Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 13,253 in Kent, South East.
Sheerness grades D overall against UK towns: better than 6% of UK towns, and #78 of 87 in Kent. Its strongest subject is walkability (A): 27% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is safety (D−): 87.2 violent and sexual offences and 32.8 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026. Among UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, it has less crime per resident than 0%. The median home sold for £212,000 in the last three years, 3.8 times what households in the Swale council area earn in a year.
The 3 things Sheerness 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 Sheerness is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 51 buildings inside Sheerness’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I, and 3 scheduled monuments.
50% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 1 old photo or postcard going back to 1803 and a map from c. 1850.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Sheerness.
For Sheerness, that is above both Kent’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (18%). Those 65 and older account for 13% of residents. The median resident of Sheerness is 34.5 years old.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Sheerness | Kent | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 24% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 12% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 27% | 25% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 24% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 13% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 31% | 18% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.2% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 15% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 14% | 29% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Kent and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
West Minster Primary School’s results beat 83% of schools in England like it. Two of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Minster Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 473 | A− |
| EKC Sheppey SecondaryLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 542 | – |
Violence came to 87.2 per 1,000 residents a year, above both Kent’s towns (23.9) and England’s towns (22). Police recorded 2,143 crimes inside Sheerness’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 682 reports of anti-social behaviour. For its size, Sheerness records more crime per resident than 100% 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
Sheerness sits above both Kent’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (17%) on this measure. Women here live to 78.8 on average and men to 73.2 (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 | Sheerness | Kent | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 74% | 82% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 8.3% | 5.1% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 25% | 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 13% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
That puts Sheerness above both Kent’s towns (2.7%) and England’s towns (2.3%). The average household earns £42K a year before tax.
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.
On this, Sheerness is above both Kent’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (16%). Sheerness’s listed buildings include Shed Number 78 the Boat Store Building Number 78, Grade I. Sheerness has 51 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 1 Grade I, 8 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
In the comparison, Sheerness comes below both Kent’s towns (65%) and England’s towns (61%). Private renters make up 36% of households. Sheerness is the second cheapest of the 87 towns in Kent, at £212,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £256,000 | 12 |
| Semi-detached | £265,000 | 70 |
| Terraced | £200,000 | 201 |
| Flat or maisonette | £135,000 | 11 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Sheerness. Best known first.
CastleQueenborough Castle600 m outside town, to the southwest
FortDummy Battery1.4 km outside town, to the northwestFortFortGrain Fort2 km outside town, to the northwestMuseumMuseumQueenborough Guildhall Museum200 m outside town, to the southwestMuseumMuseumMinster Abbey Gatehouse Museum2.4 km outside town, to the southeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
51 listed buildings in Sheerness, 1 of them Grade I.
Garrison Point Fort: Photo: Clem Rutter, Rochester Kent · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Remains of Windmill in Grounds of Seaview Hotel: Photo: David Anstiss · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Grotto Shaped Folly to North East of Ship on Shore Public House: Photo: Ethan Doyle White · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Sheerness defences: Photo: Chris Whippet · CC BY-SA 2.0
16 notable people were born in Sheerness.
Edward James Reed: Carlo Pellegrini, Public domain · Richard Carpenter: Jon Candy from Cardiff, Wales, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Francis Eustace Baker: Peter Neaum, CC BY 2.0 · Henry Russell: Street, Robert, 1796-1865, lithographer., Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sheerness | 13,253 | — | D | B+ | D− | D− |
| Halfway Houses | 4,396 | 1 | C | B− | C+ | C |
| Queenborough | 3,915 | 1.6 | D | B | D | C− |
| Minster (Swale) | 16,735 | 2.1 | D | C+ | C | C− |
| Grain | 1,728 | 2.5 | — | B− | C+ | D |
| Iwade | 4,533 | 4.4 | C+ | C | A− | C+ |
| Eastchurch | 3,381 | 4.9 | D− | B+ | D− | D− |
| Allhallows | 1,684 | 5.6 | — | C− | D | C− |
Grain and Allhallows have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Police recorded 2,143 crimes inside Sheerness’ built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 45% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
That is 1.6 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Shed Number 78 the Boat Store Building Number 78. It also has 3 scheduled monuments.
GCSE results trail 99% of towns in England, and primary results trail 73% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Town in Kent, England
Sheerness is a built-up area of 13,253 people, in the Swale 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.