Photo: Robin Hall · CC BY-SA 2.0Half of Ickwell is over 55.2, older than 97% of UK towns
Households in detached houses: 67%, above 99% of UK towns. On the census count, 9.2% of households have no car or van. Few places have so few households with dependent children: 22% here, fewer than in 89% of UK towns. Ickwell’s 140 households held 319 residents at the 2021 Census.
In Ickwell, 35% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 97% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 75–79 than any other five-year age: just over one in ten residents, 3.1 times the share across England’s towns. As a reference point, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. For Ickwell, the census puts residents aged 15 to 24 at 7.5%.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 89 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Fewer full-time students than 99% of UK towns: 2.9%
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 47% of Ickwell’s adults, routine and semi-routine work for 11%, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. By way of comparison, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. The census found that 7.6% of residents lived at another address a year earlier in the village.
Ickwell ranks below 73% of UK towns on 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.
Households average 2.3 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. Census figures put shared households of unrelated adults at 5.7% in Ickwell. By way of comparison, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns.
In Ickwell, 13% of households live in a terraced house, fewer than in 81% of UK towns
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
The share of households in flats trails nearly four fifths of UK towns: 5.7%. Across the comparison, nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
More residents whose main language is English than 97% of UK towns: 99%
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
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (3.5%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (2.5%). Measured more widely, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Compared with other places, residents born outside the UK are common here: 8.5%, more than in 67% of UK towns.
60% describe themselves as Christian, more than in 94% 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 Ickwell · Bedfordshire’s towns 61% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Beyond White British, the biggest groups are Other White (3.5%), Mixed or multiple (1.9%) and Indian (1.3%). On residents with no religion, Ickwell sits lower than 86% of UK towns: 33%. Across England’s towns, residents who describe themselves as Christian come to 46%. Here just over nine in ten residents describe themselves as White British, where the figure across England’s towns is 73%.
A smaller share of adults who have never married than 94% of UK towns: 25%
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
By its share of married adults and civil partners (56%), Ickwell is above 90% of UK towns. The comparison figure for adults who have never married is 39% across England’s towns. Across Ickwell, 7.2% of residents give unpaid care.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 42%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 18% of adults have no qualification; in Ickwell, 13%, while 42% hold one at degree level (34%).
Every neighbour of Ickwell has a younger population
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ickwell | 319 | — | 55.2 | 35% | 22% |
| Upper Caldecote | 1,333 | 1.1 mi | 48.9 | 24% | 26% |
| Sandy | 11,375 | 2.8 mi | 41.9 | 18% | 30% |
| Biggleswade | 21,945 | 2.9 mi | 37.7 | 15% | 31% |
| Blunham | 1,391 | 3.4 mi | 44.7 | 23% | 30% |
| Langford | 3,712 | 3.6 mi | 45.2 | 22% | 27% |
| Shefford | 7,317 | 4.1 mi | 39.9 | 16% | 33% |
| Clifton | 2,769 | 4.3 mi | 43.8 | 20% | 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 Ickwell’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 Ickwell’s residents
What is the population of Ickwell?
The 2021 Census counted 319 people in Ickwell’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Ickwell?
The median age was 55.2 at the 2021 Census. 7.5% of residents were 15 to 24 and 35% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Ickwell?
91% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 61% across Bedfordshire’s towns. 8.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Ickwell?
33% said they had no religion and 60% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.9% were Muslim and 5.3% didn’t answer.
Is Ickwell good for families?
22% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Ickwell’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.