Photo: Mr Biz · CC BY-SA 2.0Oakley ranks below 97% of UK towns on one-person households: 21%
9.1% of households live in a terraced house, against 24% across England’s towns. The share of married adults and civil partners stands at 58%. Households in detached houses are more common here than in just over four fifths of UK towns. Oakley’s 976 households held 2,507 residents at the 2021 Census.
What the Census says about Oakley’s people
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Oakley at 2,500 in 2011 and 2,400 in 2024, down 5%, against 10% for England: slower growth than in 97% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
−5% since 2011: slower than 97% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Oakley’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 2,500 people in 2011; 2,400 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group moved most (+53%); the 30 to 44 group moved least (−27%).
Above 89% of UK towns: 11% of residents are aged 15 to 24
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Against a figure of 18% across England’s towns, the share of residents aged 65 and over in Oakley comes in at 23%. Typically, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. The median age here is 45.1, higher than in 54% of UK towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Oakley, 45.1. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 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.
7.6% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, fewer than in 74% of UK towns
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%.
Full-time students make up 6.6% of adults, against 7.9% across England’s towns. The comparison figure for residents who moved in within the year is 11% across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Oakley: 34% of households have dependent children, above 92% of UK towns
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.
By its share of shared households of unrelated adults (2.6%), Oakley is above just over three fifths of UK towns. On average, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns.
Oakley ranks below 96% of UK towns on households without a car or van: 6.8%
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
Flats are home to 3.3% of households, against 23% across England’s towns. One household in every 15 has no car or van.
In Oakley, 8% of residents were born outside the UK, more than in 64% of UK towns
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%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Since 2017: 14% of those born abroad, against 21% across England’s towns. Set beside that, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (3.5%) or in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.4%).
87% of residents describe themselves as White British, fewer than in 74% 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: 87% of Oakley · Bedfordshire’s towns 61% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Across England’s towns, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian; in Oakley, 53%. Locally, nearly two in five residents said they have no religion. Residents who describe themselves as White British: 73% across England’s towns, for comparison.
A smaller share of adults who have never married than 84% of UK towns: 27%
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 carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 60. Against that, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. More unpaid carers than in 62% of UK towns: 9.8%.
Among adults, 41% hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 41% of adults in Oakley (England’s towns: 34%), and no qualification by 10% (England’s towns: 18%). Many of the 17% whose highest qualification is A levels are students working towards a degree.
Ranked by age, 77th youngest of 219 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Keele is the youngest (20.6); St Mary's Bay the oldest (60.8). Nearest to Oakley in age: Thornley (45.1), Weedon Bec (45.1), South Wonston (45.1) and Dipton (45.2).
Among its 7 nearest neighbours, 3 are older than Oakley
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakley | 2,507 | — | 45.1 | 23% | 34% |
| Clapham | 4,502 | 1.1 mi | 43.2 | 20% | 31% |
| Bromham | 4,652 | 1.8 mi | 49.3 | 27% | 27% |
| Great Denham | 4,363 | 3.2 mi | 31.7 | 3.9% | 47% |
| Bedford | 97,226 | 3.5 mi | 38.4 | 15% | 31% |
| Sharnbrook | 1,744 | 3.9 mi | 50.3 | 28% | 28% |
| Kempston | 22,779 | 4 mi | 39 | 16% | 32% |
| Harrold | 1,668 | 4.2 mi | 47.6 | 20% | 29% |
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 Oakley’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out. The population trend compares with the whole county and nation.
- Estimates since 2021 are modelled. The ONS builds mid-year estimates from the Census, births, deaths and migration records. Oakley’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 2,507 people in 2021, against 2,507 in the built-up area.
- 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 Oakley’s residents
What is the population of Oakley?
The 2021 Census counted 2,507 people in Oakley’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 2,400 people in mid-2024, 5% fewer than in 2011.
What is the average age in Oakley?
The median age was 45.1 at the 2021 Census, older than 54% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 23% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Oakley?
87% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 61% across Bedfordshire’s towns. 8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Oakley?
39% said they had no religion and 53% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 5.5% didn’t answer.
Is Oakley good for families?
34% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Oakley’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) · ONS mid-year population estimates for 2021 LSOAs, mid-2011 to mid-2024. 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.