Thousands more people are choosing to move to Kent than are packing up and quitting our area for somewhere new.
New internal migration figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that while more than 113,000 former residents moved out of local authority areas in Kent last year, almost 123,000 people moved in.
That’s a net population gain of almost 10,000 people who moved to Kent from somewhere else in England and Wales.
Maidstone was the most popular part of our county to move to. The figures show almost 12,000 people moved to Maidstone last year, while 10,000 moved out, a net gain of 1,800 people.
The vast majority of local authority areas in Kent saw more movers than leavers. Thanet saw a net population gain of almost 1,800 people, Swale of 1,700, and Dover of 1,400.
Only three parts of Kent saw an exodus. Almost 16,000 newcomers moved to Medway, but 17,000 people moved out a net loss of 1,000 residents.
Gravesham saw a net loss of 368 people, and Canterbury a net loss of 122.
Use our interactive map below to see how many people moved in and out of your local area last year, as well as the most common destinations.
This data counts people who decided to relocate from one part of England and Wales to another, and does not include figures for immigration from abroad, but it does include people who moved to Scotland or Northern Ireland.
Every major city in England and Wales lost more residents to other parts of the UK than it gained last year.
In 2025, more than 420,000 people left London to live elsewhere in the UK, 132,000 more than the 289,000 who settled in the capital.
A similar exodus was recorded in the nation’s other major urban hubs, including Birmingham, Manchester, Nottingham, Leeds, Leicester, Coventry, Bristol, Newcastle, and Sheffield.
In total, around 4.0 million people relocated from one part of England and Wales to another during 2025.
The figures align with recent trends and suggest that cities in England are losing their appeal, possibly due to higher rents and housing costs.
The rise in opportunities for flexible work-from-home may also have contributed by enabling people to move out of cities and urban hubs.
Conversely, rural, coastal, and shire areas saw a surge in new arrivals.
North Yorkshire witnessed the highest net influx of any single local authority. Around 26,000 people moved out, but 34,000 moved in – a net gain of more than 7,500 residents.
East Riding of Yorkshire, Cornwall, Cheshire East, Northumberland, and Somerset all also saw large net population gains.
Just over 177,000 more women than men switched locations last year, and young adults aged between 18 and 30 were the most mobile demographic.
More 19-year-olds (187,500) moved than any other single-year age group, probably heading away to university, followed by 22-year-olds (174,200), the age when many finish studying and either return home or move to other parts of the country in search of job opportunities.