London commuter townsFolkestone
Kent · commuter town data · September 2026Living in Folkestone: London commute, house prices & costs
Folkestone is a commuter town in Kent, around 57 minutes from London by direct train from Folkestone Central (longer than average for the towns we track), with below-average prices at £295,000. It ranks #114 of 118 on Rightroute's balanced commuter score (September 2026 data).
44
Rightroute score
Bottom quarter · #114 of 118
Folkestone at a glance
Commute and cost
57 min
Train to London
From Folkestone Central, 30% slower than the 118-town median.
£10,240
Annual season ticket
About £853 a month, 103% dearer than the 118-town median.
£295k
Average house price
£295,000, 28% below the 118-town median.
£1,031
Average rent
A two-bed in Folkestone and Hythe, per month, 21% below the 118-town median.
Living there
Low
Safety
Crime index 66 on a 0–100 scale (lower is safer).
830Mb
Broadband
Average available download speed, 8% below the 118-town median.
8.1
Life satisfaction
ONS Personal Well-being mean score, 0–10 (higher is better).
What’s nearby
27
Historic landmarks
Nationally protected buildings, monuments and gardens within 3 miles, 27% fewer than the 118-town median.
182
Hectares of parks and fields
Public parks and playing fields within 3 miles, 24% less than the 118-town median.
226
Places to eat and drink
Restaurants, cafes and pubs within 3 miles, 43% more than the 118-town median.
The commute from Folkestone
Direct trains from Folkestone Central take around 57 minutes into London Victoria and King's Cross / St Pancras, running on Southeastern. That makes it #92 out of 118 towns for speed into London.
An annual season ticket costs about £10,240, roughly £853 a month or £51,200 over five years. That's 103% more expensive than the 118-town median of £5,041.
How Folkestone compares to the other 117 towns
| Metric | Folkestone | Median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Train to London | 57 min | 44 min | #92 |
| Annual season ticket | £10,240 | £5,041 | #118 |
| Average house price | £295,000 | £409,000 | #12 |
| Price to local earnings | 7.6x | 10.1x | #12 |
| Average rent (2 bed) | £1,031/mo | £1,298/mo | #17 |
| Rent to local earnings | 32% | 39% | #10 |
| Crime index (lower is safer) | 66 | 52.5 | #89 |
| Broadband speed | 830 Mb | 903 Mb | #90 |
| Life satisfaction (0–10) | 8.1 | 7.6 of 116 | #4 |
Overall, Folkestone ranks #114 of 118 on the balanced Rightroute commuter score. Different priorities give different answers, so you can weight the criteria yourself in the comparison page.
Folkestone commuter FAQs
How long is the commute from Folkestone to London?
Direct trains from Folkestone Central take around 57 minutes to London Victoria and King's Cross / St Pancras. Folkestone is served by Southeastern.
How much is a season ticket from Folkestone to London?
An annual season ticket from Folkestone costs about £10,240, which works out at roughly £853 a month.
What is the average house price in Folkestone?
The average sold price in Folkestone is £295,000 (HM Land Registry), which is 28% below the median across the 118 London commuter towns we hold a price for.
Is Folkestone a safe place to live?
Folkestone scores 66 on a 0–100 crime index (lower is safer), which is a lower level of safety relative to other London commuter towns.
Is Folkestone a good commuter town for London?
Folkestone ranks #114 of 118 London commuter towns on Rightroute's balanced score, which weighs commute time, house prices, season ticket cost, safety and broadband. If your priorities are different, the Rightroute compare view lets you weight the criteria yourself.
Towns near Folkestone
Compare Folkestone with a neighbour
Shortlisted a few homes in Folkestone?
Plan your viewing day: save the listings, and Rightroute puts them in the quickest order to visit. Rank them once you have been, and share the list with whoever you are house-hunting with.
House prices are the median of that town's own sales from HM Land Registry Price Paid, August 2025 to July 2026, refreshed monthly; the crime score is the mean monthly count from police.uk over August 2025 to July 2026, placed on a 0 to 100 scale where lower is safer, also refreshed monthly. Rent is the average for a two-bed in the local authority, from the ONS Price Index of Private Rents, August 2026, refreshed monthly. Train times are typical off-peak direct rail to the destination city (National Rail) and season tickets the annual fare to the same place. Broadband is the average available download speed from Ofcom Connected Nations; life satisfaction is the ONS Personal Well-being mean for the local authority. Those are reviewed periodically rather than monthly. Heritage sites, green space and places to eat are counted within three miles from Historic England, OS Open Greenspace and the Food Standards Agency, built September 2026, and refreshed annually. Figures are for comparison between townsrather than exact values.