My Area UK

Kempston

Kempston is a town in Bedfordshire, England, with a population of around 19,873. It has around two GPs & clinics, two pharmacies, one supermarket, and 31 restaurants and cafés, 22 bus stops, and the nearest railway station is Bedford St Johns, 2.4 km away. There were around 186 recorded street crimes in June 2026, most commonly Violence & sexual offences. This page gathers weather, crime, food hygiene, transport, flood risk, house prices, population, deprivation and your local MP for the Kempston area — all from official UK open data.

On deprivation, the Bedford area is around the average in England (IoD2019). The wider council area has around 185,227 residents at roughly 389 people per km².

Council
Bedford
County
Bedfordshire
Constituency
Bedford
Police force
Bedfordshire
47/ 100

My Area Score

Mixed

Ranked 170th of 294 English council areas — better than 42% of them.

Low crime51
Home affordability39
Affordable rents46
Good schools69
Life expectancy45
Low deprivation49
Employment23
Low council tax40

A percentile blend of eight open measures (100 = best in England); bars show this area’s England-wide percentile on each. See the rankings · methodology

Weather

21°CPatchy rain nearby

  • Today: 25° / 16° · 37% rain
  • Tomorrow: 21° / 13° · Sunny

Source: WeatherAPI

Daylight

Sunrise 06:33Sunset 19:21

12h 48m of daylight today

Next bank holiday: Christmas Day, Fri 25 Dec

Source: sunrise-sunset.org · gov.uk

Air quality

10US AQI · Good

Main pollutant: ozone

Source: WAQI · Northampton Spring Park, United Kingdom

Crime

221 reported · July 2026 10% YoY

  • Violence & sexual offences83
  • Shoplifting35
  • Anti-social behaviour26
  • Vehicle crime16

Neighbourhood team: Kingsbrook, Kempston, Cauldwell · Bedfordshire

Local policing priorities

  • Community Priority for Kingsbrook & Cauldwell wards. 01st February 2026 to 01st August 2026. Extended until 01/11/2026 During the priorit…
  • Community Priority for Kempston. 01st February 2026 to 01st August 2026. Extended until 01/11/2026 During the priority setting meeting he…

Source: data.police.uk (within ~1 mile)

Road safety

288 reported road collisions (2024)

55 killed or seriously injured · 366 casualties · 15.5 collisions per 10,000 residents

Source: DfT reported road collisions (STATS19)

Food hygiene

403 food businesses within 2 miles

  • 323 rated 4–5 ★ (267 top)
  • 10 rated 0–2 (poor)

Source: Food Standards Agency

Flood risk

No active flood warnings nearby.

Buses & trains

  • Nearest station: Bedford (2.7 km)
  • 20 bus stops within ~½ mile

Live trains from Bedford (2.7 km):

Loading live departures…

Source: OpenStreetMap, National Rail

House prices

£329,830 average 4.4% YoY

Across Bedford · to 2026-06

Detached£560,990
Semi-detached£346,527
Terraced£275,742
Flat£159,325

Source: UK House Price Index (HM Land Registry)

Private rents

£1,170 average monthly rent 3.4% YoY

  • 1 bed £798
  • 2 bed £1,027
  • 3 bed £1,256

Source: ONS Price Index of Private Rents · to 2026-07

Affordability

9.1× house price to earnings

A typical home costs 9.1 times median annual pay (9.3× for cheaper homes vs lower pay).

Source: ONS house price to workplace earnings ratio · 2025

Fuel prices

  • Cheapest petrol: 167.9p · Morrisons (1.8 km)
  • Cheapest diesel: 189.9p · Morrisons (1.8 km)

2 stations within ~8 miles

Source: CMA fuel price scheme

EV charging

48 charging locations within ~8 km

  • 14 with rapid charging (50 kW+)
  • Fastest nearby: 300 kW
  • Nearest: St. John's Street Car Park (0.1 km)

Source: Open Charge Map

Sport & leisure

  • Sports centres2
  • Gyms1
  • Sports pitches18
  • Playgrounds20

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

Population

185,227 residents in Bedford · 389/km²

  • Under 16: 20%
  • 16–64: 63%
  • 65+: 17%

Source: ONS Census 2021 (local authority)

Deprivation

Around the average in England

Ranked 156 of 317 English local authorities (1 = most deprived)

4% of neighbourhoods are in England’s most deprived 10%

Source: English Indices of Deprivation 2019

Council tax

£2,472 a year · Band D, 2026-27

Most homes here are Band C (25% of 80,810)

A £1,648
B £1,922
C £2,197
D £2,472
E £3,021
F £3,570
G £4,120
H £4,943

Source: VOA council-tax stock · MHCLG band levels 2026-27

Schools

85 schools · 35,894 pupils

54 primary · 13 secondary · 18 other

Ofsted: 35 of 38 graded schools rated Good or Outstanding (92%)

75inspected under Ofsted’s 2024+ framework (graded by area, no single overall grade)

