Neighbourhood · Medway · South East
Rochester East
Medway 017 · 4 sub-areas · 7,044 residents
Verdict
How are these scored? →Best for Retirees (75/100)Watch-out: Families (66/100)Liveability 76/100 · Top quartileCommuter neighbourhood
Rochester East is a commuter neighbourhood within Medway — train into London runs in around 50 minutes, and the rhythm of weekday mornings is shaped by it.
Liveability
76/100
Top quartile
Overview
Overview
What's it like to live in Rochester East?
A snapshot of Rochester East
Greenspace is on the doorstep — a park or playing field is within walking distance of most homes; The streets feel safe by national standards — police-recorded crime is well below the country-wide median; Public transport is genuinely strong; most errands and a fair share of social life don't need a car; rents are roughly in line with the national norm, at around £1,241 a month for a typical home; gigabit broadband is effectively universal.
Generated from the latest May 2026 data · refreshed automatically
Figures are aggregated across 4 sub-areas — population-weighted means for rates, sums for counts. Sources cited beneath each section.
Rochester East in Medway
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FAQ
Frequently asked
- What's the median rent in Rochester East?
- The median monthly rent across Rochester East is £1,241.
- How safe is Rochester East?
- Rochester East has a safety score of — out of 100, where higher is safer. The score is the national percentile rank of police-recorded crimes per 1,000 residents per year, inverted.
- How well-connected is Rochester East?
- Transport score: — out of 100. Combines walking time to the nearest rail station, walking time to the nearest metro stop, and public-transport time to clusters with 5,000+ jobs. The nearest rail station is roughly 12 minutes' walk.
- What schools are near Rochester East?
- There are 23 schools within 2 km of Rochester East, of which 33% are rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted. The nearest Outstanding-rated school is approximately 677 m away.
- What is the council tax band in Rochester East?
- The most common council tax band in Rochester East is B, with the typical Band D annual charge around £1,952. Council tax is set by Medway council and applies to every property in the area.
- How long is the commute from Rochester East to London?
- By the fastest direct train, the journey from Rochester East to central London is approximately 50 minutes. This is the fastest no-change rail journey from the local area centroid; door-to-door times will vary with walking time to the station.
- Is gigabit broadband available in Rochester East?
- 100% of premises in Rochester East are gigabit-capable according to Ofcom Connected Nations 2025. Most properties can already buy gigabit packages.
- What is the deprivation rank of Rochester East?
- Rochester East sits in IMD decile 5 of 10, where 1 is the most deprived 10% of local areas nationally and 10 is the least deprived. The Index of Multiple Deprivation combines income, employment, education, health, crime, barriers and environment.
- What's the tenure mix in Rochester East?
- 61% of households in Rochester East are owner-occupied. The remainder is split between private renting and social housing — see the Demographics section for the full breakdown from Census 2021.
- What is the average property price in Rochester East?
- The average property price across Medway (the local authority covering Rochester East) is approximately £298,252, per HM Land Registry's House Price Index. Per-local area prices vary; see the cost-of-living section for medians by property type.
- Is Rochester East a commuter town or workplace hub?
- Commuter town — most working residents travel out for work. (0.35 jobs per working-age resident. Median resident salary £33,857.)
- Which local areas are part of Rochester East?
- Rochester East contains 4 local areas: Medway 017D, Medway 017B, Medway 017C, Medway 017A.
FAQ
Frequently asked about Rochester East
Short answers anchored in the data above. Each link goes to the relevant section or methodology page.
- What is the average rent in Rochester East?
- The estimated median monthly rent in Rochester East is £1,241. This is derived from the council-area ONS rental figure scaled by the local sale-price gradient — see the Cost section for the breakdown by bedroom count and the affordability ratio against local salaries.
- Is Rochester East a safe place to live?
- Rochester East has a safety score of 76/100. The score is the national percentile rank of police-recorded crime per 1,000 residents, inverted so 100 is the safest 1% of England + Wales. The Safety section below shows the breakdown by category.
- What schools are near Rochester East?
- 33% of schools within 2 km of Rochester East are rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted. The Schools section lists individual schools with inspection ratings.
- How long is the commute from Rochester East?
- Public-transport commute time from Rochester East to central London is approximately 50 minutes. The Transport section has commute times to every major UK city hub.
- How is Rochester East different from the rest of Medway?
- Rochester East contains 4 sub-areas. The "Sub-areas" section below lets you drill into each one individually — they often vary by 20%+ on rent and demographics within the same neighbourhood.
- Where does Rochester East rank in Medway?
- Rochester East scores 76/100 on our composite liveability index. To see how it stacks up against every other neighbourhood in Medway, see the Cities table on the Medway page.
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