London commuter townsRochester
Kent · commuter town data · September 2026Living in Rochester: London commute, house prices & costs
Rochester is a commuter town in Kent, around 36 minutes from London by direct train from Rochester (well below average for the towns we track), with below-average prices at £324,000. It ranks #16 of 118 on Rightroute's balanced commuter score (September 2026 data).
69
Rightroute score
Top quarter · #16 of 118
Rochester at a glance
Commute and cost
36 min
Train to London
From Rochester, 18% faster than the 118-town median.
£5,106
Annual season ticket
About £426 a month, 1% dearer than the 118-town median.
£324k
Average house price
£324,000, 21% below the 118-town median.
£1,137
Average rent
A two-bed in Medway, per month, 12% below the 118-town median.
Living there
Low
Safety
Crime index 68 on a 0–100 scale (lower is safer).
976Mb
Broadband
Average available download speed, 8% above the 118-town median.
7.3
Life satisfaction
ONS Personal Well-being mean score, 0–10 (higher is better).
What’s nearby
181
Historic landmarks
Nationally protected buildings, monuments and gardens within 3 miles, 389% more than the 118-town median.
587
Hectares of parks and fields
Public parks and playing fields within 3 miles, 147% more than the 118-town median.
299
Places to eat and drink
Restaurants, cafes and pubs within 3 miles, 89% more than the 118-town median.
The commute from Rochester
Direct trains from Rochester take around 36 minutes into London Victoria, running on Southeastern. That makes it #45 out of 118 towns for speed into London.
An annual season ticket costs about £5,106, roughly £426 a month or £25,530 over five years. That's 1% more expensive than the 118-town median of £5,041.
How Rochester compares to the other 117 towns
| Metric | Rochester | Median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Train to London | 36 min | 44 min | #45 |
| Annual season ticket | £5,106 | £5,041 | #63 |
| Average house price | £324,000 | £409,000 | #22 |
| Price to local earnings | 8.7x | 10.1x | #34 |
| Average rent (2 bed) | £1,137/mo | £1,298/mo | #30 |
| Rent to local earnings | 37% | 39% | #47 |
| Crime index (lower is safer) | 68 | 52.5 | #94 |
| Broadband speed | 976 Mb | 903 Mb | #23 |
| Life satisfaction (0–10) | 7.3 | 7.6 of 116 | #97 |
Overall, Rochester ranks #16 of 118 on the balanced Rightroute commuter score. Different priorities give different answers, so you can weight the criteria yourself in the comparison page.
Rochester commuter FAQs
How long is the commute from Rochester to London?
Direct trains from Rochester take around 36 minutes to London Victoria. Rochester is served by Southeastern.
How much is a season ticket from Rochester to London?
An annual season ticket from Rochester costs about £5,106, which works out at roughly £426 a month.
What is the average house price in Rochester?
The average sold price in Rochester is £324,000 (HM Land Registry), which is 21% below the median across the 118 London commuter towns we hold a price for.
Is Rochester a safe place to live?
Rochester scores 68 on a 0–100 crime index (lower is safer), which is a lower level of safety relative to other London commuter towns.
Is Rochester a good commuter town for London?
Rochester ranks #16 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 Rochester
Compare Rochester with a neighbour
Shortlisted a few homes in Rochester?
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.