Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A village of 1,104 in Kent, South East.
Goudhurst has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Its strongest subject is schools (A+): primary results beat 93% of towns in England. Its weakest is walkability (C+): 11% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. The median home sold for £365,000 in the last three years, 5.4 times what households in the Tunbridge Wells council area earn in a year.
The 3 things Goudhurst 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 Goudhurst is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists them inside Goudhurst’s built-up area.
46% 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 Goudhurst.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
On this, Goudhurst is above both Kent’s towns (52) and England’s towns (39). Goudhurst’s listed buildings include Church of St Mary, Grade I. Goudhurst has 86 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 1 Grade I, 2 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Goudhurst and Kilndown Church of England Primary School’s results beat 83% of schools in England like it. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goudhurst and Kilndown Church of England Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 216 | A− |
Women here live to 86.6 on average and men to 84.3 (2019–23). The nearest A&E to Goudhurst is The Tunbridge Wells Hospital at Pembury, 7 miles away. 19% of residents have a disability, above both Kent’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (17%).
| Census 2021 | Goudhurst | Kent | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 81% | 82% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.6% | 5.1% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 19% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 40% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
In the comparison, Goudhurst comes below both Kent’s towns (42%) and England’s towns (45%). The car carried 86% of commuters at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Police recorded 59 crimes inside Goudhurst’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 13 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences were 51% of the crimes; the police category includes harassment and stalking, so it runs higher than U.S. “violent crime”.
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
For Goudhurst, that is above both Kent’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (18%). Private renters make up 11% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £622,500 | 12 |
| Semi-detached | £355,000 | 13 |
| Terraced | £330,000 | 11 |
| Flat or maisonette | £218,000 | 7 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Goudhurst sits below both Kent’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (12%) on this measure. The median resident of Goudhurst is 46.3 years old. Graduates make up 35% of adults.
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Goudhurst | Kent | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 20% | 25% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 33% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 19% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 16% | 18% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 4.7% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 35% | 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 Goudhurst. Best known first.
Castle · National TrustScotney Castle3.7 km outside town, to the southwest
GardenBedgebury National Pinetum3.7 km outside town, to the south
Historic houseFinchcocks Music Museum2.1 km outside town, to the southwest
MuseumCranbrook Museum4.2 km outside town, to the eastPark or estatePark or estate · National TrustNational Trust Scotney Castle Estate3.3 km outside town, to the southwestAttractionAttractionThe Union Mill4.6 km outside town, to the eastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goudhurst | 1,104 | — | — | B− | C+ | A |
| Horsmonden | 1,580 | 2.2 | — | C | A− | A+ |
| Cranbrook | 3,962 | 3.5 | B | C+ | C− | B |
| Marden | 3,489 | 4.5 | B | C− | C | B |
| Ticehurst | 1,464 | 4.9 | — | D− | C− | A− |
| Hawkhurst | 3,683 | 5.1 | B+ | C+ | C | B+ |
| Paddock Wood | 7,616 | 5.5 | C | C | C− | B |
| Staplehurst | 6,181 | 5.5 | C | C | C+ | B− |
Horsmonden and Ticehurst have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Primary results beat 93% of towns in England (Department for Education, Key Stage 2). One state school is inside the town; places are handled by Kent council.
That is 32 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of St Mary.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £365,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £218,000, terraced houses £330,000, semi-detached houses £355,000 and detached houses £622,500. Household incomes are higher than in 91% of UK towns, so cost of living still grades B−.
Village in Kent, England
Goudhurst is a built-up area of 1,104 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.