Fewer journeys need a car: a third of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. What holds it back is safety: 30.7 violent and sexual offences and 13.1 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Set beside UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, its crime per resident is higher than in 12%. At a median £417,250, a home costs 6.2 times the yearly income of households in the Tunbridge Wells council area. The overall grade comes out at A−, #9 of 87 in Kent. On that grade it does better than nearly four fifths of UK towns. Elsewhere it is close to typical: B for health and B− for hazard risk.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · incomes and life expectancy, ONS · flood risk, Environment Agency.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Royal Tunbridge Wells is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
SchoolsA
Exam results at Royal Tunbridge Wells’s schools top 90% of towns in England
Below are three of its 19 schools, each with why it was picked. Key Stage 2 results at the town’s 12 primary schools: nearly two thirds of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). The Skinners' School’s results beat 97% of schools in England like it. Between them, 12 primaries and six secondaries teach 11,409 pupils in Royal Tunbridge Wells.
Department for Education · GIAS, Key Stage 2 and GCSE resultsSee all 19 schools →
History
Old homes shape Royal Tunbridge Wells: 39% were built before 1919, more than in Kent’s towns and across England’s towns
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Conservation areas cover 99% of Royal Tunbridge Wells’ land, above both Kent’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (7%). Royal Tunbridge Wells’s listed buildings include The Church of King Charles the Martyr, Grade I. Of the town’s 275 listed buildings on Historic England’s list, Grade I counts 1 and Grade II* 35.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Safety
For a town of its size, Royal Tunbridge Wells is quiet: less crime per resident than 88% of the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 16.2 reports per 1,000, above Kent’s towns (9.3) and England’s towns (7.8) alike. 3,217 crimes and 908 reports of anti-social behaviour: that is what police recorded inside Royal Tunbridge Wells’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026. Of all the crimes, 40% were violence and sexual offences.
30.7violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a yearCSafety Grade
Compared with UK towns its sizeLess crime per resident than 88% of the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more: less crime than most for its size. Context only, not part of the grade.
More crimeLess crime
Reports by type · Sep 2025 to Aug 2026
Violence & sexual1,281
Shoplifting530
Damage & arson358
Other theft299
Public order184
Vehicle crime138
Drugs117
Burglary94
Anti-social908
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.
30.7
violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
13.1
burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
16.2
anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 (not graded)
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.
Health
Is Royal Tunbridge Wells a healthy place? 86% of its people say their health is good, above Kent’s towns and England’s towns
At the census, 14% of people here had a disability, below both Kent’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (17%). Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 3.5% of the town. 5 GP practices serve the town; 83% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
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.
HousingCost of living grade C+
More households rent privately in Royal Tunbridge Wells than in Kent’s towns or across England’s towns: 25%
Half of the 2,348 standard sales inside Royal Tunbridge Wells’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £417,250. Three in five households are owner-occupiers. Private rents average £1,533 a month across the Tunbridge Wells council area.
£417Kmedian sale
Median sale price · Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
Royal Tunbridge Wells£417K
Typical UK town£277K
By type
Median
Sales
Detached
£910,000
389
Semi-detached
£510,000
557
Terraced
£400,000
490
Flat or maisonette
£275,000
912
60%
of households own their home · England 61%
25%
rent privately · England 21%
£1,533
average private rent a month, Tunbridge Wells council area
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Who lives here
More people in Royal Tunbridge Wells hold a degree than in Kent’s towns or England’s towns: 46%
Children under 15 make up 19% of residents. Young adults of 15 to 24 are 9.2% of residents, lower than both Kent’s towns (11%) and England’s towns (12%). The 65-and-over age group makes up 16% of residents. Half the people of Royal Tunbridge Wells are older than 40.1.
40.1median age
Royal Tunbridge WellsKentEngland
Ages · share of residents
16%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications12%
Apprenticeship4%
A levels or similar15%
Degree level46%
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
WomenEnglandMen
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Emma Corrin: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Joe Alwyn: H7ndrx, CC0 · Dominic Sherwood: Super Festivals, CC BY 4.0 · Arthur Waley: Rachel (Ray) Strachey (1887–1940), Public domain · Alec McCowen: The Bright Thoughts Company Limited - https://www.bright-thoughts.co.uk/creative-commons-greentie.html, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Hannah Barnes: Hoebele, CC BY-SA 4.0
Groombridge, Leigh and Five Oak Green have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Questions about Royal Tunbridge Wells
How many listed buildings are there in Royal Tunbridge Wells?
That is 2.2 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is The Church of King Charles the Martyr. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
Are schools in Royal Tunbridge Wells good?
Primary results beat 74%.
Is Royal Tunbridge Wells safe?
Against all UK towns, most of them far smaller, it grades C.
Is Royal Tunbridge Wells expensive to live in?
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £417,250, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £275,000, terraced houses £400,000, semi-detached houses £510,000 and detached houses £910,000.
About Royal Tunbridge Wells
Large town in Kent, England
Royal Tunbridge Wells is a built-up area of 51,215 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
Population
51,215 (Census 2021)
Council
Tunbridge Wells
County
Kent
Region
South East
Area
4.9 sq mi (12.7 km²)
ONS code
E63005846
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.
