Photo: Des Blenkinsopp · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 52.2: Broom is older than 92% of UK towns
Just over a fifth of households have dependent children, against 29% across England’s towns. Census day 2021: 593 residents and 252 households in Broom. For Broom, the census puts households without a car or van at 7.2%. Few places have as many households in detached houses: 49% here, more than in 88% of UK towns.
26% of residents are 65 or over, a share 76% of UK towns don’t reach
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 55–59, with one in ten residents, 1.5 times the share across England’s towns. Few places have as many residents aged 15 to 24: 11% here, more than in just over four fifths of UK towns. Across the comparison, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Fewer residents who moved in within the year than 99% of UK towns: 4.8%
What adults did at the 2021 Census (the ONS’s NS-SEC classes), and where residents lived a year earlier.
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
Address a year before the Census
Residents who lived somewhere else a year earlier. The bar runs to 25%.
4.3% of adults are full-time students (England’s towns: 7.9%). The usual figure: just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
Broom sits below 71% of UK towns for one-person households (27%)
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Bedfordshire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
At 2.4 people, the average household compares with 2.4 across England’s towns. 5.6% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home. Against that, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns.
A smaller share of households in terraced houses than 77% of UK towns: 14%
Accommodation type and cars or vans per household, Census 2021. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
Type of home
Cars or vans · share of households
Set against 23% across England’s towns, 8.7% of households live in a flat or apartment in Broom. Across England’s towns, households in terraced houses come to 24%.
99% of residents have English as their main language, a share 86% of UK towns don’t reach
Country of birth, year of arrival and main language, Census 2021.
Born outside the UK, by region · share of all residents; the bar runs to 30%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Across England’s towns the share born abroad is 18%; in Broom it is 4.2%. The largest groups were born in Africa (1.4%) and in EU countries (1.2%). The benchmark for residents whose main language is English across England’s towns: 90%.
A higher share of residents who describe themselves as White British than 83% of UK towns, at 96%
How residents described themselves at the 2021 Census. Lines join the lowest and highest of the three figures.
Ethnic groups other than White British · all residents
White British, not charted: 96% of Broom · Bedfordshire’s towns 61% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The share of residents who describe themselves as Christian is 51%, against 46% across England’s towns. The usual figure: 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Leading the other groups after White British: Other White (1.2%), Mixed or multiple (1.2%) and Indian (0.8%).
53% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 81% of UK towns
Legal partnership status (residents 16 and over) and unpaid care (residents 5 and over), Census 2021.
Partnership status · residents 16 and over
Unpaid care given · share of residents 5 and over
Unpaid care takes 50 hours a week or more for 16 people. At 29%, the share of adults who have never married is lower than in just over three quarters of UK towns. Across the comparison, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. Nothing unusual on unpaid carers: 9.6%, close to the figure across England’s towns.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 34%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 34% of adults in Broom, 34% across England’s towns; 14% have no qualification, against 18%.
The towns around Broom are all younger
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Broom | 593 | — | 52.2 | 26% | 22% |
| Langford | 3,712 | 1.6 mi | 45.2 | 22% | 27% |
| Upper Caldecote | 1,333 | 1.7 mi | 48.9 | 24% | 26% |
| Biggleswade | 21,945 | 1.9 mi | 37.7 | 15% | 31% |
| Clifton | 2,769 | 2.7 mi | 43.8 | 20% | 30% |
| Henlow | 2,446 | 3 mi | 46 | 21% | 31% |
| Shefford | 7,317 | 3.1 mi | 39.9 | 16% | 33% |
| Sandy | 11,375 | 4.1 mi | 41.9 | 18% | 30% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Bedfordshire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Bedfordshire (or England), summed the same way as Broom’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- Small counts are blurred. The ONS adds small random changes to Census counts to protect privacy, so the same total differs a little between tables, and the shares of a small town can move by a point or two.
Questions about Broom’s residents
What is the population of Broom?
The 2021 Census counted 593 people in Broom’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Broom?
The median age was 52.2 at the 2021 Census. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 26% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Broom?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 61% across Bedfordshire’s towns. 4.2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Broom?
42% said they had no religion and 51% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 6.1% didn’t answer.
Is Broom good for families?
22% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Broom’s schools page.
Sources: ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area (TS002, TS003, TS004, TS007A, TS008, TS015, TS017, TS019, TS021, TS029, TS030, TS039, TS044, TS045, TS062, TS067). All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.