Is Rochester a good place to live?

Rochester has 67,279 residents, 30% of them in neighbourhoods in England's better-off half, 100% 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 Rochester postcode.

Rochester 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 violent.

How many people live in Rochester?

67,279 people live in Rochester (Census 2021, ONS built-up area), across 21.7 km² — about 3,105 per km².

What are the schools like in Rochester?

There are 35 schools inside Rochester; 100% of those inspected are rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted. The top-rated include Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School, Abbey Court Foundation Special School and The Rochester Grammar School.

Rochester is a town in Medway, South East, England, served by Rochester and Strood railway stations.

NestScope

Town · in Medway · South East · 41 neighbourhoods

Living in Rochester

Rochester is a town in Medway, South East, 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 Rochester postcode.

Rochester is a town of 67,279 people at 3,105 per km², where 30% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England's better-off half. 20 of its 20 inspected schools are rated Good or Outstanding, and it recorded 5.1 crimes per 1,000 residents a month.

Good schools
Lower crime than most towns
2 railway stations
Densely built
More deprived than most towns
Fewer parks than most towns

67,279Rochester population

3,105people per km²

30%live in England's better-off half

5.1crimes per 1,000 a month

Which part of Rochester?

Or tap a spot on the map, or type a postcode:

Tap any spot to open the map there

schools stations parks21.7 km² · ONS built-up area boundary

01 — What's in Rochester

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

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

●Schools100% of inspected rated Good or Outstanding35

●GP practices · hospitals17 pharmacies, 16 dentists18 · 0

●Rail stations · bus stopsRochester, Strood2 · 302

●Parks & playing fields85.9 ha — (·· ha), (·· ha), (·· ha)37

●Supermarkets20

●Libraries2

02 — Schools in Rochester

Best-rated schools in Rochester

1Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical SchoolSecondaryOutstanding 2Abbey Court Foundation Special SchoolOtherOutstanding 3The Rochester Grammar SchoolSecondaryGood 4The Thomas Aveling SchoolSecondaryGood 5Leigh Academy StroodSecondaryGood

Ranked by Ofsted grade. All 35 schools → Schools in Rochester

03 — Rochester crime rate

Rochester 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) · 346 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 Rochester

Is Rochester a good place to live?: Rochester has 67,279 residents, 30% of them in neighbourhoods in England's better-off half, 100% 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 Rochester postcode.
Is Rochester safe?: Rochester 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 violent.
How many people live in Rochester?: 67,279 people live in Rochester (Census 2021, ONS built-up area), across 21.7 km² — about 3,105 per km².
What are the schools like in Rochester?: There are 35 schools inside Rochester; 100% of those inspected are rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted. The top-rated include Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School, Abbey Court Foundation Special School and The Rochester Grammar School.
Where is Rochester?: Rochester is a town in Medway, South East, England, served by Rochester and Strood railway stations.

Nearby towns

Rochester on NestScope

Go further

This page is NestScope's guide to Rochester 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.