Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 4,349 in Kent, South East.
Meopham grades B overall against UK towns: better than 64% of UK towns, and #17 of 87 in Kent. Its strongest subject is jobs & income (A): mean household income £64,535; 1.6% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Its weakest is cost of living (D): median sale £530,000, 9.3 years of area income; rent £1,336 a month.
The 3 things Meopham 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 Meopham is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 20 buildings inside Meopham’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
12% 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 Meopham.
For Meopham, that is above both Kent’s towns (65%) and England’s towns (61%). Private renters make up 10% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £675,000 | 67 |
| Semi-detached | £475,000 | 60 |
| Terraced | £370,000 | 19 |
| Flat or maisonette | £260,000 | 6 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Its two schools are below.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meopham Community AcademyLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 459 | B− |
| Meopham SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 905 | D |
Meopham sits above both Kent’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (18%) on this measure. Children are 15% of the town. Meopham has a median age of 49.8.
52% women, 48% men
About 91 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.
| Meopham | Kent | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.6% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 19% | 25% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 27% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 15% | 18% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.1% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 32% | 29% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Kent and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
That puts Meopham below both Kent’s towns (5.1%) and England’s towns (5.2%). Women here live to 86.8 on average and men to 81.4 (2019–23). 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 | Meopham | Kent | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 84% | 82% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.9% | 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 40% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
On this, Meopham is below both Kent’s towns (42%) and England’s towns (45%). At the census, 17% of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
In the comparison, Meopham comes below both Kent’s towns (24.1) and England’s towns (22). Police recorded 139 crimes inside Meopham’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 24 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences were 43% of the crimes; the police category includes harassment and stalking.
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 heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Meopham has 20 listed buildings inside its built-up area on Historic England’s list: 1 Grade I, 1 Grade II*. 12% of its homes were built before 1919.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Meopham. Best known first.
Museum · National TrustColdrum Long Barrow4 km outside town, to the south
Historic houseOwletts2.1 km outside town, to the northeastMuseumMuseumCold War Bunker4.9 km outside town, to the northZooZooHemsley Conservation Centre3.1 km outside town, to the southWater parkWater parkSt Andrews Lakes Watersports4.3 km outside town, to the eastAttractionAttractionCobham War Memorial2.8 km outside town, to the northeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
20 listed buildings in Meopham, 1 of them Grade I.
Meopham Windmill: Photo: Clem Rutter, Rochester Kent · CC BY-SA 3.0 · The George Inn: Photo: David Anstiss · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The White House: Photo: N Chadwick · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph · Well House: Photo: Stephen Craven · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meopham | 4,349 | — | B | D | B | A− |
| Istead Rise | 3,398 | 1.9 | B+ | D | A | A− |
| Longfield, New Ash Green and Hartley | 16,077 | 2.1 | B | C− | B− | B |
| Culverstone Green | 2,038 | 2.7 | — | D− | A | B+ |
| Vigo Village | 2,005 | 3.2 | — | D | B | B+ |
| Gravesend | 58,105 | 3.6 | D | C− | D | C− |
| Shorne | 1,038 | 3.8 | — | D | B | A− |
| Halling | 2,926 | 4 | C+ | C− | B | B− |
Culverstone Green, Vigo Village and Shorne have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
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: flats £260,000, terraced houses £370,000, semi-detached houses £475,000 and detached houses £675,000.
Meopham has 2 state schools; places are handled by Kent council.
Town in Kent, England
Meopham is a built-up area of 4,349 people, in the Gravesham 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.