Dartford: local statistics
Dartford is a district council area in the South East, home to an estimated 126,297 people (mid-2025). This page brings together 10 official figures for the area, each with its period, publisher and the address it was read from. See also who has power over Dartford, from the council up to the G20.
Key figures
What the figures show
126,297 people lived in Dartford in mid-2025, according to the ONS, up 1.4% on mid-2024. That is 21,918 more people than in mid-2015, a rise of 21.0%; the South East grew by 8.1% over the same years. That is the fastest growth of the 64 council areas in the South East. No earlier year in the series was higher.
Life expectancy at birth in Dartford is 83.1 years for women and 79.9 years for men (2022 to 2024) (England: 83.3 and 79.5). Since 2012 to 2014 it has changed by +0.8 years for women and +0.7 for men. It is the 54th highest for women of the 64 council areas in the South East.
A Band D home in Dartford pays an average of £2,375.15 in council tax in 2026-27, 4.1% more than in 2025-26. It is 50th of 64 in the South East, counting from the highest. Ten years earlier, in 2016-17, it was £1,553.90.
HM Land Registry puts the average price of a home in Dartford at £347,773 for July 2026, down 2.0% on a year before. Among council areas that puts it the 40th highest of 64 in the South East; the average for the South East was £380,878. The July peak was £354,816 in 2025, and prices are 19% above July 2016. The average price is 7.9 times the median annual pay of full-time employees who live in Dartford. That ratio is the 51st highest ratio of the 64 council areas in the South East.
3.3% of Dartford residents aged 16 to 64 (2,605 people) were on the claimant count in August 2026, compared with 3.1% in the South East. Twelve months before, it was 2.9%. Over the last five years it peaked at 4.1% in August 2021 and was lowest at 2.7% in January 2023.
In April 2025 the middle full-time earner living in Dartford took home £831.60 a week before tax, or £44,091 over a year. That is 2.0% above the figure for the South East and mid-table in the South East, 28th of 64. Measured by where people work rather than where they live, the median is £737.60, £94.00 lower. Ten years earlier, in 2015, it was £575.70: a change of +44% before inflation.
5,930 businesses were registered for VAT or PAYE in Dartford in March 2026, 22% more than in 2016. There are 47 per 1,000 residents, close to the middle of the 64 council areas in the South East (38th highest).
The Home Office does not publish recorded crime for Dartford on its own for recent years, so this page gives the figure for the Kent police force area: 154,163 offences excluding fraud in the year to March 2026, 7,888 fewer than the year before.
An estimated 80.2% of people aged 16 to 64 living in Dartford were in work in April 2025 to March 2026, according to the ONS Annual Population Survey, with a margin of error of 8.5 points either way, against 78.9% across the South East. Its lowest reading in the series was 71.6% and its highest 91.3%.
History
Population (mid-year)
| 2015 | 104,379 |
| 2016 | 105,905 |
| 2017 | 108,372 |
| 2018 | 110,818 |
| 2019 | 113,928 |
| 2020 | 115,572 |
| 2021 | 116,819 |
| 2022 | 119,075 |
| 2023 | 121,765 |
| 2024 | 124,594 |
| 2025 | 126,297 |
Average house price (same month each year)
| July 2016 | £291,286 |
| July 2017 | £302,490 |
| July 2018 | £299,870 |
| July 2019 | £311,363 |
| July 2020 | £316,419 |
| July 2021 | £321,137 |
| July 2022 | £349,388 |
| July 2023 | £353,311 |
| July 2024 | £348,788 |
| July 2025 | £354,816 |
| July 2026 | £347,773 |
Median weekly pay, residents
| 2015 | £575.70 a week |
| 2016 | £618.10 a week |
| 2017 | £642.30 a week |
| 2018 | £633.60 a week |
| 2019 | £648.10 a week |
| 2020 | £687.00 a week |
| 2021 | £693.00 a week |
| 2022 | £753.20 a week |
| 2023 | £778.70 a week |
| 2024 | £813.30 a week |
| 2025 | £831.60 a week |
Average Band D council tax
| 2016-17 | £1,553.90 |
| 2017-18 | £1,610.57 |
| 2018-19 | £1,688.57 |
| 2019-20 | £1,779.01 |
| 2020-21 | £1,846.85 |
| 2021-22 | £1,930.75 |
| 2022-23 | £1,985.14 |
| 2023-24 | £2,077.98 |
| 2024-25 | £2,174.67 |
| 2025-26 | £2,280.55 |
| 2026-27 | £2,375.15 |
Employment rate
| 2015/16 | 74.0% |
| 2016/17 | 81.2% |
| 2017/18 | 91.3% |
| 2018/19 | 83.9% |
| 2019/20 | 87.6% |
| 2020/21 | 79.0% |
| 2021/22 | 71.6% |
| 2022/23 | 83.4% |
| 2023/24 | 84.3% |
| 2024/25 | 72.4% |
| 2025/26 | 80.2% |
Life expectancy, women
| 2012 to 2014 | 82.3 years |
| 2013 to 2015 | 82.4 years |
| 2014 to 2016 | 82.4 years |
| 2015 to 2017 | 82.4 years |
| 2016 to 2018 | 82.2 years |
| 2017 to 2019 | 82.5 years |
| 2018 to 2020 | 82.5 years |
| 2019 to 2021 | 82.5 years |
| 2020 to 2022 | 82.4 years |
| 2021 to 2023 | 82.9 years |
| 2022 to 2024 | 83.1 years |
Registered businesses
| 2016 | 4,850 |
| 2017 | 5,180 |
| 2018 | 5,190 |
| 2019 | 5,390 |
| 2020 | 5,810 |
| 2021 | 5,725 |
| 2022 | 5,590 |
| 2023 | 5,480 |
| 2024 | 5,540 |
| 2025 | 5,645 |
| 2026 | 5,930 |
Questions about Dartford
What is the population of Dartford?
