Photo: G1MFG at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Older than 94% of UK towns: half of Wilstead is over 53.2
With adults who have never married at 24%, Wilstead is behind 96% of UK towns on that count. In Wilstead, 2.6% of households live in a flat or apartment. At 1.6%, the share of shared households of unrelated adults is lower than in 90% of UK towns. The village’s 1,096 households held 2,404 residents at the 2021 Census.
What the Census says about Wilstead’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Wilstead’s residents are under 53.2 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 32% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
7.2% of residents are aged 15 to 24, fewer than in 98% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 70–74 than any other five-year age: one in ten residents, 2 times the share across England’s towns. Locally, nearly a third of residents are 65 or over. To put it in context, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 88 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 93% of UK towns: 3.6%
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, 33% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in Wilstead, 40% and 21%. The usual figure: 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. Here, nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier.
Only 22% of households in Wilstead have dependent children
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.
Across England’s towns, households average 2.4 people; in Wilstead, 2.2. By way of comparison, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns.
A higher share of households in detached houses than 87% of UK towns, at 47%
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
Against a figure of 24% across England’s towns, the share of households in terraced houses in Wilstead comes in at 13%. The benchmark for households in detached houses across England’s towns: 21%. One in ten households have no car or van.
More residents born outside the UK than 64% of UK towns: 8.1%
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
Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (3.5%) and in Africa (1.8%). The wider picture: 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. 97% of residents have English as their main language (England’s towns: 90%).
A higher share of residents who describe themselves as Christian than 78% of UK towns, at 54%
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 Wilstead · Bedfordshire’s towns 61% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Other than White British, most residents describe themselves as Other White (4.1%), Mixed or multiple (3.1%) and Indian (3%). On residents who describe themselves as White British, Wilstead sits lower than three quarters of UK towns: 87%. The benchmark for residents who describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns: 46%. Across England’s towns, the share of residents with no religion is 37%; Wilstead has 36%.
Married adults and civil partners: 56%, a higher share than 90% 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 67 people. Fewer unpaid carers than in 69% of UK towns: 8.7%. As a reference point, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Qualified to degree level: 32% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 32% of its adults qualified to degree level, Wilstead compares with 34% across England’s towns; another 19% hold no qualification (18%).
No nearby town is as old as Wilstead
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wilstead | 2,404 | — | 53.2 | 32% | 22% |
| Wixams | 6,044 | 1.2 mi | 31.2 | 8% | 49% |
| Houghton Conquest | 1,867 | 1.7 mi | 44.7 | 21% | 26% |
| Shortstown | 4,837 | 2.3 mi | 32.9 | 6.7% | 42% |
| Stewartby | 2,546 | 2.7 mi | 31.2 | 8.6% | 44% |
| Kempston | 22,779 | 3.4 mi | 39 | 16% | 32% |
| Maulden | 2,486 | 3.5 mi | 45.6 | 20% | 30% |
| Clophill | 2,515 | 3.6 mi | 49.7 | 24% | 28% |
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 Wilstead’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 Wilstead’s residents
What is the population of Wilstead?
The 2021 Census counted 2,404 people in Wilstead’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Wilstead?
The median age was 53.2 at the 2021 Census. 7.2% of residents were 15 to 24 and 32% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Wilstead?
87% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 61% across Bedfordshire’s towns. 8.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Wilstead?
36% said they had no religion and 54% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.7% were Muslim and 4.8% didn’t answer.
Is Wilstead good for families?
22% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Wilstead’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.