Northfleet is mostly working-age families, split roughly evenly between owning and renting. Just over half own their home. The typical resident is in their mid-thirties. About one household in five is a couple with children. For most people here, the working week is the centre of life.
At the 2021 Census, which is the source for every population figure on this page, about 52% of Northfleet households owned their home. About 25% rented privately and about 22% rented from a council or housing association. That is a town with three kinds of front door on most streets: owners, private tenants and social tenants living as neighbours.
The typical resident is 36, and about 30% of the population is aged 25 to 44. That is the age of first mortgages, first children and a long drive to work, and most of the town is in that stage of life at once. The retirement-bungalow crowd will find more of their own kind further south, in the villages.
The Office for National Statistics models average household income across the area at about £57,500 a year before tax, for the financial year to March 2023. Spread across a household, often two earners, that figure is enough to buy a terraced house here and not much more, and every month the mortgage payment is the biggest decision on the table.
Household make-up confirms it is a town of families. About 22% of households are couples with dependent children and about 15% are lone parents. About 27% are one person living alone, and about 11% of all households are a pensioner living alone, counted within that 27%. Head down most streets at half past eight and the school run is in full swing.
About 25% of residents aged 16 and over have a degree, about 22% have no formal qualifications, and about 2% are full-time students. The town has two big groups at either end of the qualifications scale, and a lot of people in between with apprenticeships, trades and vocational qualifications. Northfleet has never needed a university to keep its economy going. Its money has always come from the river, the chalk pits and the trades that worked on both.
In terms of advantages, Northfleet rates below average, with incomes and qualifications below the levels found in its wealthier neighbours. The people who live here are working families in the busiest part of life, paying the mortgage and doing the school run.