126,297 in mid-2025, the latest ONS mid-year estimate.
What is life expectancy in Dartford?
For 2022 to 2024 the ONS gives 79.9 years for men and 83.1 for women.
How much is Band D council tax in Dartford?
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government gives an average Band D bill of £2,375.15 for 2026-27.
What is the average house price in Dartford?
£347,773 in July 2026, on HM Land Registry's UK House Price Index (-2.0% on a year).
How many people claim unemployment-related benefits in Dartford?
The ONS claimant count was 2,605 in August 2026, 3.3% of 16 to 64-year-olds. It counts benefit claims, not unemployment.
What is the average salary in Dartford?
Median pay for full-time employees living in Dartford was £831.60 a week in April 2025 (£44,091 a year), from the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.
Who has power over Dartford
Every body that makes decisions for Dartford, from the street up to the G20. Each one links to its page on the official record. How the ten levels work.
Level 1: Neighbourhood and community power
Residents' and tenants' groups, neighbourhood forums and local policing panels.
Level 2: Parish, town and community councils
Parish, town and community councils, where the area has them, sit below the council.
Level 3: Local councils
- Dartford council spending, reserves, debt and council tax
- Dartford in official figures this page
Level 5: Devolved and state governments
England has no devolved parliament of its own: its laws are made by the UK Parliament.
Level 6: National government
- Dartford: Jim Dickson (Labour) MP
- Sevenoaks: Laura Trott (Conservative) MP
- All 650 MPs votes, interests and costs
- UK government and Parliament official figures and sources
Level 7: Regional blocs and supranational bodies
- Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights (CoE / ECtHR) The UK Government says the United Kingdom was one of the Council of Europe's founding members.
Level 8: The UN and global treaty bodies
- United Nations (General Assembly and Security Council) The UN lists the United Kingdom as a member admitted on 24 October 1945.
- United Nations Security Council (UNSC) The UK is one of the five permanent members of the Security Council and holds the veto, according to the UN.
- NATO NATO lists the United Kingdom among its 12 founding members, which signed the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington, D.C.
- World Health Organization (WHO) WHO's list of member states includes the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
- World Trade Organization (WTO) The WTO says the United Kingdom has been a WTO member since 1 January 1995 and a member of GATT since 1 January 1948.
- Commonwealth of Nations The UK is one of the 56 members, one of three European members with Cyprus and Malta, and the Commonwealth Secretariat is headquartered at Marlborough House in London.
Level 9: The IMF, World Bank and global finance
- International Monetary Fund (IMF) The UK has been a member since 27 December 1945 and has a quota of SDR 20,155.1 million (IMF country page for the United Kingdom).
- World Bank Group (WBG) The UK holds 3.75% of voting power in the IBRD (data as of 30 June 2026) and 6.92% in IDA (as of 30 June 2026), according to the World Bank's voting tables.
Level 10: G7, G20, Davos and global forums
Sources
Each value above links to the official file or query it was read from, on 14 October 2026. What each figure measures.
- Recorded crime (police force area): This figure covers the whole Kent police force area, not just Dartford, because the Home Office tables do not give Dartford on its own for recent years. It is the sum of the force's partnership rows, including offences not assigned to a partnership, and excludes fraud.
More on this area and these figures
- Council money: spending, reserves and debt
- Figures for the whole region: the South East
- UK figures: UK population · Life expectancy at birth (UK) · UK average house price
- Other council areas in the South East: Chichester · Crawley · East Hampshire · Havant · Sevenoaks · West Oxfordshire
Related questions
- What is the population of my area?
- How healthy is my area?
- How much has council tax gone up this year?
- What is the average house price in my area?
- Which council am I in?
Figures checked 14 October 2026. Link moved or figure out of date? Tell us.