Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A large town of 54,385 in Kent, South East.
Sittingbourne grades C overall against UK towns: better than 27% of UK towns, and #53 of 87 in Kent. Its strongest subject is walkability (A−): 21% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is safety (D): 41.3 violent and sexual offences and 17.5 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026. Among UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, it has less crime per resident than 52%. The median home sold for £300,000 in the last three years, 5.4 times what households in the Swale council area earn in a year.
The 2 things Sittingbourne 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 Sittingbourne is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 124 buildings inside Sittingbourne’s built-up area, 5 of them Grade I, and 1 scheduled monument.
14% 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 Sittingbourne.
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Violence came to 41.3 per 1,000 residents a year, above both Kent’s towns (23.9) and England’s towns (22). Police recorded 4,310 crimes inside Sittingbourne’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 1,350 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
Three of its 22 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regis Manor Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 616 | C− |
| Westlands SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,690 | C |
| Borden Grammar SchoolTop results in townSecondary | Secondary | 938 | A+ |
For Sittingbourne, that is below both Kent’s towns (29%) and England’s towns (34%). 20% of residents are children under 15. Sittingbourne has a median age of 38.6.
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Sittingbourne | Kent | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 20% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 28% | 25% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 25% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 17% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 21% | 18% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.2% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 23% | 29% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Kent and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 25% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Sittingbourne sits above both Kent’s towns (2.7%) and England’s towns (2.3%) on this measure. 77% 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
Women here live to 82 on average and men to 78.8 (2019–23). The nearest A&E to Sittingbourne is Medway Maritime Hospital, 8.9 miles away. 7 GP practices serve the town; 69% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Sittingbourne | Kent | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 82% | 82% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.9% | 5.1% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 18% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Sittingbourne has 124 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 5 Grade I, 3 Grade II*. Sittingbourne’s listed buildings include Church of St Bartholomew, Grade I. Conservation areas cover 1% of Sittingbourne’s land, below Kent’s towns (15%) and close to England’s towns (7%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Owners make up 67% of households, close to Kent’s towns (65%) and above England’s towns (61%).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £450,000 | 486 |
| Semi-detached | £325,000 | 753 |
| Terraced | £265,000 | 860 |
| Flat or maisonette | £167,000 | 272 |
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 Sittingbourne. Best known first.
CastleQueenborough Castle3.4 km outside town, to the north
Heritage railwayBredgar and Wormshill Light Railway3.7 km outside town, to the southwest
Heritage railwaySittingbourne and Kemsley Light Railway300 m outside town, to the northeast
Historic houseProvender4.4 km outside town, to the southeastMuseumMuseumQueenborough Guildhall Museum3.6 km outside town, to the northPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
124 listed buildings in Sittingbourne, 5 of them Grade I.
Tunstall House: Photo: Penny Mayes · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Church of St John the Baptist: Photo: John Salmon · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Three Hats Inn: Photo: Richard Dorrell · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Tannery House: Photo: David Anstiss · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph
24 notable people were born in Sittingbourne.
Lewis Theobald: William Hogarth, CC0 · Andy Drury: https://www.flickr.com/photos/juddy666/, CC BY 2.0 · Charles Henry Caffin: AnonymousUnknown author, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sittingbourne | 54,385 | — | C | B− | D | C |
| Iwade | 4,533 | 2.3 | C+ | C | A− | C+ |
| Teynham | 3,128 | 2.9 | C | B | C− | C+ |
| Newington | 2,691 | 3.2 | C | C+ | C− | C+ |
| Lower Halstow | 1,210 | 3.7 | — | C− | A | B− |
| Upchurch | 1,727 | 4.6 | — | C− | A− | B− |
| Queenborough | 3,915 | 5 | D | B | D | C− |
| Halfway Houses | 4,396 | 5.7 | C | B− | C+ | C |
Lower Halstow and Upchurch have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
At the 2021 Census, 11% of Sittingbourne’s 54,385 residents were 15 to 24 and 17% were 65 or over, against 12% and 18% across England’s towns.
About the middle for its size: 48% of the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more report less crime per resident. Against all UK towns, most of them far smaller, it grades D.
Its Grade I buildings include Church of St Bartholomew. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
Large town in Kent, England
Sittingbourne is a built-up area of 54,385 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.