Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A large town of 26,474 in Kent, South East.
Sevenoaks grades A− overall against UK towns: better than 80% of UK towns, and #8 of 87 in Kent. Its strongest subject is jobs & income (A+): mean household income £84,419; 1.6% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Its weakest is cost of living (D): median sale £670,500, 9.7 years of area income; rent £1,809 a month.
The 3 things Sevenoaks 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 Sevenoaks is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 277 buildings inside Sevenoaks’s built-up area, 12 of them Grade II*, and 2 scheduled monuments.
23% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 2 old photos and postcards going back to 1820 and a map from 1897.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Sevenoaks. Best known first.
Historic house · National TrustKnole House400 m outside town, to the southeast
Historic house · National TrustIghtham Mote3.9 km outside town, to the east
Garden · National TrustEmmetts Garden3.5 km outside town, to the southwest
Historic houseRiverhill House700 m outside town, to the southeast
Historic houseCombe Bank School1.7 km outside town, to the westPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Sevenoaks.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 55% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
32% of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train at the census, above both Kent’s towns (22%) and England’s towns (27%). 55% of workers worked mainly from home at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Three of its 9 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sevenoaks Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 547 | B |
| Knole AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,410 | C |
| Lady Boswell's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, SevenoaksTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 434 | A+ |
In the comparison, Sevenoaks comes above both Kent’s towns (82%) and England’s towns (82%). The nearest A&E to Sevenoaks is Princess Royal University Hospital, 8 miles away. 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 | Sevenoaks | Kent | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 88% | 82% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.1% | 5.1% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 12% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
For Sevenoaks, that is above both Kent’s towns (65%) and England’s towns (61%). 10% of households live in social housing. No town in Kent costs more to buy into than Sevenoaks, at £670,500, the highest of 87.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £1,300,000 | 396 |
| Semi-detached | £650,000 | 220 |
| Terraced | £450,000 | 221 |
| Flat or maisonette | £322,500 | 221 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Conservation areas cover 100% of Sevenoaks’ land, above both Kent’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (7%). Homes from before 1919 make up 23% of the total. Sevenoaks has 277 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 0 Grade I, 12 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Sevenoaks sits above both Kent’s towns (12.3) and England’s towns (9.4) on this measure. Police recorded 1,269 crimes inside Sevenoaks’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 274 reports of anti-social behaviour. For its size, Sevenoaks records less crime per resident than 76% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
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
That puts Sevenoaks above both Kent’s towns (29%) and England’s towns (34%). 21% of residents are children under 15. Half the people of Sevenoaks are older than 42.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Sevenoaks | Kent | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 21% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.9% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 24% | 25% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 18% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 11% | 18% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 3% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 13% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 53% | 29% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Kent and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
277 listed buildings in Sevenoaks.
Knole: Photo: Tilman2007 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Sevenoaks School: Photo: Tilman2007 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Almshouses: Photo: Tilman2007 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · The White Hart Public House: Photo: Mertbiol · CC0
49 notable people were born in Sevenoaks.
Bill Bruford: No machine-readable author provided. Nomo assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 2.5 · Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst: Joshua Reynolds, Public domain · Lizzy Yarnold: 121a0012, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Charlie Whiting: Morio, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Anne Seymour Damer: Joshua Reynolds, Public domain · Ben Tulett: Hoebele, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sevenoaks | 26,474 | — | A− | D | B− | A |
| Dunton Green | 3,241 | 1.1 | A− | C | B | A |
| Seal | 1,616 | 1.8 | — | D | B+ | B |
| Otford and Kemsing | 7,332 | 2.2 | A | D | B+ | A+ |
| Sundridge | 1,190 | 2.4 | — | C− | C | A |
| Ightham | 2,037 | 4.3 | — | D | A+ | A |
| Westerham | 3,390 | 4.9 | B | C− | C− | A |
| Plaxtol | 1,137 | 5.5 | — | D | A+ | A |
Seal, Sundridge, Ightham and Plaxtol 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 £670,500, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £322,500, terraced houses £450,000, semi-detached houses £650,000 and detached houses £1,300,000.
That is 4.3 times the typical UK town for its size. It also has 2 scheduled monuments.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Against all UK towns, most of them smaller, it grades B−. Police recorded 1,269 crimes inside Sevenoaks’ built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 32% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
Large town in Kent, England
Sevenoaks is a built-up area of 26,474 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.