Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A large town of 26,147 in Kent, South East.
Larkfield grades C+ overall against UK towns: better than 35% of UK towns, and #44 of 87 in Kent. Its strongest subject is jobs & income (B+): mean household income £62,231; 2.7% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Its weakest is hazard risk (D): 3.7% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. The median home sold for £380,000 in the last three years, 5.7 times what households in the Tonbridge and Malling council area earn in a year.
The 3 things Larkfield 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 Larkfield is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 87 buildings inside Larkfield’s built-up area, 4 of them Grade I, and 2 scheduled monuments.
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 Larkfield. Best known first.
CastleLeybourne Castlein town
Fort · English HeritageSt Leonards Tower1.5 km outside town, to the southwest
CastleAllington Castle2 km outside town, to the east
CastleMereworth Castle4.6 km outside town, to the southwest
Museum · National TrustColdrum Long Barrow3.6 km outside town, to the northwest
MuseumMedway megaliths2.3 km outside town, to the northeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Larkfield.
Lift St James the Great’s results beat 85% of schools in England like it. Three of its 10 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Valley Invicta Primary School At AylesfordLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 398 | B+ |
| The Malling SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,051 | D |
| Lift St James the GreatTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 176 | A |
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Police recorded 1,318 crimes inside Larkfield’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 468 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences were 44% 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
On this, Larkfield is below both Kent’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (21%). 70% of households own their home.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £529,250 | 218 |
| Semi-detached | £390,000 | 407 |
| Terraced | £325,000 | 274 |
| Flat or maisonette | £227,500 | 91 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
84% of Larkfield’s residents described their health as good or very good in 2021, against 82% across Kent’s towns. 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 | Larkfield | Kent | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 84% | 82% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.4% | 5.1% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 16% | 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 31% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
In the comparison, Larkfield comes below both Kent’s towns (22%) and England’s towns (27%). 84% 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.
Larkfield has 87 listed buildings inside its built-up area on Historic England’s list: 4 Grade I, 7 Grade II*. 7% of its homes were built before 1919.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
For Larkfield, that is below both Kent’s towns (29%) and England’s towns (34%). Young adults of 15 to 24 are 9.8% of the population. Half the people of Larkfield are older than 42.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Larkfield | Kent | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.8% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 25% | 25% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 20% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 18% | 18% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.6% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 26% | 29% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Kent and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
87 listed buildings in Larkfield, 4 of them Grade I.
Leybourne Castle: Photo: Glen · CC BY 2.0 · Church of St James: Photo: The Voice of Hassocks · CC0 · The King and Queen Public House: Photo: Chris Whippet · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Aylesford Station: Photo: Ronald H. Edmondson · CC BY-SA 3.0
6 notable people were born in Larkfield.
Barry Hawkins: DerHexer, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Larkfield | 26,147 | — | C+ | C+ | C+ | B− |
| West Malling | 4,251 | 1.5 | B | C+ | C | A− |
| Eccles | 1,706 | 1.9 | — | B+ | B | C+ |
| Snodland | 11,820 | 2 | C− | B | C− | C |
| Kings Hill | 9,963 | 2.5 | A− | C− | B+ | A+ |
| Burham | 1,293 | 2.6 | — | B | B− | C+ |
| Wateringbury | 2,248 | 3.4 | — | C+ | B | A |
| Halling | 2,926 | 3.8 | C+ | C− | B | B− |
Eccles, Burham and Wateringbury have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £380,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £227,500, terraced houses £325,000, semi-detached houses £390,000 and detached houses £529,250.
About the middle for its size: 36% 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+.
Large town in Kent, England
Larkfield is a built-up area of 26,147 people, in the Tonbridge and Malling 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.