Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A borough of 166,333 people, one of London’s 32 boroughs.
The picture is mixed. School results are strong: primary results beat 86% of towns in England; secondary results beat 98% of towns in England. Overall, Kingston upon Thames earns an A, which places it #3 of 33 in London. Set against the rest, it does better than 91% of UK towns. It is strong on walkability as well: 46% of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. Natural hazards weigh more here: 4.5% of homes face a high or medium risk of river or sea flooding. At a median £550,000, a home costs 6 times the yearly income of households in the Kingston upon Thames council area.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · flood risk, Environment Agency · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · incomes, ONS.
The 3 things Kingston upon Thames 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 Kingston upon Thames is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 161 buildings inside Kingston upon Thames’s built-up area, 3 of them Grade I, and 5 scheduled monuments.
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 Kingston upon Thames. Best known first.
Theme parkChessington World of Adventuresin town
AttractionDragon's Furyin town
AttractionVampirein town
AttractionBlack Buccaneerin town
AttractionCroc Dropin town
MuseumKingston Museumin townPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Kingston upon Thames.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 47% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
3.3% of 16 to 64s claimed unemployment benefits in 2026, lower than London’s towns (5.4%) yet higher than England’s towns (2.3%). The car carried 50% of commuters at the census. Of the commuters living in Kingston upon Thames, 39% work in the town itself. For 48% of commuters, work was under 5 km away.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Kingston upon Thames’s 34 primaries and ten secondaries have 24,158 pupils between them. The Tiffin Girls' School’s results beat nearly every one of schools in England like it. Key Stage 2 results at the town’s 30 primary schools: 69% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Three of its 50 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Latchmere SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 710 | A |
| Tolworth Girls' School and Sixth FormLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,529 | A− |
| Tiffin SchoolTop results in townSecondary | Secondary | 1,478 | A+ |
13% of residents have a disability, close to London’s towns (13%) and below England’s towns (17%). Life expectancy here is 85.3 for women and 81.1 for men (2019–23). Also worth knowing: 23 GP practices serve the town; 83% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Kingston upon Thames | London | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 87% | 85% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.4% | 4.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 13% | 13% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Young towns look healthier on these answers, which aren’t adjusted for age; the Health Grade uses measures that are, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
Social housing holds 11% of households. 61% of households own their home, above London’s towns (45%) and close to England’s towns (61%). The private rented sector houses 27% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £1,100,000 | 487 |
| Semi-detached | £746,450 | 1,498 |
| Terraced | £575,000 | 1,158 |
| Flat or maisonette | £380,000 | 2,091 |
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 just over a tenth of Kingston upon Thames’ land, lower than London’s towns (27%) yet higher than England’s towns (7%). Its listed buildings include the Church of All Saints, Grade I. 21% of 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.
37% of the crimes fell under violence and sexual offences. Burglary and damage come to 14 per 1,000 residents a year. There were 19.8 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), below London’s towns (25.2) but above England’s towns (7.8). Violent crime runs at 24.7 per 1,000 residents a year.
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.
At 38.6, the median resident of Kingston upon Thames sits in the middle of the age range. Over-65s are 14% of the population. 18% are under 15, near both London’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (18%).
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Kingston upon Thames | London | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 12% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 30% | 34% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 25% | 24% | 25% |
| 65+ | 14% | 12% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 12% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 3.2% | 3.2% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 15% | 13% | 17% |
| Degree level | 51% | 47% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · London and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
161 listed buildings in Kingston upon Thames, 3 of them Grade I.
Clattern Bridge: Photo: Mark Percy · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Druid's Head Public House: Photo: Jim Linwood from London · CC BY 2.0 · The Guildhall: Photo: Stevekeiretsu · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Former Regal Cinema: Photo: Stevekeiretsu · CC BY-SA 4.0
289 notable people were born in Kingston upon Thames.
Tom Holland: PhilipRomano, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Luke Shaw: Ardfern, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Declan Rice: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Eadweard Muybridge: Rainer Zenz Public domain This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer., Public domain · Steven Wilson: joergens.mi, CC BY-SA 3.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kingston upon Thames | 166,333 | — | A | B | C+ | B+ |
| West Molesey | 47,144 | 2.5 | A | C− | B | A |
| Worcester Park and Stoneleigh | 15,851 | 2.5 | A+ | C− | A− | A |
| Ewell | 27,509 | 3 | A− | C | C+ | A− |
| Esher | 9,484 | 3.7 | A | C− | B− | A+ |
| Richmond upon Thames | 192,888 | 4 | A | C+ | C+ | A |
| Merton | 214,931 | 4.1 | B+ | C+ | C+ | B− |
| Epsom | 35,857 | 4.2 | A− | C+ | C− | B+ |
People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
GCSE results beat 98% of towns in England, and primary results beat 86% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Against all UK towns, most of them far smaller, it grades C+.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £550,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £380,000, terraced houses £575,000, semi-detached houses £746,450 and detached houses £1,100,000. Household incomes are higher than in almost all of UK towns, so cost of living still grades B.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
London borough in London
Kingston upon Thames is a built-up area of 166,333 people, in the Kingston upon Thames 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.