Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 3,962 in Kent, South East.
Cranbrook grades B overall against UK towns: better than 63% of UK towns, and #18 of 87 in Kent. Its strongest subject is schools (A): primary results beat 71% of towns in England; secondary results beat 100% of towns in England. Its weakest is safety (C−): 31.8 violent and sexual offences and 20.4 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026. Among UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, it has less crime per resident than 16%. The median home sold for £390,000 in the last three years, 5.8 times what households in the Tunbridge Wells council area earn in a year.
The 3 things Cranbrook 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 Cranbrook is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 178 buildings inside Cranbrook’s built-up area, 3 of them Grade I.
27% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Cranbrook.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Cranbrook’s listed buildings include the Church of St Dunstan, Grade I. Of the town’s 178 listed buildings on Historic England’s list, Grade I counts 3 and Grade II* 8. Conservation areas cover 100% of the town’s land, above both Kent’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (7%). The pre-1919 share of homes is 27%.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Nearly two thirds of pupils at the 3 primary schools within 3 km met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Cranbrook School’s results beat 96% of schools in England like it. Attainment 8 at the one secondary school within 3 km averages 68.3, and 89% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths. Both of the town’s schools appear below.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cranbrook Church of England Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 200 | C |
| Cranbrook SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 958 | A+ |
Police recorded 359 crimes inside Cranbrook’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 80 reports of anti-social behaviour. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 18.2 reports per 1,000, above both Kent’s towns (9.3) and England’s towns (7.8). For its size, Cranbrook records more crime per resident than 84% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. Violence and sexual offences made up 29% of the total.
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 32% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Just over a fifth of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train at the census, near Kent’s towns (22%) and lower than England’s towns (27%). Household income averages £63K a year before tax. Among 16 to 64s, 3.1% claimed unemployment benefits in 2026.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The nearest A&E to Cranbrook is The Tunbridge Wells Hospital at Pembury, 10.5 miles away. 2 GP practices serve the town; just over four in five patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. Women here live to 84.3 on average and men to 81 (2019–23).
| Census 2021 | Cranbrook | Kent | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 82% | 82% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.4% | 5.1% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 17% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · A young population flatters these answers, which are not age-adjusted; the Health Grade instead uses measures that allow for age, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
58% of households are owner-occupiers. Private renters make up 16% of households, lower than both Kent’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (21%). Behind the median of £390,000: 185 standard sales inside Cranbrook’s built-up area, September 2023 to August 2026.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £580,000 | 61 |
| Semi-detached | £392,500 | 62 |
| Terraced | £300,000 | 43 |
| Flat or maisonette | £300,000 | 19 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Children under 15 make up 19%, higher than both Kent’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (18%). Half of Cranbrook is older than 45.3, half younger. Graduates make up nearly a third of adults.
52% women, 48% men
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.
| Cranbrook | Kent | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 12% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 18% | 25% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 24% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 18% | 18% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 15% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 32% | 29% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Kent and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Cranbrook. Best known first.
MuseumCranbrook Museumin town
Garden · National TrustSissinghurst Castle and Garden3 km outside town, to the northeastAttractionAttractionThe Union Millin townPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
178 listed buildings in Cranbrook, 3 of them Grade I.
Church of St Dunstan: Photo: John Salmon · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Anderson and Sons Butchers, George Hotel and Harper and Hurlingham: Photo: Oast House Archive · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Strict Baptist Chapel: Photo: David Anstiss · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Providence Cottages: Photo: N Chadwick · CC BY-SA 2.0
13 notable people were born in Cranbrook.
Boyd Alexander: Photographer unknown - obituary by W R Ogilvie-Grant, Public domain · Jon Cleary: Masahiro Sumori, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Sydney Thompson Dobell: Archer, Public domain · William Huntington: Domenico Pellegrini, Public domain · Edwin Shirley: Raphman77, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Jane Powell: Samuel De Wilde, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cranbrook | 3,962 | — | B | C+ | C− | B |
| Benenden | 1,409 | 2.7 | — | C− | A | B+ |
| Goudhurst | 1,104 | 3.5 | — | B− | C+ | A |
| Hawkhurst | 3,683 | 3.7 | B+ | C+ | C | B+ |
| Biddenden | 1,345 | 4.7 | — | C | C+ | A− |
| Staplehurst | 6,181 | 4.9 | C | C | C+ | B− |
| Horsmonden | 1,580 | 5.3 | — | C | A− | A+ |
| Marden | 3,489 | 5.6 | B | C− | C | B |
Benenden, Goudhurst, Biddenden and Horsmonden have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 18.4 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include Church of St Dunstan.
Secondary schools stand out: GCSE results beat almost all towns in England. Primary results beat 71%. Cranbrook has 2 state schools; places are handled by Kent council.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £390,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £300,000, terraced houses £300,000, semi-detached houses £392,500 and detached houses £580,000.
Town in Kent, England
Cranbrook is a built-up area of 3,962 people, in the Tunbridge Wells 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.