Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 5,881 people, this town lies in Essex, East of England. Over-65s are only 5% of the population.
A town of contrasts. Police record more crime here than in most towns (D): 36.2 violent or sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, plus 31.2 home and vehicle crimes. Set beside UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, its crime per resident is higher than in 94%. Walkability is its strong suit: a third of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. School results are strong (B+): primary results beat just over four in five towns in England; secondary results beat 53% of towns in England. At a median £230,000, a home costs 4 times the yearly income of households in the Thurrock council area. Overall, that makes a B−, better than 46% of UK towns. In the ranking it comes #48 of 81 in Essex.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · incomes, ONS.
The 3 things Purfleet-on-Thames 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 Purfleet-on-Thames is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 9 buildings inside Purfleet-on-Thames’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I, and 2 scheduled monuments.
4% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 1 old photo or postcard going back to 1869.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Purfleet-on-Thames.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 23% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Home was the main workplace for 23% of workers at the census. Of the commuters living in Purfleet-on-Thames, 14% work in the town itself. This Essex town counts 2.1 jobs per working resident. At the census, 33% went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport, above both Essex’s towns (23%) and England’s towns (27%).
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Both of its schools are shown below. Some 1,730 pupils attend Purfleet-on-Thames’s one primary and one secondary. Attainment 8 at the 4 secondary schools within 3 km averages 47, and 45% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purfleet Primary AcademyLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 619 | B |
| Harris Academy RiversideLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,111 | B |
In the 12 months to August 2026, police logged 491 crimes and 42 reports of anti-social behaviour inside Purfleet-on-Thames’s built-up area. Violence and sexual offences made up 47% of the total. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 8.1 reports per 1,000, about level with England’s towns (7.8) and above Essex’s towns (4.6).
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.
3.1% of residents report bad or very bad health. At the census, 87% of people in Purfleet-on-Thames called their health good or very good, above Essex’s towns (83%) and England’s towns (82%) alike. Also worth knowing: life expectancy here is 79.7 for women and 74 for men (2019–23). Seeing a GP means leaving Purfleet-on-Thames: the nearest practice is 0.4 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Purfleet-on-Thames | Essex | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 87% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.1% | 4.8% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 11% | 17% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · The census answers take no account of age, so a young town looks healthier; the Health Grade relies on age-adjusted measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
4% of homes date from before 1919. Scaled to its population, Purfleet-on-Thames has 15 listed buildings per 10,000 people, lower than both Essex’s towns (52) and England’s towns (39). 2 scheduled monuments lie in the town.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Purfleet-on-Thames is the second cheapest of the 81 towns in Essex, at £230,000. 44% of households own their home, below Essex’s towns (67%) and England’s towns (61%) alike. Private rents average £1,380 a month across the Thurrock council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Semi-detached | £390,000 | 6 |
| Terraced | £320,000 | 55 |
| Flat or maisonette | £202,250 | 98 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Line up the people of Purfleet-on-Thames by age and the one in the middle is 32.7. 5.1% of residents are 65 or over. Degrees are held by 36% of adults, above Essex’s towns (27%) and England’s towns (34%) alike.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Purfleet-on-Thames | Essex | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 25% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 37% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 22% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 5.1% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 16% | 19% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 4.2% | 5.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 14% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 36% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Essex and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Purfleet-on-Thames. Best known first.
CastleStone Castle2.4 km outside town, to the southeast
Museum · National TrustRainham Hall4.2 km outside town, to the northwest
MuseumDartford Borough Museum and Library3.7 km outside town, to the southTheme parkTheme parkLondon Paramount2.4 km outside town, to the southeastMuseumMuseumThurrock Museum3.4 km outside town, to the eastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
9 listed buildings in Purfleet-on-Thames, 1 of them Grade I.
Government Powder Magazine: Photo: Nigel Chadwick · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Purfleet Play Centre and Attached Wall to S: Photo: Hjamesberglen · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Royal Hotel: Photo: Marathon · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Church House: Photo: JRennocks · CC BY-SA 4.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Purfleet-on-Thames | 5,881 | — | B− | B | D | C− |
| Aveley | 9,364 | 1.4 | C+ | C− | C− | C− |
| Chafford Hundred and West Thurrock | 23,589 | 2.4 | B | C | D | C+ |
| Dartford | 69,131 | 2.8 | B | C+ | D | C |
| South Ockendon | 22,441 | 2.9 | C+ | C | C− | D |
| Stone | 6,438 | 3.1 | C+ | C+ | D− | C− |
| Swanscombe | 15,462 | 3.5 | C+ | B− | D | C− |
| Grays | 44,340 | 4.1 | C+ | C | C− | C |
People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Town in Essex, England
Purfleet-on-Thames is a built-up area of 5,881 people, in the Thurrock 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.