Is Gillingham a good place to live?

Gillingham has 11,009 residents, 78% of them in neighbourhoods in England's better-off half, 75% of its inspected schools are rated Good or Outstanding, and recorded crime (5.1 per 1,000 a month) is below the median English town of its size (9.8). Whether it is a good place to live depends on the street: the NestScope area report scores any Gillingham postcode.

Gillingham recorded 5.1 crimes per 1,000 residents a month inside the town boundary over 2026-06 to 2026-08 (police.uk), against 9.8 for the median English town of this size. The largest category was asb.

How many people live in Gillingham?

11,009 people live in Gillingham (Census 2021, ONS built-up area), across 13.2 km² — about 834 per km².

What are the schools like in Gillingham?

There are 5 schools inside Gillingham; 75% of those inspected are rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted. The top-rated include Gillingham School, Milton-on-Stour Church of England Primary School and St Mary the Virgin Church of England Primary School.

Gillingham is a town in Dorset, South West, England, served by Gillingham (Dorset) railway station.

NestScope

Town · in Dorset · South West · 6 neighbourhoods

Living in Gillingham

Gillingham is a town in Dorset, South West, England. This guide describes it as one place — who lives there, what sits inside its boundary and how safe it is — from official UK data. For any single street, the NestScope area report covers every Gillingham postcode.

Gillingham is a town of 11,009 people at 834 per km², where 78% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England's better-off half. 3 of its 4 inspected schools are rated Good or Outstanding, and it recorded 5.1 crimes per 1,000 residents a month.

Lower crime than most towns
Better-off than most towns
Railway station
Parks
Spacious

11,009Gillingham population

834people per km²

78%live in England's better-off half

5.1crimes per 1,000 a month

Which part of Gillingham?

Gillingham

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schools stations parks13.2 km² · ONS built-up area boundary

01 — What's in Gillingham

What's in Gillingham: schools, GPs, stations, parks and shops

Counted inside the town boundary. A school or station two streets past it belongs to the next place.

●Schools75% of inspected rated Good or Outstanding5

●GP practices · hospitals2 pharmacies, 2 dentists1 · 0

●Rail stations · bus stopsGillingham (Dorset)1 · 79

●Parks & playing fields29.4 ha — (·· ha), (·· ha), (·· ha)12

●Supermarkets7

●Libraries1

02 — Schools in Gillingham

Best-rated schools in Gillingham

1Gillingham SchoolSecondaryGood 2Milton-on-Stour Church of England Primary SchoolPrimaryGood 3St Mary the Virgin Church of England Primary SchoolPrimaryGood 4Wyke Primary SchoolPrimaryRequires Improvement 5Gillingham Primary SchoolPrimary—

Ranked by Ofsted grade. All 5 schools → Schools in Gillingham

03 — Gillingham crime rate

Gillingham crime rate

5.1crimes per 1,000 residents a month inside the town boundary · 2026-06 to 2026-08

Fewer than the median English town of this size (9.8) · 57 recorded crimes a month in all

Violent

ASB

Shoplifting

Public order

Vehicle

Burglary

England median for a town of this size · full bar = 10 per 1,000 a month · police.uk street-level data

04 — Questions about Gillingham

Is Gillingham a good place to live?: Gillingham has 11,009 residents, 78% of them in neighbourhoods in England's better-off half, 75% of its inspected schools are rated Good or Outstanding, and recorded crime (5.1 per 1,000 a month) is below the median English town of its size (9.8). Whether it is a good place to live depends on the street: the NestScope area report scores any Gillingham postcode.
Is Gillingham safe?: Gillingham recorded 5.1 crimes per 1,000 residents a month inside the town boundary over 2026-06 to 2026-08 (police.uk), against 9.8 for the median English town of this size. The largest category was asb.
How many people live in Gillingham?: 11,009 people live in Gillingham (Census 2021, ONS built-up area), across 13.2 km² — about 834 per km².
What are the schools like in Gillingham?: There are 5 schools inside Gillingham; 75% of those inspected are rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted. The top-rated include Gillingham School, Milton-on-Stour Church of England Primary School and St Mary the Virgin Church of England Primary School.
Where is Gillingham?: Gillingham is a town in Dorset, South West, England, served by Gillingham (Dorset) railway station.

Nearby towns

Gillingham on NestScope

Go further

This page is NestScope's guide to Gillingham as a whole town, built from the same official sources as the area reports: the ONS boundary of the built-up area, Census 2021, the English Indices of Deprivation, police.uk recorded crime and the Department for Education's school register. Counts are of what sits inside the boundary; crime is a three-month average. It is updated as those sources publish.

Sources — ONS built-up areas 2022, Output Area lookups and Census 2021 (OGL v3.0) · English Indices of Deprivation 2019, carried onto 2021 LSOAs · police.uk street-level crime, the town boundary passed as the query polygon · DfE GIAS + Ofsted, NHS ODS, NaPTAN, OS Open Greenspace, Geolytix, Arts Council — every point counted by which 2021 neighbourhood it falls in.