Photo: Marcus de Figueiredo · CC BY-SA 2.0Chicksands sits above 99% of UK towns for households with dependent children (53%)
Where nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns, Chicksands has 57%. Still, half of the village’s residents are under 35.9, younger than in 94% of UK towns. The village is home to 722 residents in 237 households, by the 2021 Census. On the census count, 11% of households are one person living alone.
Chicksands sits below 99% of UK towns for residents aged 65 and over (7.2%)
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The figure for residents aged 15 to 24 is 14% in Chicksands and 12% across England’s towns. To put it in context, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Chicksands sits above 96% of UK towns for full-time students (9.4%)
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%.
Managerial and professional jobs account for 45% of Chicksands’s adults, routine and semi-routine work for 15%, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Compared with other places, residents who moved in within the year are common here: 10%, more than in four fifths of UK towns. As a reference point, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Larger households than 99% of UK towns: 3.1 people on average
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.
The share of shared households of unrelated adults is 2.5%, against 4.3% across England’s towns.
Chicksands sits below 99% of UK towns for households without a car or van (4.7%)
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
In Chicksands, 10% of households live in a detached house, beside 21% across England’s towns. The comparison figure for households without a car or van is 24% across England’s towns.
More residents born outside the UK than 67% of UK towns: 8.6%
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
In Chicksands, 98% of residents have English as their main language, beside 90% across England’s towns. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (4.4%) or in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.8%). Residents born outside the UK: 18% across England’s towns, for comparison.
Residents with no religion: 47%, a higher share than 84% of UK towns
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: 91% of Chicksands · Bedfordshire’s towns 61% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Compared with 46% across England’s towns, 47% of residents describe themselves as Christian here. For comparison, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. Just over nine in ten residents describe themselves as White British.
A larger share of married adults and civil partners than 94% of UK towns: 57%
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
Nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care, about the same as across England’s towns. For Chicksands, the census puts adults who have never married at 30%. Married adults and civil partners make up 44% across England’s towns.
Among adults, 36% hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Chicksands’s adults: 36% with a degree-level qualification and 8.5% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns. For 22%, A levels are the highest qualification so far, many of them students still working towards a degree.
The towns around Chicksands are all older
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicksands | 722 | — | 35.9 | 7.2% | 53% |
| Shefford | 7,317 | 1.3 mi | 39.9 | 16% | 33% |
| Meppershall | 2,044 | 1.7 mi | 46.5 | 23% | 30% |
| Clophill | 2,515 | 2.5 mi | 49.7 | 24% | 28% |
| Shillington | 1,629 | 2.7 mi | 45.4 | 20% | 28% |
| Clifton | 2,769 | 2.7 mi | 43.8 | 20% | 30% |
| Silsoe | 3,419 | 3.3 mi | 39.7 | 16% | 38% |
| Lower Stondon | 3,966 | 3.4 mi | 40.3 | 17% | 33% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The Census was taken in a lockdown, in term time. 21 March 2021 fell in term time, and students were asked to give their term-time address, so most were counted where they study. Some may have been living with family that day.
- “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 Chicksands’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 Chicksands’s residents
What is the population of Chicksands?
The 2021 Census counted 722 people in Chicksands’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Chicksands?
The median age was 35.9 at the 2021 Census. 14% of residents were 15 to 24 and 7.2% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Chicksands?
91% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 61% across Bedfordshire’s towns. 8.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Chicksands?
47% said they had no religion and 47% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.1% were Muslim and 4.4% didn’t answer.
Is Chicksands good for families?
53% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Chicksands’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.