Is Kingston upon Thames a good place to live?
Kingston upon Thames scores 54 out of 100 on our Liveability index, 25th of London's 33 boroughs. It does best on environment (79) and area prosperity (78), and least well on green space (36). The highest-scoring wards are Canbury Gardens, Surbiton Hill and New Malden Village.
Each part compares Kingston upon Thames with the rest of London, where 100 is the best. The score uses our default weights; on the map you can set your own.
Is Kingston upon Thames safe?
Police recorded about 1,281 crimes a month in Kingston upon Thames from June to August 2026, about 36 per square kilometre, below the London borough median of 63. The most common were violence and sexual offences (30%), anti-social behaviour (25%) and shoplifting (12%).
Recorded crime follows footfall: busy town centres and transport hubs record more, which says little about quiet residential streets. Check the exact street with an area report.
Does Kingston upon Thames flood?
About 11% of Kingston upon Thames's land is in Flood Zone 2 or 3, the Environment Agency's zones for flooding from rivers or the sea, against 13% across London. About 3% sits in Flood Zone 3, the highest risk band. The zones ignore flood defences and do not cover surface water flooding.
Are there good schools in Kingston upon Thames?
Kingston upon Thames has 33 state primary and 9 state secondary schools, plus 9 independent schools. Of the state schools with a current single Ofsted grade, 100% are good or outstanding and 23% are outstanding, against a London borough median of 24% outstanding. Outstanding schools include Burlington Infant and Nursery School, Tolworth Infant and Nursery School and Coombe Hill Junior School.
Ofsted stopped giving a single overall grade in September 2024, so recently inspected schools have none. Always check admissions and catchment rules with the school or council.
How good is public transport in Kingston upon Thames?
Kingston upon Thames has 10 Underground, Overground, Elizabeth line, DLR or tram stations on the National Rail. About 6% of the borough has good or better access (TfL PTAL 4 to 6b), against 15% of London.
How much does it cost to live in Kingston upon Thames?
The average home in Kingston upon Thames cost £572,759 in March 2026 (HM Land Registry), up 12% over five years. The average private rent was £1,799 a month (ONS, May 2026 release), a gross yield of about 3.8%. Homes cost 12.2 times average local earnings.
What is the air quality like in Kingston upon Thames?
Nitrogen dioxide averaged 20 µg/m³ across Kingston upon Thames in 2022 (London Atmospheric Emissions Inventory), against a London median of 20 and a World Health Organization guideline of 10. Fine particles (PM2.5) averaged 9 µg/m³ against a guideline of 5. Air is usually worst beside main roads.
What are the shops, parks and GPs like in Kingston upon Thames?
OpenStreetMap lists 24 supermarkets, 17 GP surgeries and 19 pharmacies in Kingston upon Thames, and 35 public parks covering about 80 hectares. About 9% of the borough is in a conservation area, where outside changes usually need permission.
How deprived is Kingston upon Thames?
The typical neighbourhood in Kingston upon Thames is in decile 8 of 10 on the English Indices of Deprivation 2025, where 1 is the most deprived tenth of England and 10 the least. About 0% of the borough is in the most deprived fifth.
Which parts of Kingston upon Thames score best?
The highest Liveability scores in Kingston upon Thames are in Canbury Gardens, Surbiton Hill and New Malden Village, and the lowest in King George's & Sunray and Chessington South & Malden Rushett. Every ward is below, with its scores for safety, transport, shops, green space and schools out of 100.
| Ward | Liveability | Safety | Transport | Shops | Green | Schools |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canbury Gardens | 64 | 31 | 68 | 74 | 57 | 80 |
| Surbiton Hill | 64 | 53 | 61 | 64 | 43 | 58 |
| New Malden Village | 63 | 52 | 64 | 75 | 41 | 61 |
| Alexandra | 62 | 60 | 49 | 68 | 56 | 49 |
| Kingston Gate | 61 | 39 | 59 | 75 | 50 | 81 |
| Berrylands | 59 | 62 | 38 | 52 | 50 | 58 |
| Motspur Park & Old Malden East | 59 | 69 | 43 | 59 | 52 | 47 |
| Coombe Vale | 57 | 59 | 31 | 62 | 39 | 69 |
| Kingston Town | 56 | 9 | 94 | 72 | 37 | 66 |
| Hook & Chessington North | 55 | 59 | 45 | 61 | 37 | 42 |
| Old Malden | 55 | 66 | 49 | 47 | 40 | 52 |
| Tolworth | 54 | 46 | 43 | 61 | 33 | 52 |
| Norbiton | 53 | 39 | 66 | 70 | 29 | 59 |
| St Mark's & Seething Wells | 53 | 50 | 42 | 61 | 37 | 67 |
| Green Lane & St James | 52 | 65 | 37 | 52 | 36 | 51 |
| Coombe Hill | 49 | 84 | 29 | 20 | 22 | 38 |
| King George's & Sunray | 49 | 60 | 32 | 46 | 32 | 34 |
| Chessington South & Malden Rushett | 42 | 83 | 17 | 20 | 14 | 19 |
Nearby areas
Where these numbers come from
- Crime: police.uk street-level crime, June to August 2026, averaged per month.
- Flood zones and conservation areas: Environment Agency Flood Map for Planning and local authority conservation areas, via planning.data.gov.uk.
- Schools: Department for Education Get Information About Schools, with Ofsted grades.
- Transport: TfL stations and PTAL 2023. Air quality: London Atmospheric Emissions Inventory 2022.
- Prices: HM Land Registry UK House Price Index (March 2026) and ONS private rents (May 2026 release) and affordability ratios.
- Shops, GPs and parks: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Deprivation: English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG).
- Liveability: our score for each ~500 m square of London, built from the sources above; borough and ward figures are medians of their squares.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right. © OpenStreetMap contributors. Powered by TfL Open Data.