Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 8,349 in Kent, South East.
Bearsted grades A overall against UK towns: better than 91% of UK towns, and #3 of 87 in Kent. Its strongest subject is jobs & income (A+): mean household income £68,801; 1.3% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Its weakest is cost of living (C−): median sale £450,000, 7.4 years of area income; rent £1,297 a month.
The 3 things Bearsted 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 Bearsted is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 60 buildings inside Bearsted’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
7% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Bearsted. Best known first.
CastleLeeds Castle2 km outside town, to the southeast
CastleAllington Castle4.1 km outside town, to the northwest
CastleThurnham Castle2.2 km outside town, to the northeast
Historic house · National TrustStoneacre1.1 km outside town, to the south
MuseumMaidstone Museum2.7 km outside town, to the west
PalaceThe Archbishop's Palace2.5 km outside town, to the westPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Bearsted.
On this, Bearsted is below both Kent’s towns (5.1%) and England’s towns (5.2%). One GP practice serves the town; 88% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. 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.
| Census 2021 | Bearsted | Kent | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 85% | 82% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.5% | 5.1% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 15% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
One of its 3 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Madginford Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 588 | B− |
In the comparison, Bearsted comes above both Kent’s towns (65%) and England’s towns (61%). Social housing holds 3% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £670,000 | 137 |
| Semi-detached | £407,000 | 156 |
| Terraced | £350,000 | 63 |
| Flat or maisonette | £257,500 | 12 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
For Bearsted, that is below both Kent’s towns (12.3) and England’s towns (9.4). Violent crime runs at 14.8 per 1,000 residents a year. Police recorded 210 crimes inside Bearsted’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 99 reports of anti-social behaviour.
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 Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 41% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Bearsted sits below both Kent’s towns (22%) and England’s towns (27%) on this measure. 86% of commuters drove to work at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Bearsted has 60 listed buildings inside its built-up area on Historic England’s list: 1 Grade I, 0 Grade II*. 7% of its homes were built before 1919.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
That puts Bearsted above both Kent’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (18%). Those aged 15 to 24 account for 8.6% of residents. Bearsted has a median age of 48.8.
52% women, 48% men
About 92 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.
| Bearsted | Kent | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.6% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 19% | 25% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 28% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 15% | 18% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.2% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 34% | 29% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Kent and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
60 listed buildings in Bearsted, 1 of them Grade I.
Bearsted Railway Station: Photo: Hassocks5489 · Public domain · The White Horse: Photo: Chris Whippet · CC BY-SA 2.0
3 notable people were born in Bearsted.
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bearsted | 8,349 | — | A | C− | A− | A |
| Maidstone | 109,503 | 2.1 | C+ | C+ | D | C |
| Kingswood | 1,371 | 3.8 | — | C− | A− | B |
| Sutton Valence | 1,457 | 3.9 | — | C− | C+ | B |
| Coxheath | 8,453 | 4 | C+ | C | B− | B |
| Lenham and Harrietsham | 4,763 | 5.2 | C− | C | C− | B+ |
| Eccles | 1,706 | 5.3 | — | B+ | B | C+ |
| Burham | 1,293 | 5.6 | — | B | B− | C+ |
Kingswood, Sutton Valence, Eccles and Burham have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 2.9 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of the Holy Cross.
GCSE results beat 88% of towns in England, and primary results beat 75% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). Bearsted has 3 state schools; places are handled by Kent council.
Police recorded 210 crimes inside Bearsted’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 51% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £450,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £257,500, terraced houses £350,000, semi-detached houses £407,000 and detached houses £670,000.
Town in Kent, England
Bearsted is a built-up area of 8,349 people, in the Maidstone 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.