Secondary schools:

  • Bedford Free SchoolOutstanding
  • Bedford AcademyGood
  • Goldington AcademyGood
  • St Thomas More Catholic SchoolGood
  • Mark Rutherford SchoolRequires improvement
  • Wixams AcademyRequires improvement
  • Biddenham International School and Sports College
  • Castle Newnham School
  • Daubeney Academy
  • Kempston Academy
  • Lincroft Academy
  • Sharnbrook Academy
  • Wootton Academy

Source: DfE Get Information about Schools · Ofsted · Bedford

Care & health services

272 CQC-registered services

  • Care homes73
  • GP practices34
  • Dentists50
  • Homecare agencies84
  • Hospitals & hospices8

CQC ratings: 82% of rated services Good or Outstanding · 7 Inadequate

Source: Care Quality Commission · Bedford

Heritage & planning

  • Not in the Green Belt
  • 24 listed buildings within ~1.5 km

Source: planning.data.gov.uk (England)

Planning decisions

221 applications decided

72.4% granted · 160 granted, 61 refused

Source: MHCLG planning statistics (PS2) · 2026 Q1

Your MP

Mohammad Yasin

Labour

Bedford

Recent votes:

  • NoTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill: Second Reading
  • NoClosure motion
  • NoSocial Housing Bill [Lords]: Reasoned Amendment to Second Reading
  • AyeDraft Plant Health, Seeds, Seed Potatoes and Plant Propagating Material (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026

Source: UK Parliament

Council control

Conservative majority · directly-elected mayor

  • Lab 12
  • Con 14
  • LD 13
  • Grn 4
  • Oth 3

Source: Open Council Data UK (CC BY-SA)

Amenities nearby

  • Schools12
  • GPs & clinics3
  • Pharmacies2
  • Supermarkets4
  • Parks & greens21
  • Restaurants & cafés40

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

Local businesses

8,350 active business enterprises in the area

Source: ONS UK Business Counts (2025)

Jobs

108 jobs advertised · £41,105 avg

e.g. Amazon Flex Delivery Driver - Earn £14 - £18 per hour*, Non-ADR Tanker Bedford, Engineering Manager

Source: Adzuna

Local economy

£780 median full-time weekly pay

4.4% of residents aged 16–64 claim unemployment-related benefits

£24,626 disposable income per head (2024)

Source: ONS / Nomis (claimant count · ASHE) · ONS regional GDHI

Energy efficiency

54% of homes rated EPC C or above

Most common band: C · 90,060 certificates

9.5% of households were in fuel poverty (2023)

Source: MHCLG EPC statistics · DESNZ sub-regional fuel poverty

Grid electricity

49% low-carbon electricity

Gas 50% · Nuclear 20% · Wind 18% · Biomass 10%

207 gCO₂/kWh · high intensity

Latest estimate for East England · National Grid ESO

Health

Life expectancy: 83.4 yrs women · 80.2 yrs men

Healthy life expectancy: 62.7 women · 62.5 men

73% of adults overweight or obese

Source: OHID Fingertips · 2025

Wellbeing

  • Life satisfaction7.5
  • Feeling worthwhile7.7
  • Happiness yesterday7.6
  • Anxiety yesterday (lower is better)3.4

Average rating out of 10 · ONS personal well-being 2022-23

Local petitions

Open UK Parliament petitions most signed in Bedford:

Source: petition.parliament.uk · as of 2026-08-06

Notable places nearby

  • Kempston · 0.3 km

    Kempston is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Bedford in Bedfordshire, England, situated around 2 miles (3.2 km) south-west of Bedford town centre. It had a population of 19,330 in the 2011 census, and forms p…

  • Kempston gravel pit railway · 0.4 km

    Kempston gravel pit railway was a narrow-gauge tramway which connected a gravel pit in the Hill Grounds area of Kempston, Bedfordshire to Bedford Road. There are a small number of records of its operation in the late…

  • Kempston South · 0.7 km

    Kempston South is an electoral ward and area within the town of Kempston, Bedfordshire, England.

  • Grange Academy, Kempston · 0.8 km

    Grange Academy is a coeducational special school located in Kempston, Bedfordshire, England. The school accepts pupils between the ages of 5 and 16 years with Moderate Learning Difficulties from all over the Borough o…

  • Kempston North · 0.8 km

    Kempston North is an electoral ward and area within the town of Kempston, Bedfordshire, England.

  • Kempston Academy · 0.9 km

    Kempston Academy is a mixed secondary school and sixth form located on Hill Rise in Kempston, Bedfordshire, England. The school forms part of an educational campus which also includes a Child Development Centre and Ri…

Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA)

Frequently asked questions

Where is Kempston?
Kempston is a town in Bedfordshire, England, in the Bedford local authority.
What is the population of Kempston?
Kempston has an approximate settlement population of 19,873.
How deprived is Kempston?
The Bedford local authority, which includes Kempston, is around the average in England on the IoD2019.