Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A large town of 36,136 in Kent, South East. Secondary school results beat 99% of towns in England.
Tonbridge grades B+ overall against UK towns: better than 66% of UK towns, and #16 of 87 in Kent. Its strongest subject is walkability (A): 28% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is hazard risk (D): 7.9% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. The median home sold for £415,000 in the last three years, 6.2 times what households in the Tonbridge and Malling council area earn in a year.
The 3 things Tonbridge 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 Tonbridge is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 108 buildings inside Tonbridge’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade I, and 3 scheduled monuments.
21% 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 1935.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Tonbridge. Best known first.
CastleTonbridge Castle Gatehousein town
CastleSomerhill Housein town
Historic house · National TrustIghtham Mote3.6 km outside town, to the north
Historic house · National TrustOld Soar Manor4.3 km outside town, to the northeast
Historic houseOxon Hoath3.5 km outside town, to the northeast
Historic houseSalomons Museum3.5 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 Tonbridge.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 38% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
38% of workers worked mainly from home, above both Kent’s towns (30%) and England’s towns (31%). Household income averages £65K a year before tax.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The Judd School’s results beat nearly every one of schools in England like it. Three of its 14 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Woodlands Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 540 | B+ |
| Weald of Kent Grammar SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,913 | A+ |
| The Judd SchoolTop results in townSecondary | Secondary | 1,541 | A+ |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Tonbridge has 108 listed buildings inside its built-up area on Historic England’s list: 2 Grade I, 4 Grade II*. 21% of its homes were built before 1919.
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.
For Tonbridge, that is above both Kent’s towns (23.9) and England’s towns (22). Homes see 13.8 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year. Police recorded 2,393 crimes inside Tonbridge’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 573 reports of anti-social behaviour.
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
19% live in social housing, above both Kent’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (18%).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £685,000 | 229 |
| Semi-detached | £450,000 | 486 |
| Terraced | £373,010 | 324 |
| Flat or maisonette | £247,500 | 321 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
84% of Tonbridge’s residents described their health as good or very good in 2021, against 82% across Kent’s towns. 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 | Tonbridge | Kent | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 84% | 82% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.3% | 5.1% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 16% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
11% of residents are 15 to 24 and 19% are 65 or over, against 11% and 19% across Kent’s towns. 35% of residents 16 and over have a degree-level qualification (Kent 29%, England 34%).
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Tonbridge | Kent | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 26% | 25% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 19% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 15% | 18% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.1% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 35% | 29% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Kent and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
108 listed buildings in Tonbridge, 2 of them Grade I.
Tonbridge Castle: Photo: Tilman2007 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Somerhill: Photo: Nigel Chadwick · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Church of St Peter and St Paul: Photo: Richard Rogerson · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Man of Kent Public House: Photo: Tilman2007 · CC BY-SA 4.0
53 notable people were born in Tonbridge.
Cecil Frank Powell: Nobel foundation, Public domain · Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke: Sailko, CC BY 3.0 · Harry Andrews: Allan warren, CC BY-SA 3.0 · John George Children: Benjamin Rawlinson Faulkner, Public domain · Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke: John Horace Round, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tonbridge | 36,136 | — | B+ | C+ | C | B− |
| Hildenborough | 4,943 | 1.4 | A+ | C− | A | A |
| Leigh | 1,104 | 2.7 | — | D | A | A+ |
| Hadlow | 3,168 | 3.1 | C+ | C+ | B | B− |
| Southborough | 9,632 | 3.2 | A− | C | B− | B− |
| Five Oak Green | 1,436 | 3.5 | — | C+ | B | B− |
| Plaxtol | 1,137 | 4.2 | — | D | A+ | A |
| Pembury | 5,783 | 4.5 | B− | C | C− | B− |
Leigh, Five Oak Green and Plaxtol have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Primary results beat 74%.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £415,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £247,500, terraced houses £373,010, semi-detached houses £450,000 and detached houses £685,000.
About the middle for its size: 47% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people report less crime per resident. Against all UK towns, most of them smaller, it grades C. Police recorded 2,393 crimes inside Tonbridge’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 40% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
Large town in Kent, England
Tonbridge is a built-up area of 36,136 people, in the Tonbridge and Malling 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.