Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Over-65s are 36% of the population. A village in Kent, South East, home to 2,399 people.
People here tend to be in good health: life expectancy is 82.8 for men and 86 for women. Its weakest subject is cost of living — the median home sold for £403,000, 7.7 years of area income. Its other grades sit near the middle: B for safety, B− for jobs & income and B for hazard risk.
Figures: life expectancy and income, ONS · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · claimants, DWP · flood risk, Environment Agency. With fewer than 2,500 residents, St Margaret's at Cliffe has subject grades but no overall one.
The 3 things St Margaret's at Cliffe 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 St Margaret's at Cliffe is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
With fewer than 2,500 residents, St Margaret's at Cliffe has subject grades but no overall one.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists them inside St Margaret's at Cliffe’s built-up area.
21% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near St Margaret's at Cliffe. Best known first.
MuseumSt Margaret's Museumin town
Castle · English HeritageDover Castle3.8 km outside town, to the southwest
Castle · English HeritageWalmer Castle4.9 km outside town, to the north
MuseumDover Bronze Age Boat4.6 km outside town, to the southwest
Fort · National TrustFan Bay Deep Shelter1.4 km outside town, to the southwest
MuseumDover Museum4.6 km outside town, to the southwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in St Margaret's at Cliffe.
The middle age in St Margaret's at Cliffe is 57. Children under 15 make up 13%, below Kent’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. Those aged 15 to 24 account for 8% of residents.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| St Margaret's at Cliffe | Kent | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 13% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 15% | 25% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 36% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 14% | 18% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.4% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 37% | 29% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Kent and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
One of its 2 schools is below, with the reason it’s listed. St Margaret's-at-Cliffe Primary School’s results beat nearly four in five schools in England like it. 75% of pupils at the 2 primary schools within 3 km met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Margaret's-at-Cliffe Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 171 | A− |
Private renters make up just over one in ten households, below Kent’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (21%) alike. 7% of households rent from a council or housing body. The median sale, £403,000, comes from 88 standard sales inside St Margaret's at Cliffe’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £692,500 | 42 |
| Semi-detached | £321,250 | 20 |
| Terraced | £270,000 | 10 |
| Flat or maisonette | £226,750 | 16 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The nearest A&E to St Margaret's at Cliffe is Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital, 15.6 miles away. At the census, 21% of people here had a disability, above both Kent’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (17%). There is no GP practice locally: the nearest is 3.2 miles off.
| Census 2021 | St Margaret's at Cliffe | Kent | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 80% | 82% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.3% | 5.1% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 21% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Because the census answers ignore age, a younger population lifts them; that is why the Health Grade is built on age-adjusted measures like life expectancy and early deaths.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Homes from before 1919 make up 21% of the total, higher than both Kent’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (16%). St Margaret's at Cliffe’s listed buildings include the Church of St Margaret, Grade I. It has 18 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 1 Grade I.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 34% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Jobs per working resident: 0.5. Just over one in ten commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train at the census, below both Kent’s towns (22%) and England’s towns (27%). Unemployment benefit claims reached 1.9% of 16 to 64s in 2026. Of the commuters living in St Margaret's at Cliffe, 9% work in the town itself.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Violence and sexual offences accounted for half of recorded crime. A year of reports to August 2026 adds up to 92 offences in St Margaret's at Cliffe and 50 cases of nuisance behaviour. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 13.8 reports per 1,000, above Kent’s towns (9.3) and England’s towns (7.8) alike.
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 police category of violence and sexual offences includes harassment and stalking.
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Margaret's at Cliffe | 2,399 | — | — | D | B | A− |
| Kingsdown | 1,687 | 2.4 | — | C− | B+ | A− |
| Guston | 1,684 | 2.6 | — | C+ | A+ | C− |
| Whitfield | 6,509 | 3.7 | C | C | C− | C+ |
| Dover | 36,349 | 4 | C− | B | D− | D |
| Deal | 28,992 | 4.4 | D | C+ | C | C |
| Eythorne | 1,487 | 5.8 | — | C | B | C+ |
| Sibertswold | 1,619 | 6.8 | — | C− | B | C+ |
Kingsdown, Guston, Eythorne and Sibertswold have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Among the strongest in England: GCSE results beat 98% of towns in England, and primary results beat 96% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). St Margaret's at Cliffe has 2 state schools; places are handled by Kent council.
That is 3.1 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of St Margaret.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £403,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £226,750, terraced houses £270,000, semi-detached houses £321,250 and detached houses £692,500.
Village in Kent, England
St Margaret's at Cliffe is a built-up area of 2,399 people, in the Dover 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.