Broadstairs grades C overall against UK towns: better than 27% of UK towns, and #54 of 87 in Kent. Its strongest subject is walkability (A−): 22% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is cost of living (D−): median sale £345,250, 7.2 years of area income; rent £1,118 a month.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Broadstairs is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Department for Education · GIAS, Key Stage 2 and GCSE resultsSee all 11 schools →
Who lives here
An older town: 29% of people in Broadstairs are 65 or over, more than in Kent’s towns or England’s towns
That puts Broadstairs above both Kent’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (18%). Children under 15 make up 15% of residents. Broadstairs has a median age of 50.4.
50.4median age
BroadstairsKentEngland
Ages · share of residents
29%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications18%
Apprenticeship6%
A levels or similar17%
Degree level31%
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
WomenEnglandMen
About 93 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.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
History
Broadstairs keeps more of its old housing than Kent or England’s towns: 24% built before 1919
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
In the comparison, Broadstairs comes above both Kent’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (16%). Broadstairs has 129 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 0 Grade I, 1 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Safety
Violent crime runs high in Broadstairs: 31.6 per 1,000 residents a year, above Kent’s towns and England’s towns
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
For Broadstairs, that is above both Kent’s towns (23.9) and England’s towns (22). Police recorded 1,548 crimes inside Broadstairs’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 393 reports of anti-social behaviour. Burglary and damage come to 13.5 per 1,000 residents a year.
31.6violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a yearCSafety Grade
Compared with UK towns its sizeLess crime per resident than 50% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people: about the middle for its size. Context only, not part of the grade.
More crimeLess crime
Reports by type · Sep 2025 to Aug 2026
Violence & sexual749
Damage & arson201
Shoplifting189
Other theft115
Vehicle crime64
Public order63
Drugs52
Other crime43
Anti-social393
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.
31.6
violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
13.5
burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
12.6
anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 (not graded)
data.police.uk street-level crime · points inside the ONS built-up-area boundary · OGL
Health
Disability is more common in Broadstairs than in Kent’s towns or across England’s towns: 21% of residents
At the census, 80% of people in Broadstairs called their health good or very good, below both Kent’s towns (82%) and England’s towns (82%). 3 GP practices serve the town; 81% 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.
Edward Heath: Moshe Milner, Public domain · Thomas Russell Crampton: unknown 19th century, Public domain · Tom Pendry, Baron Pendry: Chris McAndrew, CC BY 3.0
Cliffs End and Eastry have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Questions about Broadstairs
How many listed buildings are there in Broadstairs?
That is 2.1 times the typical UK town for its size.
Is Broadstairs safe?
About the middle for its size: 50% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people report less crime per resident. Against all UK towns, most of them smaller, it grades C. Police recorded 1,548 crimes inside Broadstairs’ built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 48% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
About Broadstairs
Large town in Kent, England
Broadstairs is a built-up area of 25,780 people, in the Thanet 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
Population
25,780 (Census 2021)
Council
Thanet
County
Kent
Region
South East
Area
3 sq mi (7.7 km²)
ONS code
E63005149
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.
