Photo: Adrian Cable · CC BY-SA 2.0Half of Salph End is over 55.6, older than 97% of UK towns
39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns, against 22% in Salph End. Few places have so few households with dependent children: 20% here, fewer than in 94% of UK towns. Census day 2021: 485 residents and 212 households in the village. Here, 1% of households live in a terraced house.
A larger share of residents aged 65 and over than 97% of UK towns: 36%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Against a figure of 12% across England’s towns, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 in Salph End comes in at 7.7%. The wider picture: 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.
A lower share of full-time students than 67% of UK towns, at 4.5%
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%.
Across England’s towns, a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in Salph End, 41% and 16%. Elsewhere, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. The share of residents who moved in within the year stands at 11%.
Fewer people live alone than in 86% of UK towns: 25% of households
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 2.3 people, the average household compares with 2.4 across England’s towns. The share of one-person households across England’s towns is 30%.
A lower share of households in flats than 99% of UK towns, at 1%
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
Households in detached houses: 61% here and 21% across England’s towns. On households without a car or van, Salph End sits lower than 92% of UK towns: 8%. Measured more widely, 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
More residents born outside the UK than 76% of UK towns: 11%
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
Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (3.9%) and in the Middle East and Asia (3.7%). Across England’s towns, 18% of residents were born outside the UK. 97% of residents have English as their main language (England’s towns: 90%).
Salph End ranks below 81% of UK towns on residents who describe themselves as White British: 84%
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: 84% of Salph End · Bedfordshire’s towns 61% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Next after White British come Other White (5.5%), Mixed or multiple (4.1%) and Indian (2.2%). Higher than in 76% of UK towns: 54% of residents describe themselves as Christian. Typically, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. In Salph End, 36% of residents said they have no religion, beside 37% across England’s towns.
59% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 96% 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
The share of unpaid carers is 9.9%, against 8.7% across England’s towns. On average, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. 12 residents care, unpaid, for at least 50 hours a week.
32% of adults have qualifications at degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Salph End, 32% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns, while 16% have no qualification at all (18%).
The towns around Salph End 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salph End | 485 | — | 55.6 | 36% | 20% |
| Bedford | 97,226 | 2.2 mi | 38.4 | 15% | 31% |
| Great Barford | 2,254 | 3.1 mi | 44.7 | 20% | 33% |
| Clapham | 4,502 | 3.2 mi | 43.2 | 20% | 31% |
| Shortstown | 4,837 | 3.5 mi | 32.9 | 6.7% | 42% |
| Oakley | 2,507 | 4.2 mi | 45.1 | 23% | 34% |
| Great Denham | 4,363 | 4.3 mi | 31.7 | 3.9% | 47% |
| Kempston | 22,779 | 4.4 mi | 39 | 16% | 32% |
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 Salph End’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 Salph End’s residents
What is the population of Salph End?
The 2021 Census counted 485 people in Salph End’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Salph End?
The median age was 55.6 at the 2021 Census. 7.7% of residents were 15 to 24 and 36% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Salph End?
84% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 61% across Bedfordshire’s towns. 11% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Salph End?
36% said they had no religion and 54% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 6.5% didn’t answer.
Is Salph End good for families?
20% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Salph End’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.