% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.9% | 5.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 14% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Essex and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Canvey Island’s ten primaries and two secondaries have 4,082 pupils between them. Of its 12 schools, three are shown below, each with the reason. Secondary results at the 2 secondary schools within 3 km: an Attainment 8 score of 47.3, with 45% at grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northwick Park Primary and Nursery AcademyLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 644 | A− |
| Castle View SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,098 | C− |
| Leigh Beck Junior SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 319 | A− |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Per 10,000 residents, Canvey Island counts 1 listed buildings. This Essex town has 2 scheduled monuments.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
78% of people in Canvey Island rate their own health good or very good. At the census, 20% of people here had a disability, above Essex’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (17%) alike. 6 GP practices serve the town; 72% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. Women here live to 82 on average and men to 78 (2019–23).
| Census 2021 | Canvey Island | Essex | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 78% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.6% | 4.8% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 20% | 17% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Census health answers are raw, so younger towns score better on them; for the Health Grade we use age-adjusted figures like life expectancy and early deaths.
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Of all the crimes, 53% were violence and sexual offences. Each year, 12.6 burglaries and acts of damage are recorded per 1,000 residents. 2,506 crimes and 576 reports of anti-social behaviour: that is what police recorded inside Canvey Island’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026. There were 11.8 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), above both Essex’s towns (4.6) and England’s towns (7.8).
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 22% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Unemployment benefit claims came to 3.2% of 16 to 64s in 2026, higher than both Essex’s towns (2.5%) and England’s towns (2.3%). Just over a third of commuters travelled under 5 km to work. Work in town: 27% of resident commuters. By car: that was how 78% of commuters travelled at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
8% live in social housing, below Essex’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. Private rents average £1,262 a month across the Castle Point council area. From September 2023 to August 2026, 1,404 homes sold inside Canvey Island’s built-up area at standard prices; the middle one went for £315,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £340,000 | 712 |
| Semi-detached | £315,000 | 467 |
| Terraced | £290,000 | 171 |
| Flat or maisonette | £205,000 | 54 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Canvey Island. Best known first.
MuseumCastle Point Transport Museumin town
MuseumCanvey Island Heritage Centre Museumin town
Castle · English HeritageHadleigh Castle1.7 km outside town, to the northeast
FortSlough Fort4.7 km outside town, to the southeastMuseumMuseumThe Bay Museumin townMuseumMuseumLeigh Heritage Centre2.6 km outside town, to the northeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
9 notable people were born in Canvey Island.
Wilko Johnson: PSParrot, CC BY 2.0 · Billy Knott: Rach from Tadcaster, York, England, CC BY 2.0 · Frank Saul: Henk Lindeboom / Anefo, CC BY-SA 3.0 nl
Large town in Essex, England
Canvey Island is a built-up area of 38,004 people, in the Castle Point 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
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canvey Island | 38,004 | — | C | C | C | C− |
| Thundersley and South Benfleet | 49,886 | 2.9 | B | D | B− | B |
| North Benfleet | 1,765 | 4.1 | — | D | C− | D |
| Allhallows | 1,684 | 4.5 | — | C− | D | C− |
| Rayleigh | 32,383 | 4.6 | B+ | C | B− | B+ |
| High Halstow | 1,823 | 5.1 | — | D | A | B− |
| Southend-on-Sea | 182,295 | 5.2 | C | C | D | C− |
| Cliffe | 2,531 | 5.8 | B− | C | B− | B− |
North Benfleet, Allhallows and High Halstow have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Against all UK towns, most of them smaller, it grades C.
Band D council tax in Canvey Island is £2,335 for 2026–27, less than in 69% of UK towns (council, county, police and fire, plus the parish or town council). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
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.
