Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A village of 1,279 in Kent, South East.
Farningham has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Its strongest subject is health (A−): life expectancy 81.7 for men, 83.6 for women. Its weakest is hazard risk (C−): 3.1% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. The median home sold for £530,000 in the last three years, 7.7 times what households in the Sevenoaks council area earn in a year.
The 3 things Farningham 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 Farningham is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists them inside Farningham’s built-up area.
34% 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 Farningham.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Farningham counts 51 listed buildings on the national list (Historic England): 1 Grade I, 4 Grade II*. Its listed buildings include the Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Grade I. Listed buildings per head: 399 for every 10,000 residents of the town. Also worth knowing: homes from before 1919 make up 34% of the total, higher than both Kent’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (16%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Private tenants account for 15% of households. 7% live in social housing, below Kent’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. The £530,000 median rests on 49 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £680,000 | 19 |
| Semi-detached | £535,000 | 11 |
| Terraced | £380,000 | 17 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Disability touches 13% of Farningham’s population. At the census, 3.6% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, below Kent’s towns (5.1%) and England’s towns (5.2%) alike. One GP practice serves the town; three in five patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Farningham | Kent | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 89% | 82% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.6% | 5.1% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 13% | 18% | 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.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 46% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Driving is how 80% of commuters got to work at the census, and on top of that 46% of workers worked mainly from home, above Kent’s towns (30%) and England’s towns (31%) alike. Average household income comes to £64K a year before tax. About 4% of its commuters stay in Farningham for work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Farningham logged 74 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 13 complaints of anti-social conduct. Violence came to 14.9 per 1,000 residents a year, lower than both Kent’s towns (24.1) and England’s towns (22). Of all the crimes, 26% were violence and sexual offences.
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.
Degrees are held by 36% of adults. Nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or over, above Kent’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. Line up the people of Farningham by age and the one in the middle is 46.2. Young adults of 15 to 24 account for 10% of the town.
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Farningham | Kent | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 23% | 25% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 23% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 14% | 18% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 4.4% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 36% | 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 Farningham. Best known first.
Castle · English HeritageEynsford Castle600 m outside town, to the southwest
Historic houseLullingstone Castle2.4 km outside town, to the southwestGardenGarden · National TrustSt John's Jerusalem3.2 km outside town, to the northZooZooEagle Heights Wildlife Centre1.8 km outside town, to the southwestHistoric siteHistoric siteLullingstone Roman Villa1.9 km outside town, to the southwestAttractionAttractionBrands Hatch Circuit2.7 km outside town, to the southeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
3 notable people were born in Farningham.
William Rashleigh: Photo by E Hawkins of Brighton, Public domain · Marianne Farningham: Thomas Williams Hunt, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Farningham | 1,279 | — | — | C− | B− | A− |
| Eynsford | 1,676 | 0.8 | — | D | B− | A− |
| Horton Kirby | 1,247 | 1.5 | — | C− | B− | B+ |
| South Darenth and Sutton at Hone | 4,091 | 2.1 | A− | B+ | C | B− |
| West Kingsdown | 4,306 | 2.6 | B− | C | B | B |
| Crockenhill | 1,569 | 2.6 | — | C | B− | B+ |
| Swanley | 17,209 | 2.6 | B− | C+ | C− | C− |
| Hextable | 4,100 | 3 | B+ | C | C+ | C+ |
Eynsford, Horton Kirby and Crockenhill have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 16.4 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £530,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: terraced houses £380,000, semi-detached houses £535,000 and detached houses £680,000.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Village in Kent, England
Farningham is a built-up area of 1,279 people, in the Sevenoaks 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.